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Chapter-I Introduction

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he aim of higher sports in this age of competition is to win or to give peak

performance during competition period. Sports are the act of varying social, physical

and psychological behaviour against obstacles in a competitive structural

institutionalised situation. The variability in human behaviour is so immense that it

has been a challenge to psychologists who study individual differences.

1.1 TEMPERAMENT : AN EARLY VIEW

The study of temperament is as old as the Hindu Upanishads and as recent as

yesterday‟s studies in molecular genetics. Charka (5th

century BC) and Sushruta

Samhita (2nd

Century BC) presented the ancient Indian version of “Prakriti”

(Temperament). The „Ayurvedic‟ (Medical) thinkers charaka and Sushrata recognised

the influence of body humours. Vatta, Pitta, Kapha over and above the three “gunas”

Satva, Rajas and Tamas (Shastri & Chaturvedi, 1989).1

Charaka enumerated seven satvik types of person, six Rajas types and three

tamas types. Altogether sixteen types. Sushruta spoke of seven different types of

temperament according to the deranged „doshas‟ of the body, either singularity or in

combination of two or of all the three together. The three main temperament types

based on three „doshas‟ (humour) are Vataja (wakeful, averse to bathing, vain &

dishonest, capable of accumulating very little money); Pittvaja (irritable in temper but

cools down very soon, intelligent & possesses good money); Kaphaja (self controlled,

farbearing, unselfish, does not hasitly form opinion, capable of sustaining pain &

fatigue).

A combination of two different temperaments was called a double

temperament or a Dvandvaja one; and One of all the three temperament in a person

was stated as a Sannipatika one. Sushruta asserted that the temperament (Prakriti) of a

person is determined by prepondrance of the particular doshas at the time of

conception, hence hereditary in nature.

1Sastri, K., and Chaturvedi, G. (1989). Charak Samhita of Agnivesa, Varanasi : Choukhamba Bharti

Academy.

T


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Greek Physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC) believed that certain human

moods, emotions and behaviours were caused by body fluids called humors : blood,

Yellow bile, black bile and phlegm.

In the 20th

century the German psychiatrist Ernst Kretschmer conducted his

study of the relation between body type and personality. Kretschmer devised a

method of measuring body types, resulting in a classification of three fundamental

types. Pyknic (Plump, round physique), Athletic (Muscular Vigorous physique),

Asthenic (Frail, linear physique). These physiques were then found to differ in

incidence of psychiatric disorder, a Pyknic physique being associated with manic-


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depressive disorder and an asthenic physique being associated with schizopherenia.

Beyond this, Krestschmer assumed a relation between physique and normal

personality (e.g. Pyknic & Extroversion, asthenic & introversion), although no

evidence was presented for such a relationship. Kretschmer‟s work suffered from

faulty methodology (e.g. he did not correct for the fact that manic-depressive disorder

tend to occur later in life than sachizophrenia and people tend to become heavier and

rounded with age) but it laid the foundation for later work in constitutional

psychology.

Kretschmer‟s work on body type and personality was followed-up by William

Sheldon, who spent time with Jung and also visited both Freud and Kretschmer.

Clearly defining his work as the study of constitutional psychology, Sheldon

suggested that each person has an inherited basic biological structure (bodily

physique, constitution) that determines one‟s temperament. He defined three

dimensions of physique that largely corresponded to those suggested by Kretschmer –

Endomorphy (Soft & round), Mesomorphy (hard & rectangle muscular) and

Ectomorphy (linear, fragile, thin & lightly muscled).

Sheldon proposed three aspect of temperament each of which has many

manifestation in personality – Viscerotonia – is made up of such qualities as

relaxation, tolerance, sociability, lone of comfort and easy goingness; Somatotonia –

includes qualities such as courage, energetic assertiveness and a desire for adventure,

risk and physical activities; cerebrotonia – includes a mental over intensity that

approaches appreheniveness, an inhibition and avoidance of social interaction, a

physical & emotional restraint and a tendency toward privacy (even – secretiveness).

1.2 WHY STUDY TEMPERAMENT

Why do I need everything to be completely shipshape ? Why I am always

getting into battle with my boss and my children ? Why is my sister so restless while I

am quite happy to sit home and read ? What‟s wrong with me, or is there something

wrong with her ? Why am I always so happy while my wife is often sad, even when

we are both on vacation ? My brother is a much harder worker than I am, how can I

match him ? Most of us ask ourselves these questions at least occasionally; others


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concentrate on them almost constantly and spend lots of time and money to come up

with answers.

Understanding temperament – your own and others – make you much better

equipped to handle interpersonal relationship successfully. Studying your own

temperament helps you understand your strengths and weaknesses and why you do

some of thing you do. Understanding another‟s temperament can help you adapt your

communication to others, or at the least, understand why you have problems with

them.

Your temperament is like an artist‟s canvas. It is your basic inherited style. It

is the fabric underlying why you are ? Temperament is generally identified with:

The components of personality that are biological in origin (e.g. Buss and

Plomin, 1984);2

Traits that are relatively stable, cross situational, consistent and evident

throughout the age span and diverse cultures (Rothbart and Derryberry,

1981);3

The style (how) rather than the content (what) or purpose (why) of behaviour

(Thomas and Chess, 1977).4

1.2.1 Which Temperament is better?

Once upon a time, there was a tribe. One night their neighbors crept up quietly

and attacked them. They all would be killed, if the very excitable and sensitive didn‟t

wake up because of noise. He was the choleric. He quickly jumped up, undressed, and

without arms, rushed to the enemy. Of course, he was killed very fast. Sensitive, but

more than adequate sanguine wake up when the choleric escaped. He realized what

had happened, quickly grabbed a club, and ran to fight. He fought for a longer time

than the choleric, but he was killed because of the obvious advantage of the enemy.

