Robert J. Coplan is a professor in the Department of Psychology at Carleton University and the director of the Pickering Centre for Research in Human Development. His general research interests are in the area of children’s social and emotional functioning in educational contexts. However, for over 20 years, most of his research has focused on the development and implications of shyness in childhood. His previous books include The Development of Shyness and Social Withdrawal (with Kenneth Rubin, 2010), Social Development in Childhood and Adolescence: A Contemporary Reader (with Melanie Killam, 2011), and the Handbook of Solitude: Psychological Perspectives on Social Isolation, Social Withdrawal, and Being Alone (with Julie Bowker, 2014). He lives with his wife and two children in Ottawa, Canada.