Dr. Bernardo Carducci studied the records of eight school shooters, including the boys from Columbine High School in 1999. He found that while almost half of the population considers itself shy, all eight school shooters have a particular variety of it. Dr. Carducci calls it "cynical shyness."
While many shy people try to be social and face rejections, those with "cynical shyness" get angry and want retaliation against those who shun them. Once they start moving away from others, he said, "They start to berate them. In a sense, they become a cult of one."
Cynical shyness, which occurs in fewer than 2% of the population, involves a lack of empathy, low frustration tolerance, angry outbursts, peer rejection, and bad family relationships.
Dr. Carducci presented this study at the American Medical Society convention this month in San Francisco.
Labels: aggression, shyness, rejection
Posted By: Aspen Education Group