Relationship Between Shyness and Sense of Belongingness among Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The study investigated the relationship between shyness and sense of belongingness among undergraduate students. A total of 200 participants comprising 100 male and 100 female undergraduate students, between the ages of 19 – 30 years, with a mean age of 20.68 and a standard deviation of 2.56 were selected. They were selected making use of simple random sampling technique from population of Faculty of Applied Natural Sciences and Faculty of the Social Sciences, ESUT. A 13-item Shyness questionnaire with an established Alpha Coefficient of .57 and 18-item Sense of belongingness questionnaire with Alpha Coefficient of .78 was obtained by the researcher in a pilot study. A Correlation design was adopted based on survey research method; and Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Statistic was applied to analyze data. The result yielded a significant negative relationship ?=−.30,?<.01 between shyness and sense of belongingness among undergraduate students. This implies that as the sense of belongingness increases, shyness will decrease. This finding will help counsellors provide therapy for young people especially those who are withdrawn and socially alienated because of their inability to express skills for association amongst their peers.