Three Samples Were Studied

     Three different samples of men were obtained for this research.
These three groups were as follows:

     (1) 100 single, never married men, all of whom were between the
           ages of 35 and 50 at the time they were interviewed. Each of
           these men met all seven of the criteria for love-shyness that
           were delineated on page 117, the first page of this chapter.
     (2) 200 single, never married men, all of whom were (a) full-time
           or part-time college or university students, and all of whom
           were (b) between the ages of 19 and 24 at the time they were
           interviewed. Each of these men met all seven criteria for love-
           shyness that were delineated on page 000.
     (3) 200 single, never married men, all of whom were very self-
           confident and non-shy vis-a-vis the opposite sex. These 200 men
           were all (a) full-time or part-time college or university students;
           and all of them were (b) between the ages of 19 and 24 at the
           time they were interviewed.

      Sample #3 is known in the social sciences as a comparison group.
The non-shy comparison group was composed of people who were very
similar to the love-shys on a host of social and demographic background
factors. None of the members of this comparison group had any current
problems with love-shyness. In essence, none were love-shy. In fact, all
200 members of the comparison group viewed themselves as being above
average in social self-confidence vis-a-vis members of the opposite sex.
      Technically speaking, samples one and two are known as "experi-
mental groups". Each of these two samples was composed exclusively of
love-shy men. The presence of a comparison group in a research study
often permits the making of educated and reasoned deductions about
causation. In this study I was very interested in determining the causes
of love-shyness and the various factors that may be associated with it.
The uncovering of lines of causation is what any scientific enterprise is
all about.
      To the extent that we are able to arrive at an awareness of the
various major causes behind a phenomenon, to that extent we are likely
to be in a better position to predict, to control, to cure, and possibly
even to prevent the phenomenon from occurring in the future. In the
case of this study on love-shyness, it is possible to deduce probable
causes that are responsible for severe shyness by comparing the data
obtained for the two love-shy groups (experimental groups) with the
data obtained for the comparison group of non-shy men.
      Ideally it would have been desirable for me to have included a
second comparison group. In other words, it would have been helpful
to this research had it been feasible to have a group of non-shy men in
the 35 to 50 year old age bracket. The major reason why I chose not to
obtain such a comparison group is that the majority of non-shy heter-
osexual men in the 35 to 50 year age group are married. Married men
are no longer involved with the various problems, trials and tribulations
pertinent to dating and courtship activities. In fact, their interactional
style vis-a-vis the female population is defined and delimited in very
significant ways by the fact of being married. To be sure, a sample of
non-shy divorced, widowed and separated men could have been drawn
up for this study. But such a sample would hardly have been adequately
representative of well-adjusted, non-shy men in the 35 to 50 year old
age range.
     Limiting the non-shy comparison group to single, never married
young men in the 19 to 24 year old age range served this study well in
providing the contrast that was required: By comparing and contrasting
the backgrounds of the non-shys with those of the love-shys (both
groups), it became feasible to arrive at meaningful conclusions as to
what the key causes of love-shyness most probably are. In virtually every
comparison that was made, the younger love-shys differed from the
non-shys in exactly the same way as the older love-shys differed from the non-
shys. And this fact can be viewed as assuring the reader that the differ-
ences which are highlighted between the non-shys and the love-shys
are real differences. In essence, it is likely that many of these differences
have a very strong bearing upon the causes of the love-shyness problem.