Temperament
Party animal or wallflower--you can tell at four months. And things aren't likely to change.As the Boston Globe succinctly stated: "You can't turn a screamer into a cool customer."
At least, that's the gist of psychologist Jerome Kagan's recent argument that we're born with temperaments that shape our personalities in essential ways, regardless of environment, parenting, and other factors.
[No word on whether he engages an important question: Has anyone proven that "personalities" exist, anyway?]
I'm delighted that Kagan's reductionist account of human behavior rejects attachment theory, a darling of contemporary culture and counseling psychology.
But I wonder how he would respond to recent writings on resiliency and the idea that people can change in important ways?
.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Monday, August 30, 2004
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