Jerome Kagan
Temperament shapes the path, but does not fix the destination.
American developmental psychologist known for research on temperament, inhibition and child development.
Temperament influences development, but it does not rigidly determine destiny.
Who they were
Jerome Kagan studied how children meet the world differently from their earliest months. Some are cautious and easily aroused by the new; others reach toward it. He showed that these temperamental styles are partly biological and lasting — yet never a sentence, since environment and experience keep shaping who a child becomes.
Famous books
What they left on the shelf
Terms they cared about
Ideas worth knowing
Their techniques
How the work was done
Best known as a theorist — their ideas shaped the techniques of those who followed.
Their big idea
Temperament Theory
Jerome Kagan argued that children arrive with biologically based temperamental styles — notably high- and low-reactivity — that shape how they respond to novelty and stress, while leaving real room for growth through experience.
Questions in their spirit
What they’d ask you
Sit with one. Answer online, or in the app.
Carry the idea forward
Kagan — What they’d ask you
Psipas asks you one small, honest question at a time — and builds the picture from your answers.