Abstract
M.A.
Shyness is an individual difference variable that has the potential to impact on the processes that facilitate the development of emotional intimacy. There has been little research that has focussed on shyness within the conext of close relationships, providing an opportunity for further research. Reis and Shaver (1988) and Reis and Patrick (1996) described the interpersonal process model of intimacy, which provides comprehensive and integrated model from which to examine emotional intimacy. The model is supported by research within the field of interpersonal relationship studies. Emotional intimacy is believed to experienced as a subjective sense of connectedness, which is the outcome of an interpersonal, transactional and dynamic process that consists of self-disclosure and partner responsiveness. The model incoporates the notion that individual difference variable can interfere with the development of emotional intimacy as the level of these processes of self-disclosure and partner responsiveness.