Temperament

“Psychologists often discuss the difference between ‘temperament’ and ‘personality.’ Temperament refers to inborn, biologically based behavioral and emotional patterns that are observable in infancy and early childhood; personality is the complex brew that emerges after cultural influence and personal experience are thrown into the mix,” wrote Susan Cain¹.

Jerome Kagan, one of the great developmental psychologists of the twentieth century, conducted a study on five hundred four-month-old infants for Child Development at Harvard, predicting, on the strength of forty-five-minute evaluation, which babies were more likely to turn into #introverts or extroverts.

Professor Kagan’s studies found that high-reactive children grow up to be introverts who avoids risk and are comfortable in their own self-controlled environment, while low-reactive children becomes extroverted adults who are risk takers and outgoing.

High- and low-reactive infants seems to be the opposite of what we expect from what an introvert and extrovert adult act like based on Kagan’s studies. High-reactive infants, who are likely to grow up as introverted, are those who react more robustly to new stimuli such as balloon popping, colorful visuals, or lively music. On the other hand, low-reactive, the upcoming extroverts, are those infants who does the opposite and remain calm and quiet to new experiences.

Though we are born with prepackaged temperaments that powerfully shape our personality trait, the lingering question is, is our inborn temperament a permanent curse or a blessing# that we can never escape in our adult life? This topic is further explored in Is Temperament Destiny?#.