This study investigated the shy individuals' development of close relationships at both cognitive and behavioral levels, and examined the effect of shyness on loneliness within a new environment. One hundred and twenty-four freshmen (Study 1) and two hundred and seven freshmen (Study 2) completed questionnaire regarding their relationship with a new same-sex best friend at their university. Participants were also administered the Trait Shyness Scale (Aikawa, 1991) and the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau, & Cutrana, 1980). The main results were as follows: 1) The relationship between the shy individual and his/her new best friend was less intimate at both cognitive and behavioral levels than that of not-shy individuals. 2) The effect of shyness on loneliness was partly mediated by their relationship with the new best friend. In other words, (a) shy individuals were not able to engage in a great number of behaviors with their new friend, and (b) they tended to evaluate their relationship more negatively. These two processes caused shy individuals to feel their friendship less intimate, which leads to loneliness.
