Poster #212 - Normative Beliefs about Social Withdrawal in Adolescence

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Adolescence is a unique developmental period for both social and solitary experiences (Larson, 1997). For example, researchers have suggested that choosing to spend time alone (social withdrawal) in adolescence can offer potential benefits, such as opportunity for identity formation and self-reflection, but can also be problematic due to increased social expectations (Goossens, 2014; Larson, 1990). Three subtypes of social withdrawal have been identified that differ in their motivations for spending time alone (Rubin & Coplan, 2004): (1) shyness refers to withdrawal due to social fear and anxiety, despite the desire to interact with others; (2) unsociability refers to a non-fearful preference for solitary activities; and (3) social avoidance involves active avoidance of social interactions.
Normative beliefs are defined as the perceived acceptability of others’ behaviors (Huesmann & Guerra, 1997). For example, aggressive peers are generally perceived as more responsible for their behavior and less deserving of sympathy (Graham & Hoehn, 1995). As a result, aggressive children are often rejected and isolated from the peer group (Harrist et al., 1997). Similarly, withdrawn behavior is viewed as more deviant or atypical in later childhood (Younger & Daniels, 1992), and withdrawn children are perceived as less likeable (Younger & Piccinin, 1989). However, normative beliefs about socially withdrawn behaviors in adolescence remain relatively unexplored. As well, little is known about how normative beliefs may vary based on gender. Socially withdrawn behaviors may be less acceptable for boys than girls, as they violate gender stereotypes about male dominance (Doey et al., 2014). Accordingly, the present study examined whether normative beliefs about withdrawn behaviors were influenced by social motivations (i.e., shyness, unsociability, avoidance) and gender (perceiver and actor).
Participants were N=429 students (297 girls) ranging from 15-19 years (M=16.14, SD=0.50) recruited from public high schools in Ottawa, Canada. Students completed the recently developed Normative Beliefs about Social Withdrawal Scale (Bowker et al., 2018), comprised of a series of short behavioral descriptions of teenage boys or girls spending time alone for different reasons (i.e., shyness, unsociability, social avoidance). Following each descriptor, participants were asked to indicate the degree to which each depicted behavior was acceptable.
Results from a mixed-repeated measures MANOVA revealed a significant main effect of withdrawal subtype, F(2,409)=433.01, p<.001. Follow-up comparisons indicated that adolescents were the most accepting of unsociable behaviors (M=3.75, SD=0.47), followed by avoidant (M=3.09, SD=0.60), and then shy behaviors (M=3.00, SD=0.59).
Results also revealed significant motivation by gender interactions. Perceptions of social withdrawal differed as a function of participant, F(2,409)=3.58, p=.029, and actor gender, F(2,409)=31.51, p<.001. Follow-up comparisons revealed that female participants rated unsociability as more acceptable (M=3.78, SD=0.43), compared to male participants (M=3.68, SD=0.54) (see Figure 1). Additionally, shy behavior was more acceptable when displayed by males, but unsociable behavior was more acceptable when displayed by females (see Figure 2). The current findings suggest that approval of socially withdrawn behaviors in adolescence depends not only on the type of motivation, but also gender of the perceiver and actor, which may influence how one is ultimately treated by others.

Authors

• Lori K. Watanabe, Carleton University
  Presenting Author

• Will E Hipson, Carleton University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katherine R. Wood, Carleton University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Danielle Baldwin, Carleton University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laura Ooi, Carleton University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Julie C Bowker, University at Buffalo, SUNY
  Non-Presenting Author

• Robert J Coplan, Carleton University
  Non-Presenting Author