Jerome Kagan - The Father of Temperament (repeat)Jerome Kagan - The Father of Temperament (repeat)
All In The Mind
Why can two children born into the same household be like two different peas in a pod? Harvard's Jerome Kagan trailblazed the controversial science of temperament to investigate why. In a career that spans more than half a century, now he's going into battle for our minds, with a compelling retrospective, An Argument for Mind. To some an iconoclast - one of the biggest names in psychology of our time joins Natasha Mitchell, in this re-airing of a popular interview.
30:14•21 Apr 2007
Jerome Kagan on Temperament, Brains and Raising Sensitive Kids
Episode Overview
- Temperament is an initial emotional bias, not a fixed "pre-wired" destiny, and it mainly affects sensitivity rather than cognitive ability.
- High reactive infants are more likely to become cautious and tense, while low reactive infants tend towards sociability, though life experiences and self-regulation can change how this appears.
- Biological measures such as brain activity patterns, auditory responses and heart rate can reflect an excitable amygdala even when someone no longer looks shy on the surface.
- Claims that early attachment patterns or the first three years alone define a person’s future are challenged; much later experience still matters.
- Parents are urged to focus on being predictable, non-harsh, consistent, valuing the child, and modelling desired values instead of relying heavily on parenting manuals.
“"Your biology is best at telling you what you cannot be, which is a very small set of possibilities."”
Curious about how two kids raised under the same roof can seem like total opposites? This repeat conversation brings Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan face-to-face with Natasha Mitchell to unpack what temperament might have to do with it. Kagan, often called a pioneer of temperament research, explains why he resists the idea of children being "pre-wired".
He prefers to think of temperament as "an emotional behavioural bias", like different dog breeds: "You can tame a rottweiler, and you can make a labrador quite aggressive if you mistreat it." His long-term studies of "high reactive" and "low reactive" infants are central here, showing how early tendencies shape, but don’t lock in, later personality.
You’ll hear how one baby who "thrashed her arms and legs" at a simple mobile helped launch decades of research, and why Kagan believes biology is better at telling you what you *cannot* become than what you will be. Parents anxious about getting the first years "right" get a reality check too.
Kagan questions strong claims about attachment and early childhood determinism, arguing that "there's too much that goes on afterwards" to pin a life on the first three years alone. He also pushes back against reducing everything to brain scans, insisting that "neurons aren't afraid" and that we need a separate language for thoughts and feelings. Along the way, he offers straightforward parenting advice: be predictable, avoid harshness, show that you value your child, and model the values you care about.
Thoughtful, funny in places, and full of concrete examples, this episode suits anyone curious about temperament, parents wondering what their baby’s quirks might mean, or anyone who’s ever felt like a "high reactive" adult in a noisy world. It might leave you asking: is your temperament boxing you in, or just nudging you in a certain direction?
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