The association of shyness with individuals’ online and offline altruistic behavior

We explored the association between online and subsequent offline altruistic behavior in shy and not-shy individuals, using a 2 (priming condition: online altruism vs. control) × 2 (shyness level: shy vs. not shy) between-subjects design with 108 Chinese university students. We designed 6 online situations to prime altruism and a volunteer situation to assess subsequent offline altruism. Results were as follows: (a) engaging in online altruistic behavior was significantly associated with subsequently undertaking altruistic behavior offline; (b) shyness was not significantly associated with online altruism, but was significantly associated with subsequent altruistic behavior offline; and (c) shyness level moderated the association between online altruism and subsequent offline altruism. Engaging in online altruistic behavior had a stronger association with subsequent offline altruism among shy (vs. not-shy) participants. These findings clarify the relationship between online and offline altruistic behavior, and may help shy people overcome behavior inhibition in offline altruism contexts.