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WARINESS OF STRANGERS: REALITY OR ARTIFACT?
Author(s) -
Batter Bonnie S.,
Davidson Christine V.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1979.tb00490.x
Subject(s) - psychology , novelty , artifact (error) , interpersonal communication , observational study , affect (linguistics) , interpersonal relationship , developmental psychology , social psychology , anxiety , phenomenon , social anxiety , cognitive psychology , epistemology , communication , medicine , philosophy , pathology , neuroscience , psychiatry
SUMMARY Observational research on wariness of strangers is reviewed. The data indicate that negative reactions to unfamiliar persons become common during the second half of the first year. Positive reactions also occur, and there is evidence that certain infant attributes, stranger characteristics, and contextual features affect whether or not the infant becomes distressed. This complex phenomenon can be best understood as a developmental organizer. The negative reactions noted in the literature have most often been construed as expressions of interpersonal wariness reflecting recognition of the stranger's unfamiliarity or novelty. The possibilities that such responses also mirror the infant's emerging sensitivity to atypical social behavior and intrapsychic anxiety about his developing sense of separateness are discussed. Examination of research methodology points to several common shortcomings in the studies.