n. a pattern of behavior characterized by shyness, timidity, withdrawal, and fear of the unfamiliar. The emotionality is negative and there is restraint in responding to the world. Often, the individual tends to scrutinize the environment for perceived threats. First proposed by U.S. psychologists J. Steven Reznick (1951- ) and Jerome Kagan (1929- ).
BEHAVIORAL INHIBITION: “Out of behavioral inhibition, a person may tend to withdraw from being in new surroundings and interacting with unfamiliar people.”