Diffidence is depicted in literature as a multifaceted quality—sometimes a virtue of modest reserve, at other times a crippling lack of confidence. In Bunyan’s allegorical work, it is personified as a character even, the wife of Giant Despair [1], highlighting its symbolic role in the struggles of the human spirit. Shakespeare and Austen, among others, use the term to illustrate a character’s inability to assert oneself in critical moments, often to one’s own detriment [2, 3]. Meanwhile, its presence in historical and reflective narratives underscores a cautious self-doubt that can simultaneously protect and hinder social interaction [4, 5]. Thus, diffidence emerges not merely as shyness but as a complex, layered hesitation inherent in the human condition.