unpleasant, they learn to steer clear of antisocial behavior. This is known
as internalizing their parents’ standards of conduct,
and its core is
anxiety.
But what if some kids are less prone to anxiety than others, as is true
of extremely low-reactive kids? Often the best way to teach these
children values is to give them positive role models and to channel their
fearlessness into productive activities. A low-reactive child on an ice-
hockey team enjoys his peers’ esteem when he charges at his opponents
with a lowered shoulder, which is a “legal” move. But if he goes too far,
raises his elbow, and gives another guy a concussion, he lands in the
penalty box. Over time he learns to use
his appetite for risk and
assertiveness wisely.
Now imagine this same child growing up in a dangerous neighborhood
with few organized sports or other constructive channels for his
boldness. You can see how he might fall into delinquency. It may be that
some disadvantaged kids who get into trouble suffer not solely from
poverty or neglect, say those who hold this view, but also from the
tragedy of a bold and exuberant temperament
deprived of healthy
outlets.
The destinies of the most high-reactive kids are also influenced by the
world around them—perhaps even more so than for the average child,
according to a groundbreaking new theory dubbed “the orchid
hypothesis” by David Dobbs in a wonderful article in
The Atlantic
. This
theory holds that many children are like dandelions, able to thrive in
just about any environment. But others, including the high-reactive types
that Kagan studied, are more like orchids: they wilt easily, but under the
right conditions can grow strong and magnificent.
According to Jay Belsky, a leading proponent of this view and a
psychology professor and child care expert at the University of London,
the reactivity of these kids’ nervous
systems makes them quickly
overwhelmed by childhood adversity, but also able to benefit from a
nurturing environment more than other children do. In other words,
orchid children are more strongly affected by all experience, both
positive and negative.
Scientists have known for a while that high-reactive temperaments
come with risk factors. These kids are especially vulnerable to challenges
like marital tension, a parent’s death, or abuse. They’re more likely than
their peers to react to these events with depression, anxiety, and shyness.
Indeed, about a quarter of Kagan’s high-reactive kids suffer from some
degree of the condition known as “social
anxiety disorder,” a chronic
and disabling form of shyness.
What scientists
haven’t
realized until recently is that these risk factors
have an upside. In other words, the sensitivities and the strengths are a
package deal. High-reactive kids who enjoy good parenting, child care,
and a stable home environment tend to have
fewer
emotional problems
and more social skills than their lower-reactive peers, studies show.
Often they’re exceedingly empathic, caring, and cooperative. They work
well with others. They are kind, conscientious, and easily disturbed by
cruelty, injustice, and irresponsibility. They’re successful at the things
that matter to them. They don’t necessarily turn into class presidents or
stars of the school play,
Belsky told me, though this can happen, too:
“For some it’s becoming the leader of their class. For others it takes the
form of doing well academically or being well-liked.”
The upsides of the high-reactive temperament have been documented
in exciting research that scientists are only now beginning to pull
together. One of the most interesting findings, also reported in Dobbs’s
Atlantic
article, comes from the world of rhesus monkeys, a species that
shares about 95 percent of its DNA with humans and has elaborate social
structures that resemble our own.
In these monkeys as well as in humans, a gene known as the
serotonin-transporter (SERT) gene, or 5-HTTLPR, helps to regulate the
processing
of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects mood. A
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