19.8: Temperament and Later Personality

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Amanda Taintor

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Continuing Influences

Parents gaze into the faces of their newborn infants and wonder "What kind of person will this child become?" They scrutinize their baby's preferences, characteristics, and responses for clues of a developing personality. Temperament is a foundation for personality growth, but it is not the whole story. Although temperament is biologically based, it interacts with the influence of experiences from the moment of birth (if not before) to shape personality (Rothbart, 2011). Temperamental dispositions are affected by the support level of parental care, and personality is shaped by the goodness of fit between the child's temperamental qualities and the characteristics of the environment (Chess & Thomas, 1999). For example, an adventurous child would find goodness of fit and supported personality growth with parents who regularly take her on weekend hiking and fishing trips. Much like the other facets of social development, personality results from the continuous interplay between biological disposition and experience.

Personality develops from temperament in other ways (Thompson, Winer, & Goodvin, 2010). As children mature biologically, temperamental characteristics emerge and change over time. A newborn is not capable of much self-control, but temperamental self-regulation changes become more apparent as brain-based self-control capacities advance. For example, a newborn who cries frequently doesn't necessarily have a grumpy personality; over time, with sufficient parental support and an increased sense of security, the child might be less likely to cry.

Personality is made up of many other features besides temperament. Children's developing self-concept, motivations to achieve or socialize, values and goals, coping styles, sense of responsibility and conscientiousness, and many other qualities are encompassed in personality. Biological dispositions and the child's experiences with others (particularly in close relationships) both guide the growth of individual characteristics.

Personality development begins with the biological foundations of temperament but becomes elaborated, extended, and refined over time. The newborn whose parents first gazed upon him becomes an adult with depth and nuanced personality.[1]

[1] Thompson, R. (2022). Social and personality development in childhood CC BY-NC-SA. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available in our Licensing Agreement.