A Cross‐Cultural Study of Different Types of Shyness: Associations With Depression and Aggression in Canadian and Chinese Children

ABSTRACT Previous studies have shown that the expression of childhood shyness varies across Western and Eastern cultures. This study examined whether two East Asian subtypes of shyness (anxious and regulated) existed in both a Western and East Asian context; and if so, whether there were differences in the relation between these two subtypes and children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors across country. Participants were children aged 8–10 years from Canada ( n = 149, 46.3% male) and China ( n = 145; 53.8% male). We found that, although there was no moderation effect of country on anxious shyness ( ps > 0.05), country did moderate the relation between regulated shyness and (a) depression and (b) physical aggression ( ps < 0.05). Among Canadian children, regulated shyness was negatively associated with both depression and physical aggression, while no significant associations were observed among Chinese children. We speculate that these findings may reflect the dual contributions of dispositional and cultural influences on children's shyness‐related adjustment problems.