2 Buss, Arnold H. & Plomin, Robert (1984). Temperament: Early Developing Personality Traits.

Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. 3 Rothbert, M.K. & Derryberry, D. (1981). Development of individual differences in temperament. In

M.E. Lamb & A. Brown (Eds.), Advances in Developmental Psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 37-86).

Hillsdale, NJ : Erlbaum. 4 Thomas, A. & Chess, S. (1977). Temperament and Development. New York: Brunner/ Mazel.


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The phlegmatic wake up while the sanguine was fighting. He woke up his

countrymen. They dressed, and joined the fighting. The battle lasted for a long time,

but due to small number, almost all were killed.

But you should remember that the man is great and perfect. The man can fight

and win. He dares to fight even with the nature. The desire to reach the goal can be

very strong, and each of us can choose his own path against all odds!

The tribe could die, if the melancholic didn‟t hide behind a rock and thus

would not have survived.

This parable tells us that in each of the temperament, there are positive

qualities, its own advantages. You should be able to see and use them, for

example in sports. On the basis of his nature, the man can reach certain heights

in the activity he is involved.

1.2.2 Defining Temperament

Today researchers generally think of temperament as general pattern of

behavior and mood that can be expressed in many different ways and that depending

on one‟s experience, develop into different personality traits. How these general

disposition develop into stable personality traits depends on a complete interplay of

one‟s genetic disposition and the environment that a person grows up in.

In ordinary English usage, a temperamental person is some one who is high-

strung, easily excitable, prone to quick changes in mood, or fickle. The most typical

definition of temperament was proposed by Thomas and Chess .Temperament by their

definition, can be equated to the term behavior style. Each refers to the “how” rather

than the “what “or the “why” of behavior. By the definition:-

“Temperament is a phenomenological term in which the categorization of any

individual is derived form the constellation of behavior at any one age period. These

behavior are the result of all the influences, past & present, which shape and modify

these behavior in a constantly evolving interactive process”.

To personality psychologist temperament refers to three aspects of behavior,

that appear relatively early in life:- activity level, mood and emotional responsiveness

to other people. Individual differences among body‟s activity level, general level of


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irritability and positive versus negative emotional tone when interacting with people

are the behavioural characteristics or dimensions. Most temperament researchers

assume to be both genetically based and influenced by the babies early environments

(Goldsmith et al. 1987)5

Temperaments are broad personality dispositions rather than specific

personality traits. How general behavior dispositions interact with t he environment

the person grow up finally. Individual differences in temperaments can usually be

seen in the first year of life and persist through a person and lifetime (Buss, 1991).6

Although researchers agree that temperaments are general behaviour patterns

that can often be seen in newborns, they do not always agree on how to identify and

classify the different kinds of temperaments they observer (Caspi, 1998;7 Shiner,

1998).8 Cattell (1965)

9 classified some personality factors as temperament trails, those

trait that describe the general style and emotional level of our behaviour.

Beginning in the 1970s, Arnold Buss of the University of Texas of Austin,

and Robert Plomin of Pennsylvania State University, identified temperaments that

they believe are the basic building blocks of personality. Temperament is a

compelling framework with in which to study the contribution of individual

differences to the development process. At one time, people believed that

temperament was heredity, that it was determined by „body humors‟ glands and even

body build. Today, there is evidence that it is largely product of learning, although

health and endocrine balance are important influences. The predominant emotional

stimuli of the early, formative years and the way the child learns to respond to them

will eventually determine the child‟s temperament. Temperament traits relate to other

emotional and stylistic qualities of behaviour. For example, people may either work

5 Goldsmith, H.H.; Buss, A.H., Plomin, R., Rothbart, M.K., Thomas, A., Chess, S. et al. (1987).

Roundtable: What is Temperament ? Four Approaches. Child Development, 58, 505-529. 6 Buss, A.H. (1991). The EAS Theory of Temperament. In J. Strelau and A. Angelitner (Eds.).

Explanation in Temperament (pp. 43-60). London : Plenum. 7 Caspi, A. (1998). Personality Development Across the Life Course. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & N.

Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 3, Social, Emotional and Personality

Development (5th

ed., pp. 105-176). New York: John Wiley and Sons. 8 Shiner, R.L. (1998). How shall we Speak of Children‟s Personality in Middle Childhood ? A

Preliminary Taxonomy. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 308-332. 9 Cattell, R.B. (1965). The Scientific Analysis of Personality. Baltimore: Penguin Books.


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quickly or slowly on a task or respond calmly to a crisis. Cattell considers

temperament traits to be constitutional source that determine a person‟s emotionality.

Children with easy temperaments who lead to be very regular (predictable) in

biological rhythms of sleeping, eating and eliminating – readily approach others and

new events, adapt easily to change, manifest a positive mood, and do not fuss and cry

too much. Children with difficult temperament show the opposite pattern. Their

biological rhythms are irregular, they withdraw for others and new events. They adapt

shortly to new situations, they are often in a negative mood and they fuss and cry

frequently. “The slow-to-warm up” children are in between these extremes.

According to Buss (1995),10

these traits are as follows:

1. Emotionality – refers to high physiological arousal and generalized negative

affect. It is the tendency to become aroused easily and intensely, to become

easily frustrated and distressed.

