02/16/2021
From Dr. McNamara
Shyness in children can be viewed negatively, especially in cultures that value gregariousness and extroversion. What isn’t well understood is that shyness is an attachment instinct that prevents children from being led by people outside of their village of connection. Shyness isn’t often celebrated nor seen as part of nature’s design to ensure that a child’s closest attachments will have the most influence over them.
The shyness instinct can makes its first appearance in a 6 to 7 month old child as stranger protest if development is ideal. Instead of being easily passed from person to person, a baby will start to show clear preferences for their favourite people, and greater signs of upset when separated from them. Attachment to others becomes highly polarized for a child with the world splitting into those they seek to be close to as well as those they shy away from. In other words, shyness is not a deficit in a child but a strategic move on nature’s part to ensure a child stays close to ‘their people.’
Research suggests there is a genetic predisposition for shyness instincts to be stronger in some children in comparison to others. Approximately 15% to 20% of children are born with more inhibited temperaments and demonstrate more reactivity to their environments giving rise to stronger shyness responses. As babies they were more upset by loud noises, had greater hand and leg activity, and displayed a higher heart rate in comparison to other children. By the age of two these children were more likely to hide behind a parent’s leg when a stranger entered their play area and were more likely to engage in solitary play by the age of seven. These children were more likely to be labeled as shy by their parents and teachers but only ¼ of them still demonstrated characteristics associated with shyness in adulthood.
To read more about shyness see - http://macnamara.ca/portfolio/super-shy-the-protective-power-of-shynes/
To download the infographic see -http://macnamara.ca/why-do-kids-do-that/