Development and Validation of an Audio Corpus for Inducing State Shyness

State shyness, a transient subjective emotional experience triggered by specific situational factors, is highly prevalent in daily life. Someone experience this state more frequently than others, a variation that can be related to trait shyness. Existing methodologies face challenges in distinguishing the psychological correlates of these two shyness dimensions. To address this gap, this research developed an audio corpus designed to induce state shyness, consisting of two subsets with 25 situation descriptors each. In Study 1, descriptors were developed through semi-structured interviews with 126 student volunteers (Mage=23.63±2.76) and thematic analysis, their efficacy was assessed via self-reports from 52 participants (Mage=18.73±1.50). Study 2 utilized Electrodermal Activity with 32 participants (Mage=20.15±1.98), further validated the corpus and addressed the potential demand effects. Together, this research offered a method to distinguish the characteristics of trait and state shyness, providing insights for researchers aiming to differentiate psychological correlates of trait and state in other variables.