2. Fearfulness – involves the tendency to be wary, run away, or cower, as well

as the accompanying physiological arousal.

3. Activity- refers to total energy output, as expressed in vigour or tempo.

4. Nurturance - is the tendency to help others; it includes altruism.

5. Sociability -is a preference for being with others rather than remaining alone.

6. Impulsivity- is the tendency to act on the spur of the moment without pause or

reflection.

7. Aggressiveness -consists of attacking or threatening.

8. Dominance- refers to seeking and maintaining superior status over others.

Each of these traits has a genetic component. They evolved because they have

adaptive values; that is, they help ensure survival and reproduction. A closer

examination suggests that moderate levels of these traits are more likely to be

10

Buss, A.H. (1995). Personality: Temperament, Social Behaviour and the Self. The University of

Texas at Austin, Allyn and Bacon.


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adaptive than extreme levels (Zukerman, 1990),11

e.g. extreme fearfulness and a

complete lack of activity obviously have severe negative consequences.

Although, these traits have a biological basis, it is also clear that the

environment plays a determining role in each of them . Evolutionary theorists assume

that both biology and environment influence behaviour. They endorse an interactional

temperamental model, which states that environment and temperamental traits

mutually influence each other. As an example, let us consider how one of these eight

traits, activity level interacts with environment or situations to influence an

individual‟s behaviour. Clearly, differences exist among people in their activity

levels. Some people speak rapidly and loudly, walk and run quickly and gesticulate

frequently and emphatically; others speak deliberately and softly, stroll when they

walk, and, in general, maintain a slow pace of life. Lethargic, in contrast, may be

frustrated in high stress, fast paced jobs that demand large amounts of energy.

Buss also believes that we inherited broad temperament traits, which becomes

more differentiated into specific components as we mature. Aggressiveness e.g. may

become differentiated as physical aggression, verbal aggression, irritability and

passive aggression.

Temperament traits also combine to produce unique behaviour e.g. people

who are sociable and dominant tend to seek social status through sharing and working

with others. In contrast , people who are low in sociability and high in dominance are

likely to seek social status through aggression .Sociable people who are altruistic will

feel empathy for other sand endeavour to help not only friends and relatives but also

strangers in distress. Unsociable people who are altruistic will tend to help others, not

out of empathy, but because of moral code or a sense of responsibility (Buss, 1995).

Finally, evolutionary theories argue that there are biologically rooted sex differences

in humans and in other primates for most of these traits. Primate males poke, prey and

stir things up, where as females act as a conservative, quieting and nurturing force in

primate groups .

11

Zuckerman, M. (1990). The Psychophysiology of Sensation Seeking. Journal of Personality, 58,

313-345.


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1.3 TEMPERAMENT AND PERSONALITY:

In reviewing the literature on temperament, a primary challenge lie in adopting

a widely acceptable definition of the broad construct of temperament or any of it‟s

component dimensions. The history of the study of temperament and personality

reveals several themes across various definitions, including a biological or

constitutional basis, emphasis on longitudinal stability and cross situational

consistency, association with clinical risk and multidimensional or multicategory

nature.

Streleu and Angleitner in reviewing the international perspectives on the

theory and measurement of temperament noted that during the year1975 to1979 , the

term temperament was used in the life title and/or summary of 173 abstracts. During

the next five years, it was used in 367 abstracts and during the years 1985-1989, the

term appeared in 463 abstracts.

As the author noted even if the review of temperament literature is restricted

to those abstracts. It can easily be concluded that temperament is used in different

contexts and with different meanings, hardly allowing any comparisons or general

statements. One of the consequences of this state of affair is that our knowledge on

temperament does not cumulate despite the increasing research activity in this field.

The increasing in tersest in research on temperament that can be observed in the last

decade goes together with the growing variety of theories as well as methodological

issues rewarding temperament other factors, the energy level and the temporal

characteristics of action.

Being primarily determined by inborn physiological mechanisms,

temperament is subject to changes caused by maturation and by some environmental

factors.

Pavlov recognized the influence of ante and postnatal factors and the result of

early social experience in shaping up of temperamental. He believed that the

interaction of temperament and early environment described as character with

aptitudes constitutes personality. In his later works, Pavlov also acknowledged the

importance of environmental factors, arguing that while each individual belongs to


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one or another temperament classes his/her actual behaviour (the phenotype) depends

on experience.

Bates (1987)12

provided a definition of temperament which conveyed its

distinctive characteristics: biologically rooted individual differences in behaviour

tendencies that are present early in life and are relatively stable across various kind of

situations and over the course of time.

Temperament like intelligence and/or physique might be said to designate a

class of rare material from which personality is fashioned. It refers to the chemical

climate or internal weather in which personality evolves. The more anchored a

disposition is in native constitutional soil, the more likely is to be spoken of as

temperament.

According to Strelau (1987)13

, “Temperament may be regarded as (a) one of

the element of personality (b) as a synonym of personality and (c) as a phenomenon

with, its own specificity not belonging to the structure of personality” Strelau favours

the last position namely that temperament is a phenomenon with it s own specificity.

He points out that temperament consisted of a set of formal relatively stable traits

which are revealed in behaviour at the level of energy and in the temporal patterning

of reactions. The term formal was used to emphasize the notion that temperament per

se no content and does not determine the content of behavoiur in any direct way. But

the possibility of indirect influence can not be ruled out.

