Have you ever asked a new parent how their child is doing? Chances are, they describe their little one as easygoing, a bit tricky to manage, slow to warm up to new faces, or someone who cries a lot. These descriptions point to temperament. A unique blend of inborn traits shapes how an individual reacts to the world around them. However, these raise questions such as: What exactly is temperament? Is it the foundation of a child’s personality, or does personality develop independently? Does parenting or the role of the caregiver impact the temperament of the child? Can a child’s temperament evolve? Let’s explore this fascinating puzzle of nature and nurture, where temperament plays a starring role in defining who we are.
What is Temperament?
Temperament is an individual’s innate reaction to an event or situation and how one understands and adapts to the world around them. Young children vary in their capacity to self-regulate and manage their motor and attentional behaviours. Additionally, the severity and duration of their initial reactions to their surroundings also differ (Goleman, 1995). Researchers Chess and Thomas in 1996 identified nine dimensions of temperament in children –
- Activity Level: refers to the general motor level of the child, which is how physically active the child is. Children with high activity levels switch fast from one task to another. Activities that require sitting will be troubling for them, while children with low activity choose calmer activities.
- Rhythmicity: the regularity of biological functions such as sleep, appetite, and toileting. Children with regular rhythms have a similar daily schedule of sleeping and eating. While children with irregular rhythms have varying rhythms, it’s harder for them to work in a fixed routine.
- Adaptation: It refers to the ease with which one can adjust to changes in situation, environment, or people. Children to adapt will not have difficulty shifting from playtime to eating or nap time. However, children who are slow to adapt may react strongly to changes in their environment.
- Approach or withdraw: It refers to the way children deal with the new environment, situation, or people. An approaching child would interact with new people cheerfully or jump in to explore new places. While withdrawing children would take extra time and might hang back before exploring the new place.
- Threshold of response: The stimulation required before the child responds to it. Highly sensitive children may get upset by a vehicle’s sounds or cries in disco lights, while low-sensitive children may not be as strongly affected.
- Intensity of reaction: refers to the emotional response to the situation. Children with high intensity would react strongly to negative situations, even if the situation is not that serious. Low-intensity children may restrict their reaction or may not react much to the situation.
- Quality of Mood: It refers to the overall emotional disposition. Children with naturally positive moods appear to be happy and bubbly, while children with low positive moods appear to be unhappy and subdued.
- Distractibility: how easily a child’s attention is diverted by their external environment. High-distractibility children have difficulty concentrating or focusing on one task for long. Low-distractibility children easily get their focus on a task and sometimes are absorbed in it.
- Attention span and Persistence: how long a child can stick to the task despite challenges. A highly persistent child will find every piece of the puzzle till it is complete, while a child low in persistence is more likely to move to another activity or game.
With these dimensions, studies show that temperament is multi-dimensional. Thus, several mechanisms assist the child in accommodating their emotional state and response to their environment. Therefore, accounting for individual differences in the temperament of children (Michigan State University Extension, 2017).
Types of Temperament
- Easy child: these children quickly adapt to any changes in the environment, have a routine, and are generally happy & active.
- Slow to warm up: These children are more observers and take a little extra time to adapt to new situations. They are generally calm.
- Difficult: These children take a lot of time to adapt to a new situation and would react with agitation & irritability in a new environment. They are generally fussy and have intense reactions to varied situations.
A child’s response to new situations or interactions with others may seem to define these categories. However, the parents’ experiences and how they manage the child’s reactions influence them more significantly (Rettew & McKee, 2005).
Is temperament the blueprint of personality?
As it is clear from the above discussion, there are individual differences in temperament. The question arises: if individuals have unique temperaments, then these would certainly develop into their personalities in adulthood. Fortunately, the answer to this question is no. Research suggests that while a child’s temperament may guide their development, it does not ultimately determine their personality. Let’s see how.
1. Nature v/s Nurture
One of the longest-standing debates in psychology. Temperament is defined as the innate response of an individual to their environment, i.e. how they react to their surroundings. The first thought that comes with the definition is that, yes, it is biological and that nature is responsible for it. Genetics is indeed responsible for our temperament, but that’s not all. Genetics heavily influences temperament; however, the environment also plays a crucial role. Along with the impact of genetics, the environmental factors that impact temperament are parenting practices and style, disciplinary mechanisms used by caregivers, and the attachment and attunement of the child and caregiver. The environmental impact on babies, according to the research, begins even before they are born.
The brain structure and chemistry, especially of our emotional brain, i.e. the amygdala, are influenced by the environment in the mother’s womb. Every individual who interacts with the child leaves an indelible impression on the mind of the child. The most important role is played by the primary caregiver, as they spend a major amount of time with the child.
It’s a two-way relationship between environment and temperament, according to research. For instance, children who have an easygoing temperament are more resilient to life challenges. The difficult children, those who show aggression, are impulsive and inattentive, and are less likely to get support and acceptance from stakeholders such as parents and teachers. This increases the risk of social isolation and rejection. Thus, a child’s temperament shapes the trajectory of their life. In conclusion, while temperament might seem to rely on genetics, both genetics and the environment influence it.
