Cynical shyness can precipitate violence in males and may be factor in school shootings

Building social skills and sense of belonging key to avoiding Virginia Tech-like situations

After performing an analysis of school shootings in the last decade, researchers at the Shyness Research Institute in Indiana say that the perpetrators are likely to suffer from cynical shyness - an extreme form of shyness that predominantly affects males and can lead to violent behavior.

Presenting at the 115th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (APA), psychologist Bernardo Carducci, PhD, and Kristin Terry Nethery, BA, examined the cases involving eight individuals between 1995 and 2004 who had committed shootings at their high schools. They examined the news accounts of these shootings for personal and social indicators of cynical shyness - lack of empathy, low tolerance for frustration, anger outbursts, social rejection from peers, bad family relations and access to weapons.