What's the difference between Social Anxiety and shyness?

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIAL ANXIETY AND SHYNESS?

Shyness is considered to be a personality trait that may involve a fear of being rejected for being unable to perform socially. Shy people show this in a range of behaviors, from just being awkward all the way to being socially isolated (Henderson, Gilbert, & Zimbardo, 2014). Social anxiety is extreme fear and avoidance of social interaction that persists and negatively impacts daily life. Shy people show fewer anxious symptoms and a not as impaired as those with social anxiety. (Heiser, Turner, Beidel, & Roberson-Nay, 2009)

There has been a concern that the diagnosis of social anxiety turns common shyness into a medical problem. A study of data obtained by using the National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement given to 10,123 adolescents in the United States from the ages of 13 to 18 years was done to try to figure out the difference between the two. The results were that, while around 46% of the adolescents were considered to be shy, only around 12% of them met the diagnostic criteria for social anxiety. Also, in children not considered to be shy, over 5% were diagnosed with social anxiety. Therefore, social anxiety is different from shyness because it causes a lot more impairment in the person’s normal life, such as in school, work, social, and family relationships (Burstein, et al., 2011). In another study of social anxiety and shyness, it was found that 96% of those with social anxiety avoid feared social situations compared to just 50 % of the shy subjects. SAD people commonly avoid conversations, parties, meetings, classes, and public speaking. Non-shy subjects avoid feared situations at a rate of 7.4%, mainly public speaking situations. 100% of the social anxiety group also reported having physical symptoms when in a feared situation, such as racing heartbeat, sweating, blushing, and upset stomach, with 65% of the shy group reporting those symptoms. The non-shy group reported physical symptoms at a rate of 22% (Heiser, Turner, Beidel, & Roberson-Nay, 2009).