As one of the regulatory mechanism of behaviour temperament is manifested

in all kinds of reactions (actions) independent of their direction or content.

Temperament conditioned by structural and functional properties of an individual has

an effect on the course of actions by determining alone or in conjunction with other

factors, the energy level and the temporal characteristics of action. Being primarily

determined by inborn physiological mechanism, temperament is subject to changes by

maturation and by some environmental factors.

12

Bate, J.E. (1987). Temperament in infancy. In J.D. Osofsky (Ed.) Handbook of infant Development

(2nd

Edn.) New York: Wily, pp. 1101-1149. 13 Strelau, Jom (1987). The concept of Temperament in Personality Research. New York: John Wiley

& Sons.


11

Strelau (1987) discusses five respects in which there is at least a popular

difference between personality and temperament.

1. Temperament is biologically determined whereas personality is a product of

the social environment.

2. Temperament features may be identified from easily childhood, whereas

personality is shaped in later periods of development.

3. Individual differences in temperamental traits like anxiety, extraversion –

introversion and stimulus seeking are also observed in animals, whereas

personality is the prerogative of humans.

4. Temperament stands for stylistic aspects, personality for content aspect of

behaviour.

5. Unlike temperament, personality refers to the integrative function of human

behaviour.

Diamond (1957)14

considers the dispositions which we share with other

animals as being temperament. Those aspect of individuality which arise from

distinctively human‟s capacity Diamond calls personality. Philips (1983)15

defines

personality as: “The integrated organization of all the cognitive, affective and physical

characteristics of an individual as it manifests itself in local distinctiveness and

carrying a special meaning to others.”

The dynamics of temperament are addressed by Hinde who argue that:

“Temperament characteristics can not be viewed as aspect of the behaviour style of an

individual. They may vary at least to some extent, with the context of behaviour. And

they are affected by the social and physical situation, cognitive development and by

other aspects of the individual.”

Gordon All port, a pioneer in the field of personality wrote about temperament

earlier, but his clearest statement of what temperament is can be found in his 1961

book, “temperament refers to the characteristics phenomenon of an individual‟s

14

Diamond, S. (1957). Personality and temperament. New York : Harper. 15 Philips D.P. (1983). The Impact of Mass-Media Violence on U.S. Homicides. American Sociological

Review, 48, 560-568.


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nature,, including susceptibility to emotional stimulation, his coustomary strength and

speed of response, the quality of his prevailing mood, and all the peculiarities of

fluctuation and intensity of mood, thus being phenomenon regarded as dependent on

constitution, and therefore largely hereditary in nature. Temperament describes the

initial state from which personality develops. Temperament and exercise together

„grow‟ a personality, which will include the child‟s developing cognitions about self,

others, and the physical and social world, as well as his or her values, attitude and

coping strategies.

Temperament is defined as individual differences in emotional, motor, and

attentional reactivity measured by latency, intensity and recovery of response and

self-regulation processes such as effortful control that modulate reactivity (Rothbart &

Derryberry, 1981).16

These differences are biologically based and are linked to an

individual‟s genetic endowment (Posner, Rothbart & Sheese, 2007).17

Although the term temperament has many meanings, the most widespread

refers to early-appearing patterns of observable behaviour that are presumed to be

biologically based and that distinguish one child from another. Leading researchers in

the field explain temperament as “constitutionally based individual differences in

emotional and attentional reactivity and self regulation, influenced over time by

heredity and experience” . Temperamental characteristics are presumed to show some

cross-situational stability and some stability across time (although the behaviours that

reflect the characteristic alter with development), and these characteristics have

differing degrees of genetic basis (Rothbart & Bates, 1998).18

Temperamental

predispositions are necessary, but not sufficient, building blocks for the child‟s

developing “personality”. They serve as the “raw material that is modified – and

sometimes radically changed – to yield the recognizable features of mature human

16

Rothbart, M.K. & Derryberry, D. (1981). Development of Individual Differences in Temperament. In


Hillsdale, NJ : Erlbaum. 17

Posner, M.I., Rothbert, M.K. & Sheese, B.E. (2007). Attention genes. Developmental Science, 10, 24-

29. 18

Rothbart, M.K. & Bates, J.E. (1998). Temperament. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & N. Eisenberg (Vol.

Ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 3, Social, Emotional and Personality Development (5th

Ed. pp. 105-176). New York : John Wiley and Sons.


13

personality”. (Goldsmith, Lemery, Aksan & Buss, 2000).19

In addition to biological

predispositions, “personality” involves the child‟s evolving self-concept, internal

models for self in relationship to others, goals, values, and interpretations of

experiences (Caspi, 1998).20

The concept of temperament can generally be defined as a behavioural or

emotional trait that differs across individuals, appears early in life, is relatively stable

over the life-span and is, at least to some degree, influenced by biology. This broad

definition of temperament is generally agreed upon by most psychologists, but there is

a devil in the details. The majority of the many questions about temperament can be

summerized into two broad themes: what is the structure of temperament and how is

biology related to this structure.

Temperament, broadly defined, is among the oldest concepts in psychology.

Indeed, the general manner in which temperament is defined by behavioural scientists

today differs very little from the way the ancient Greeks talked about the essential

nature of a person. Galen used the four humors to identify nine basic temperament

types, five of which were the result of balanced relationships among the four humors

and four of which were derived from the dominance of one humor over the others

(Kagan, 1994).21

Strelau (1987)22

define temperament as the stylistic aspects of

behaviour rather than the content of behaviour. Perhaps this is why Strelau identified

nearly 80 different terms used to refer to temperament characteristics.

