 | Kagan revives temperament as measurable biology — inhibited children show early alarm to novelty; uninhibited profiles explore faster — longitudinal data resists one-word personality verdicts. Jerome Kagan (1994) · Basic Books · ISBN 9780465084050 |
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Key principles
- Temperament reactivity — Baseline arousal to novelty — biology sets initial bias, not fixed destiny.
- Inhibited profile — Caution, vigilance, slow warm-up — mislabeled as shyness without context reads as character flaw.
- Uninhibited profile — Bold approach, lower initial fear — risk appetite differs from impulsivity alone.
- Longitudinal stability — Early patterns predict partial adult tendencies — change remains possible with environment.
- Biology–context interaction — Temperament expresses through caregiving fit — mismatch amplifies distress, not innate defect.
- Galen’s legacy critique — Four-humour typing is history — modern measurement replaces prophecy with observation.
Core science
Galen’s Prophecy reports Kagan’s longitudinal developmental psychophysiology — heart rate, cortisol, and behavioural inhibition paradigms — anchoring temperament on Temperament and the four-layer hub Temperament, attitude and personality. Pair with Allport (Personality A Psychological Interpretation) for trait-language contrast.
Application
Reach for this volume when temperament language collapses into moral judgment — or when coaching needs biological substrate vocabulary without determinism. Open Temperament for the given layer; Temperament, attitude and personality for the full stack.