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Emotions and
Temperament in
Infancy (cont’d)
Chapter 10
Temperament: Behavioral Inhibition

Kagan

Behavioral Inhibition: Type of temperament that is
characterized by extreme wariness and withdrawal in the
face of novelty, particularly social novelty, appears early in
toddlerhood (12-14 months), and is relatively stable
 Highly
related to shyness and social anxiety
 Negative
reactivity - precursor to behavioral inhibition,
characterized by increased motor activity and negative
affect when novel stimuli are presented to young infant
(10-15% of infants are negatively reactive)
Behavioral Inhibition Laboratory Visit
Behavioral Inhibition and Social
Anxiety
Behaviorally inhibited infants are at risk for
developing anxiety disorders later in life
Behavioral Inhibition and Anxiety
in Adolescence
70
BI
non -BI
60
%Participants

50
40
30
20
10
0
Any
Anxiety
Social Anxiety
Diagnosis
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Behavioral Inhibition and Materenal Care

Over-controlling mothers can increase chance
that behaviorally inhibited infant will have an
anxiety disorder
Behavioral Inhibition and Nonparental
Care

Behaviorally inhibited children who spend at
least 10 hours/wk during first 2 years of life in
nonparental care are more likely to lose BI
classification by middle childhood
# Participants
Continuously BI
Change from BI
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Exclusive Parental Care
Nonparental Care
Behavioral inhibition, genetics, and
environment

Children are more likely to remain behaviorally
inhibited or shy if they had a short 5-HTT allele
and a mother with low levels of social support
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Behavioral Inhibition & Culture

Chinese children were more likely to be
characterized as behaviorally inhibited compared
to Canadian children (Chen et al., 1998).

Further evidence suggests that this is difference
is likely due to differences in cultural acceptance
of withdrawn/shy behaviors.
Neural Correlates of Behavioral Inhibition
Behaviorally inhibited children display higher and more
variable heart rates, increased levels of cortisol,
increased right frontal asymmetry, and increased neural
responses to novel stimuli compared to non-inhibited
children
 Thought to be driven by hyperactive amygdala

3