"Stranger anxiety is said to occur when infants or children feel uncomfortable or frightened when approached by someone they do not know. Stranger anxiety occurs even though the child is with a trusted caregiver and in a safe environment"(OCD).
Some symptoms may include:
- getting quiet
- staring at the stranger
- verbally protesting by cries or other vocalizations
- hiding behind a parent.
“Children at this age have schemas for familiar faces; when they cannot assimilate the new face into these remembered schemas, they become distressed” (Myers, 2013, page 182)