Buss and Plomin (1984)23

alternatively suggest that temperament is a

precursor to personality. According to their view temperament is the core set of

behavioural dimensions that provide the foundation for personality. This view of

temperament as a precursor to personality or as the biological foundations of

19

Goldsmith, H.H., Lemery, K.S. Aksan, N. & Buss, K.A. (2000). Temperament Substrates of

Personality Development. In V.J. Molfese & D.L. Molfese (Eds.), Temperament and Personality

Development Across the Life-Span (pp. 1-32). New Jersey: Erlbaum. 20

Caspi, A. (1998). Personality Development Across the Life Course. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & N.

Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 3, Social, Emotional and Personality

Development (5th

ed., pp. 105-176). New York: John Wiley and Sons. 21 Kagan, Jerome (1994). Galen’s Prophecy: Temperament in Human Nature. New York: Basic Books. 22

Strelau J. (1987). Emotion is a key concept in Temperament Research. Journal of Research in

Personality, 21, 510-528. 23

Buss, Arnold H. & Plomin, Robert (1984). Temperament: Early Developing Personality Traits.

Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.


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personality has recently become more widely accepted (Halverson, Kohnstamm, &

Martin, 1994).24

However, there are several difficulties in relating the concept of

personality and temperament. Strelau (1987)25

argues that first, temperament is

biologically determined while social process determine personality. Second, the

structure of personality is shaped much later in development than that of

temperament, which thought to be present very early in childhood. Personality is also

thought to be a behavioural phenomenon exclusive to humans, whereas temperament

traits such as approach and withdrawal have been shown in many species. It should be

noted, however, that several researchers are currently exploring the existence of the

“big five” personality factors in primates (King & Figureredo, 1997).26

One way that many researchers have thought about temperament as the

“quality of behaving” and differentiated it from personality, is by defining

temperament as an emotional trait. Allport (1937)27

originally proposed this view and

talked about temperament as the emotional characteristics of behaviour. Mehrabian

(1991)28

has outlined a general emotion theory of temperament in which the key

concept is the emotion state, defined as the transitory emotion which serves to relate

situations to personality variables. The average of emotion states over time and across

situations constitutes the emotion trait or temperament.

Several temperament researchers have discussed temperament as a dynamic

developmental process (e.g., Rothbart, Ziaie & O‟Boyle, 1992).29

This perspective is

not incompatible with an emotion or personality based view. The difference rather is

one of the static vs. dynamic and addresses the assumption of temperamental stability.

For example, Rothbart et al. defined temperament as individual differences in

24

Halverson, Charles F., Kohnstamm, Geldolbh, A., & Martin, Roy P. (1994). The Developing

Structure of Temperament and Personality from infancy to Adulthood. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence

Enlbaum Assoc. 25

Strelau, Jom (1987). The Concept of Temperament in Personality Research. New York: John Wiley

& Sons. 26

King, James, E. & Figueredo, Aurelio J. (1997). The five factor model plus dominance in

Chimpanzee Personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 31, 257-271 27

Allport, Gordon W. (1937). Personality: A Psychological Interpretation. New York: Holt. 28

Mehrabian, Albert (1991). Outline of a General Emotion-based Theory of Temperament. In Strelau,

Jan & Angleitner, Alois, (Eds.). Explorations in Temperament: International Perspectives on Theory

and Measurement. (pp. 75-86). New York: Plenum Press. 29 Rothbart, Mary K., Ziaie, Hasan, O‟Boyle, Cherie G. (1992). Self Regulation and Emotion in

Infancy. In Nancy, Eisenberg & Richard A. Fabes, (Eds.). Emotion and Its Regulation in Early

Development (pp. 7-23). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc.


15

reactivity and self regulation. According to this approach self regulation and reactivity

are the two defining aspects of temperament. Self regulation refers to the set of

processes that modulate the activities including selective attention and responsiveness

to cues. Reactivity refers to the arousability of the multiple physiological and

behavioural system of the organism. As the child develops, self-regulation processes

increasingly moderate reactive processes. Temperament is defined by an individual

child‟s reactivity to environmental events and stimuli, in combination with his or her

ability to self-regulate those processes. Thus, a highly reactive child could appear

similar in temperament to a less reactive child, if the former child has adequate self-

regulating skills.

Several inconsistencies or “disconnects” currently characterize the use of

temperament concepts in research and practice. Researchers and clinicians have not

yet reached a clear consensus about the definition of temperament dimensions, such

as “sociability” or “activity level”, that range the degree or intensity. Others use

categories of behaviour extremes, such as behavioural inhibition (e.g. Kagan, 1998).30

Some researchers define temperament largely in terms of emotions (e.g., Goldsmith et

al., 2000),31

where as others include cognitive functions, as well. For example,

Rothbart‟s temperament dimension of effortful control for children older than 3 years

of age (Rothbart & Derryberry, 2000)32

involves attentional focusing, shifting and

inhibitory control over behaviour. This attentional system appears to overlap with the

broad group of cognitive abilities related to regulation of behaviour and emotions that

is known as “Executive functions” (Frick & Morris, 2004).33

Despite long standing controversy over the definition of temperament, a

consensus is emerging that the term “temperament” refers to constitutionally based

differences in behavioural style that are visible from the child‟s earliest years.

30

Kagan, J. (1998). Biology and the Child. In W. Damon (Series Ed.) & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.),

Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 3, Social, Emotional and Personality Development (5th

Ed., pp.

