by Vicki

Created on: March 11, 2007   Last Updated: May 15, 2007

Shyness and social fears can be dramatic side effects of deeper issues. Self-esteem plays a major role in the way people interact in all social aspects. Other factors to consider when determining the causes of social fears are life and social experiences. Our child hood experiences provide insights into our many adult behaviors. The way in which we are conditioned to interact or react to people and situations is a process in which we learn through out our lifetimes.

In 1902, after extensive research, C. H. Cooley introduced the concept of "The looking-glass self". The Looking-glass self is created through the imagination of how one's self might be understood by another individual. The "self" can be defined as ones sense of personal identity.

There are three components to the looking-glass self:

1.We imagine how others view us.
2.We imagine how they will judge us based on that view.
3.We develop our self through our ideas on how others judge us. (Yeung)

"The way we imagine ourselves to appear to another person is an essential element in our conception of ourselves. In other words, I am not what I think I am, and I am not what you think I am. I am what I think you think I am."
Bierstedt, Robert.

"I am not who I think I am
I am not who you think I am
I am who I think you think I am."

"Each to each a looking-glass
Reflects the other that doth pass."
C. H. Cooley

Not every person will experience social fears at the same level. Some will find themselves mildly shy, and they will be able to warm up to a person or situation with a little time and comfort. Others with more severe distress may find it impossible to gain the level of comfort they need for security. Severe social distress or social anxiety may bring about ringing in the ears, tunnel vision, seeing spots or colors, trembling, a sudden rise in body temperature, a shaking or stuttering voice, and even entirely losing train of thought. Beyond shyness, social anxiety disorder or social phobia affects 13.3% of our population with a male to female ratio of 1:1.5.

Our parents, our peers, our environments, society, and we condition ourselves throughout our lives. In realizing that behaviors can be conditioned, and knowing how they are conditioned, we can come up with options for reconditioning the same behaviors to a more desirable and realistic view of what we perceive as the norm.

Social learning theory proposes that our behavior changes are affected by environmental influences, personal factors, and attributes of the behavior

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