About 40 percent of Americans think of themselves as shy, while only 20 percent say they have never suffered from shyness at some point in their lives. Shyness occurs when a person’s apprehensions are so great that they_1_his making an expected or desired social response._2_of shyness can be as minor as_3_to make eye contact when speaking to someone,_4_as major as avoiding conversations whenever possible.

    “Shy people tend to be too_5_with themselves,” said Jonathan Cheek, a psychologist, who is one of those at the forefront of current research on the topic. “_6_, for a smooth conversation, you need to pay attention to the other person’s cues_7_he is saying and doing. But the shy person is full of_8_about how he seems to the other person, and so he often_9_cues he should pick up. The result is an awkward lag in the conversation. Shy people need to stop focusing on_10_and switch their attention to the other person.”

__11_, shy people by and large have_12_social abilities than they think they do._13_Dr. Cheek videotaped shy people talking to_14_, and then had raters (评估者) evaluate how socially skilled the people were, he found that, in the_15_of other people, the shy group had few_16_problems. But when he asked the shy people themselves_17_they had done, they were unanimous in saying that they had been social flops (失败).

    “Shy people are their own_18_critics,” Dr. Cheek said._19_he added, shy people feel they are being judged more_20_than they actually are, and overestimate how obvious their social anxiety is to others.