177-235). New York: John Wiley and Sons. 31

Goldsmith, H.H., Lemery, K.S. Aksan, N. & Buss, K.A. (2000). Temperament Substrates of

Personality Development. In V.J. Molfese & D.L. Molfese (Eds.), Temperament and Personality

Development Across the Life-Span (pp. 1-32). New Jersey: Erlbaum. 32 Rothbart, M. & Derryberry, D. (2000, July). Temperament in Children. Paper Presented at the 26

th

International Congress of Psychology, Stockholm. 33

Frick, P.J. & Morris, A.S. (2004). Temperament and Developmental Pathways to Conduct Problems.

Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 54-68.


16

Specifically, the definition adopted here is of individual differences in emotional,

motor, and attentional reactivity to stimulation and in patterns of behavioural and

attentional self-regulation (Sanson, Smart and Hemphill, 2002).34

Reviewing all the definitions, Frick (2004)35

reached a general consensus

regarding the core features of the construct and delineated a number of common

elements. First, temperament is typically viewed as being inherited or at least

constitutional (i.e. directly related to biological processes) in nature. Second,

temperament is viewed as being evident early in life. Third, temperament is viewed as

relatively stable across development.

1.4 DEVELOPMENT AND IMPACT OF TEMPERAMENT

Temperament characteristics can be seen in the newborn and measured in the

fetus. The newborn shows distress and avoidant movements, and by 2 to 3 months,

approach reactions are evidenced in smiling, laughter and body movement. Physical

approach is seen when developing motor systems permit, usually by 4 to 6 months.

Anger or Frustration is seen at 2 to 3 months, and fear in the formal behavioural

inhibition appears to be differentiated from general distress proneness by 7 to 10

months. Fear in infancy predicts children‟s later fearfulness and low aggression; anger

predicts later higher frustration and aggression. Fear thus appear to act as a control on

both approach and aggression (Rothbart & Bates, 2006).36

Temperament research from the outset has focused explicitly on the child‟s

own contribution to his or her development. Temperamental differences influence a

child‟s development and broader areas of functioning in a number of important ways.

Temperament constructs are fundamental to thinking about trajectories of social-

emotional and personality development. Most research to date has been framed so as

34

Sanson, A., Hemphill, S. & Smart, D. (2002). Temperament & Social Development. In P.K. Smith &

C.H. Hart (Eds.), Handbook of Childhood Social Development (pp. 97-116). London, UK:

Blackwell. 35 Frick, P.J. (2004). Temperament and Conduct Problems Promises and Pitfalls. Journal of Child &

Adolescent Psychology, 33, 54-68. 36

Rothbart, M.K. & Bates, J.E. (2006). Temperament. In W. Damon, R. Lerner & N. Eisenberg (Eds.),


Ed., pp.

99-166). New York: Wiley.


17

to detect only the direct effect of temperament. According to Frick (2004),37

temperament dimensions and profiles could :

Impair a child‟s ability to develop the skills necessary for appropriate

regulation of affect.

Impair the development of certain cognitive skills involved in the planning

and control of behaviour.

Impact the normal development of guilt and empathy.

Affect how the child learns to interpret information and respond to it during

peer interactions.

Impact the responses the child evokes from person‟s involved in socializing

the child, attachment with others and social competence.

Temperament has also been related to children‟s adjustment, social learning,

help seeking and development of coping strategies, internalizing and

externalizing problems. It has been found to be useful as a predictor of

outcomes such as adolescent alcohol use, tobacco and substance use, eating

disorders, response to pharmacological treatment for depression and accuracy

of recall in preschool children. Moreover, a positive and outgoing disposition

has been thought to serve as a protective factor eliciting the support of others

in a high-risk environment. Additionally, temperament of the child is not only

viewed to provide the core of aspects of the developing personality, but is also

assumed in eliciting specific patterns of reactivity from their parents and exert

influence on the subsequent environment of the child; as well as promote the

child‟s active seeking or avoiding of environment (Rothbart & Bates, 2006).38

1.5 MODELS AND DIMENSIONS OF TEMPERAMENT

An important advance in conceptualizing temperament has been as increasing

convergence as to what the most important dimensions of temperament are ? In an

37 Frick, P.J. (2004). Temperament and Conduct Problems Promises and Pitfalls. Journal of Child &

Adolescent Psychology, 33, 54-68. 38



Ed., pp.



18

article Frick (2004) delineated several methods of classifying temperament that have

been used in research over several years.

Table 1.1 – A Model of Temperament

Thomas &

Chess (1977)

Buss (1995) Martin (1994) Goldsmith

(1996)

Rothbart &

Jones (1998)

Activity level Emotionality Negative

emotionality

Anger

proneness

Irritability

frustration

Adaptability Activity Adapability Pleasure Fear

Attention Span

& Persistance

Sociability Task

Persistence

Interest

persistence

Positive affect

approach

Distractibility Impulsivity Activity level Activity level Attention span

Approach /

Withdrawal

Social

inhibition

Social

fearfulness

Effortful control

Rhythmicity Biological

rhythmicity

Quality of

mood

Threshold

Threshold of

responsiveness

Intensity of

reaction

Source : Frick, P.J. 2004. Temperament & conduct problems – Promises and pitfalls .

Journal of Child & Adolescent Psychology, 33, 54-68.