Thus, with biology, the environment also interacts over the years as the child’s personality is developed. Traumatic experiences get logged in the subconscious. The child would have been born with an innate temperament. However, over the years of interaction with the environment, their temperament comes from a combination of biology and environment. As D.C. Rettew describes temperament with a metaphor, children are like big mountains that can create their own weather.
2. The Role of Parenting
Kagan and other research studies in 2008 found that temperament is not destiny. The amygdala can be taught with the right emotional lessons. Thus, emotional capabilities are not given, but they can be improved with learning (Goleman, 1995). Additionally, with the above discussion of Nature v/s Nurture, the significant role of the caregiver in the development of a child’s temperament is clear. However, the question is, what can the parent do? There are some key principles that parents can understand that would contribute to their child’s development. These areas are as follows:
1. Attunement
Attunement is a process where the caregiver spends most of their time with the child, not just mimicking what they do, but giving the child the sense that they understand what the child is feeling. This is the time when the child forms a bond with their primary caregiver. How the caregiver thinks and feels will determine their response to the child. For example, if the mother is the primary caregiver and she is in an angry mode of response. As a response to the child’s cry, the mother says, “You are naughty or You are useless. Thus, these hurtful and derogatory terms are going to affect the self-concept and self-esteem of the child.
When the caregiver interacts with a child, emotional competence also builds. During this period, empathy also begins to develop. A beautiful example of empathy in infancy is an act where the child cries upon hearing or seeing the other child cry. Or an infant picks a toy and gives it to another infant who is crying. When a child’s needs are acknowledged and met, then attunement is considered.
2. Parenting styles and practices
Every parent has their own style of parenting, which determines their parenting practices. In the 1960s, Diana Baumrind identified styles of parenting, which were further elaborated into four styles: Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, and Neglectful. These styles are based on two dimensions: warmth and control. Authoritative is the most acceptable parenting style according to research. In which parents are high on warmth and control. In other words, parents are responsive to their child’s needs but also form boundaries and expectations with their child based on their age.
An optimal parenting style should be flexible enough for the caregiver to adapt to the child’s temperament. According to Bowlby (1969), the goal of parenting is to provide a haven for the child. Where the child makes the parent a secure base to explore their environment, knowing that at any moment of challenge, the caregiver will be present to support them. Therefore, the temperament of the child determines the parenting practices.
Goodness of Fit
Two famous researchers, Stella Chess and Alexander Thomas, claim that temperaments by themselves are not good or bad on their own. The degree to which the temperament and environment are a good fit determines whether it works or not. Some children enjoy being surrounded by people and exposed to loud sounds, while others prefer calm and solitary spaces. Experts call this compatibility between the child and their environment “the goodness of fit.”
A specific parenting strategy works better for one child compared to others. When parents can tailor their expectations and method of caregiver matching to the child, a “goodness of fit” is created. One myth suggests that the caregiver must match the child’s temperament. But that’s not true; neither the parent nor the child has to change who they are. The caregiver has to simply customise their parenting practices to be a positive support in the child’s natural way of responding to their environment. For instance, if a child is highly active, then a parent can pack some extra toys for the child along with diapers for a doctor’s visit.
Early years of life
The human brain does not fully develop at birth; however, studies show that it develops 90 per cent within the first five years. Thus, the early years are crucial for intensive growth and development. Children are born with more neurons than their adult brains; this is due to the process of pruning. Pruning is a process in which the neural connections that are less used get lost with time, while connections that are utilised become stronger. Therefore, attunement, goodness of fit, parenting practices, and the child’s environment contribute significantly to the development of temperament.
Therefore, goodness of fit is one of the significant prevention interventions wherein one-size-fits-all models are insufficient. Parents need to learn to adapt their parenting practices according to the child’s temperament. This adaptation helps to strengthen a child’s capabilities and minimise their weaknesses, giving them the opportunity to reach their best potential in life.
Conclusion
Parents with more than one child often wonder how, despite raising them in the same environment, their kids can have such different reactions to the world. However, if you were to ask the children, their responses would likely differ, influenced by their unique experiences and viewpoints. Research suggests that the reality lies somewhere in the middle. While temperament plays a key role in who we are, our environment, experiences, and decisions also significantly shape us. It’s a combination of both inherent traits and life experiences that ultimately define us. Children don’t come with an instruction manual, as there is no single product that needs to be assembled. Therefore, the caregivers can contribute positively to the child’s development through key principles such as attunement and forming a good fit.
References +
Kylie Rymanowicz, Michigan State University Extension. (2017, October 18). The nine traits of temperament. MSU Extension. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/the_nine_traits_of_temperament
Rettew, D. C., & McKee, L. (2005). Temperament and its role in developmental psychopathology. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 13(1), 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/10673220590923146
Lazdauskas, T., & McDevitt, S. C. (2023). The Chess–Thomas Adult Temperament Questionnaire: Psychometric properties of the Lithuanian version. Social Sciences, 12(2), 52. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12020052
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam Books.
