The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-23
sHYNEss AND DlFFlDENcE.
Or. Sanford Treats of Them in His Lee
ture on "sensitIvss."

LIZ odll1oru SpOhe On the oeuSl-
tives,' and after reviewing the classif-
cation of character brought out Friday,
said in substances: Ribot divides the
I.sensitives into the humble. the contem-
plative and the emotional. The humble
seem to have habits like rabbits. They
are continually depressed or startled by
circumstances. The contemplatives are
not affected so much by outside inf1u-
enees. The emotional acts more Vigor-
ously than the other two, but it works
spasmodically only while the feeling
lasts
I Social sensitiveness gives us modesty,
teachability, in its best form. In it's
worse form it takes in shyness, bash
fulness, affectation and slavery to
fashions Social 5sensitiveness is both
good and bad. 1t makes cooperation
possible, the respect for public opinion
makes anarchy impossible. 1t tends to
over Elasticity Its error Is it's excess.
Its particular forms of shyness and diff
ffdAnoe are akin to fear but it is not
fear itself. The diffident has no fear of
bodily harm, but he has a sensltiveness
toward a fear of mental pain. Shyness
is nearer to pain than diff1dence. The
child is shy of strangers. If you should
inquire why children do not "show off,
before strangers, you would find that
the emotional disturbance is sufficient
to drive what he knows out of his head.
AS a child grows old he begins to have
interest in the stranger, but the fear is
still there.
Stage fright stands close to shyness.
1t is like the fear of open spaces, as IN
some form of nervous disease, and
somewhat closely united with the fear
of high places. 1t has wonderful effect
on attention, sometimes taking away
the speech entirely. Experience does not
seem to help this Cicero had stage
fright and was unable to deliver his
orations at times.
/ Diffidence is not confined to any time
or age, children show it to their elders.
Boys show it toward each other, some
times, and it is possible that the way
dogs meet on the street is bashfulness.
lSometimes it is feltFby the parent in
presence of his chill dren. Every teacher
has something of the same experience
when he goes to call on his pupils.
Adolescence is the period in which
diffldenee is strongest. Dif1dence is a
Feeling of inability to meet and touch
other people; a fear of inability to be
understood by those with whom the diff
fident comes in contact
The diffident may exercise his will to
talk when he would rather keep quiet,
and then he gives the impression of
dense moodiness or of conceit. The vic
Tins of shyness are never able to APP
lpear normal when placed in a position
| In which they feel themselves watched.
The result in psychological terms is a
great consciousness of self. 1t expresses
| itself at the sensitory, the motor and
the intellectual levels.
At the motor level, he expresses him
self olunrsily, his gestures are awk-
ward his throat and mouth are dry,
and he bushes. At the intellectual
take flight. This leads to tendencies
to stimulation. The diffident man
wants to hide his difTidence. He either
does not talk or he cuts loose and talks
wildly. He doesn't understand love or
hate, of which he may be the object.
His general condition may be described
as stupor or dullness. His only safety
is to be blase, and to be blase is the
only thing he can do.
The diffident himself is too sensitive
He is acute in discovering signs of like
or dislike in those about him. He
hangs his happiness on what he con-
ceives those about him think Of him
The diffident may be made happy for
hours by slight show of cordiality or
into settled gloom by a slight show of
GOODNESS He7may be carried away and
take great risks of a social nature He
Is extreme in everything. He fears
rtdicule and laughter more than he
fears harm. Diffidenee may grow by
the very means the difT1dent uses to
get rid OF 1t.
The normal law Of consciousness and
self-consciousness is adju8tmant. Nor
NAL diffidence Is attempting to make
the adjustment to circumstances. In
the normal case the difident man gets
rid of his consciousness. IN the chronic
cases, the difiident never loses con-
seriousness. Diffidenee IL a peculiar
working up Of experiences on the base
of temperamsnts. 1t is neither fault
nor misfortune in the normal case.
One can get over this by experience.
In the first place, in himself, he can
turn away consciousness by noticing
other people Look for signs of en-
barrassment IN other people. To think
for other people is the whole gospel Of
the matter.