1.5.1 Thomas & Chess Model

The first influential model, inspiring all the others that followed was Thomas

& Chess‟. They began their pivotal New York longitudinal Study (NYLS) in 1956

and followed a sample of 133 individuals from 84 families, predominantly educated

New York families, from 3 months of age to adulthood. Based on their findings, they

put forward a model of temperament designed to take into account qualitative changes

in behaviours across development. They characterized temperament as the way in

which an individual behaves, which is apparent in the early infancy period and is well

established by 2-3 months.

They conceptualized temperament as representing the how, or style of

behaviour, as contrasted to the why, or motivations and goals of behaviour, and the

what, or perceptions, abilities and the talents of the individual. They suggested that

temperament referred to the stylistic components of individual behaviour, rather than


19

to what the person actually does, why the person do it, the ability of a person to

carryout behaviour. For example, two children may dress themselves or ride a bicycle

with the same dexterity and have the same motives for engaging in this behaviour.

Two adolescents may display similar learning ability and intellectual interests, and

their academic roles may coincide. Two adults may show the same reasons for

devoting themselves to their jobs. These behaviours reflect their motivations and

abilities. Yet these two children, adolescents, or adults may differ significantly with

regard to the quickness with which they move; the ease with which they approach a

new physical environment, social situation, or task and the effort required by others to

distract them when they are absorbed in an activity. These variations reflect

differences in their temperament characteristics.

Based on the results of extensive and repeated interviews with parents during

the first year of the children‟s life, they identified the following nine dimensions of

temperament that have been widely used in research.

1 Activity level : Proportion of active time periods to inactive time periods.

2 Approach / Withdrawal : The response to a new person or object based on

whether the child accepts the new situation or withdraws from it.

3 Adaptability : How easily the child is able to adapt to the changes in his/her

environment.

4 Quality of mood : The contrast of the amount of friendly, joyful and pleasant

behaviour with unpleasant, unfriendly behaviour.

5 Attention span and persistence : The amount of time the child devotes to an

activity and the effect of destruction on that activity.

6 Distractibility : The degree to which stimuli in the environment alter

behaviour.

7 Rhythmicity : The regularity of basic functions such as hunger, execration,

sleep and wakefulness.

8 Intensity of reaction : The energy level or reaction of a person‟s response.

9 Threshold of responsiveness : The intensity of stimulation needed to elicit a

response.


20

Although the NYLS list of dimensions has been seminal, factor analytic work

by various research team (e.g. Martin, Wiesen baker & Huttunen, 1994)39

has shown a

certain redundancy between the dimensions. Thus few psychologists use the full list

anymore.

In addition to nine dimensions, Thomas & Chess also introduced a typology of

child temperament – the “difficult”, the “slow-to-warm” and the “easy” – that resulted

from a combination of factorial analyses and the intent to identify the clinically most

significant configuration of temperament traits. However, Thomas and Chess

recognized that behaviour that lead to a child being classified as “easy” or “difficult”

can vary based on parental and cultural values, attitude and practices. Hence, they

emphasized interactionism in terms of goodness-of-fit. Psychological development is

not only influenced by the child‟s temperament, but, to an equally important extent,

also by the adequacy (i.e. fit) of parental responses to this temperament. Finally,

Thomas & Chess‟s emphasis on application of temperament concepts in prevention

and intervention proved particularly influential (e.g. Carey & McDevitt, 1994;

40McClowry et al., 2008).

41

1.5.2 Martin’s Model

Martin defines temperament as the biological basis for individual differences

in behavioural, emotional, attentional and motoric tendencies such as response to

reward and punishment; emotional intensity; sociability and ability to regulate

attention. He emphasized the biological nature of temperament. Martin initially,

proposed a seven factor model of temperament, including activity level, negative

emotionality, task persistence, adaptability, inhibition, biological rhythmic city and

threshold. More recently, Martin had demonstrated that these seven traits can be

further reduced.

39

Martin, R.P., Wisenbaker, J. & Huttunen, M. (1994). Review of factor analytic Studies of

Temperament Measures based on the Thomas-Chess Structural Model: Implications for the Big Five.

In C.F.I. Halverson & G.A. Kohnstamn (Eds.), The Developing structure of Temperament and

Personality from Infancy to Adulthood (pp. 157-172). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. 40

Carey, W.B. & McDevitt, S.C. (Eds.) (1994). Prevention and Early Intervention. Individual

Differences as Risk Factors for the Mental Health of Children. A Festschrift for Stella Chess and

Alexander Thomas. New York: Bruner/Mazel. 41 McClowry, S.G., Rodriguez, E., Koslowitz, R. (2008). Temperament – based Intervention:

Re-examining Goodness-of-Fit. European Journal of Development Science, 2, 120-135.


21

Martin and Bridger argued that a two factor model, consisting of behaviorual

inhibition and impulsivity or approach, could account for most of variance in these

factors. Their argue was based largely on Gray‟s conceptual framework, which

hypothesizes two major brain systems that form the foundation of both temperament

and personality.

The first of these, the Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS), involves

neurological structures that make the individual responsive to cues involving

punishment. The second, the behavioural activation system (BAS), involves

neurological structure that make the individual responsive to cues involving rewards.

These two systems are independent and serve different functions within the

individual, with more sensitive individuals learning the cues associated with reward or

punishment more quickly than less sensitive individuals.

Using the BIS and the BAS as a basis, Martin and Bridge argued that

temperament in early childhood can be organized around two broad behavioural

patterns that are essentially behavioural manifestations of the BAS and the BIS. The

first of these is behavioural inhibition have tendency to physically withdraw or to

become emotionally upset when in a social situation that contains persons he or she

has not known previously.

The second of these is impulsivity, which is based on the BAS. Impulsivity, as

operationalized by Martin, is composed of three temperamental characteristics –

negative emotionality, activity level, and lack of task persistence. Thus, the impulsive

child more often expresses negative emotions, particularly negative emotions

resulting from frustration; he or she also lacks the ability to modulate physical

activity, so he or she is often viewed as highly active, and lacks the ability to sustain

attention to difficult tasks.

The BIS / BAS model allows researchers a more integrated understanding of

the child as it allows us to view temperament in an integrative fashion, rather than as a

collection of separate traits.


22

1.5.3 Goldsmith Model

Goldsmith and Campos (1982)42

refer to temperament primarily as individual

differences in the emotional domain: “We simply define temperament early

developing in tendencies to experience and express emotions, including their

regulatory aspects” (Goldsmith, Lemery, Aksan & Buss, 2000)43

. Whereas the term

emotionality in the temperament area often refers to individual differences in negative

emotions, Goldsmith and Campos look at temperament as individual differences in

the primary emotions, including positive emotions (i.e., joy, interest, sadness, anger,

fear). Individual differences in these emotional predispositions are expressed in

intensive and temporal aspects of behaviour, included vocal, facial, and motor

expressions. Together with Rothbart, Goldsmith developed an extensive laboratory

assessment battery the Lab TAB (Goldsmith & Rothbart, 1996)44

and a

multidimensional inventory to gather caretaker ratings of infant and child

temperament, the TBAQ (Goldsmith, 1996)45

. These instruments were originally

devised to measure five emotional temperamental components (motor activity, anger,

fearfulness, pleasure / joy, interest / persistence), but newer versions of these tools can

be used to assess a larger number of temperament dimensions (TBAQ-R, Goldsmith,

2000)46

. Although the seminal article by Goldsmith and Campos did not emphasize

heritability in defining temperament, Goldsmith and his colleagues have extensively

studied heritability of temperament (Goldsmith, Reilly, Lemery, Longley & Prescott,

1999)47

.

42

Goldsmith, H.H. & Campos, J. (1982). Toward a Theory of Infant Temperament. In R. Emde & R.

Harmon (Eds.), Attachment and Affiliative Systems (pp. 161-193). New York: Plenum Press. 43

Goldsmith, H.H. Lemery, K.S., Aksan, & Buss, K.A. (2000). Temperament Substrates of Personality

Development. In V.J. Molfese & D.L. Molfese (Eds.), Temperament and Personality Development

Across the Life Span (pp. 1-32). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Exlbaum Associates 44 Goldsmith, H.H. & Rothbart, M.K. (1996). Prelocomotor and Locomotor Laboratory Temperament

Assessment Battery (Lab-TAB; version 3.0, Technical Manual). Madison: University of Wisconsim,

Department of Psychology. 45

Goldsmith, H.H. (1996). Studying Temperament via Construction of the Toddler Behavior

Assessment Questionnaire. Child Development, 67, 218-235. 46

Goldsmith, H.H. (2000). The Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire Revised. Unpublished

Manuscript. Madison: University of Wisconsin, Department of Psychology 47

Goldsmith, H.H. Reilly, J., Lemery, K.S., Longley, S., & Prescott, A. (1999). Preliminary Manual for

the Preschool Temperament Assessment Battery (Version 0.5, Technical Report). Madison:

University of Wisconsin, Department of Psychology.


23

As implied by the preceding definition, the current approach views not only

emotion, but also emotion regulation as a component of temperament. The concept of

emotion regulation, which is similar to effortful control, is one of the most complex

temperamental constructs. It has been defined as consisting of “the extrinsic and

intrinsic processes responsible for monitoring, evaluating and modifying emotional

reactions, especially their intensive and temporal features to accomplish one‟s goals” .

An important discussion of the emotion regulation concept in general, and of the

distinctions between the concepts of emotion and emotion regulation, can be found in

a special issue on emotion regulation that appeared in Child Development . Emotion

regulation is commonly spoken of as a distinct event or process that occurs after an

emotion event, such as when a child is blocked in pursuit of a goal, feels angry, but

then avoids expressing anger. However, Campos, Frankel and Camras (2004)48

argued that emotion and emotion regulation may be inseparable. Emotions and

emotion regulation happen at the same time, and emotional responses depend on

preexisting regulatory processes, such as cortical inhibition or one‟s interpretations of

an event. Cole et al. (2004)49

in contrast, were more convinced that there could be an

empirical distinction between the two concepts, as can be found, for example, in

measures of the dynamic time course of emotions. Nevertheless, they also agreed with

Campos et al. that “emotions are inherently regulatory”. If stretched in time, the

relationship between emotion and emotion regulation becomes a question about how

regulatory processes affect the expression of emotionality over longer periods of time.

Longitudinal work by Eisenberg and coworkers (Eisenberg, Febes, Guthrie, & Reiser,

2000)50

has provided important insights into this question.

1.5.4 Rothbarth Model

The relationships between emotion and emotion regulation are also central to

the approach of Rothbart, though with a stronger emphasis on attentional and

48

Campos, J., Frankel, C. & Camras, L. (2004). On the Nature of Emotion Regulation. Child

Development, 75, 377-394. 49

Cole, P.M., Martin, S.E. & Dannis, T.A. (2004). Emotion Regulation as a Scientific Construct:

Methodological Challenges and Directions for Child Development Research. Child Development,

75, 317-333. 50 Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R.A., Guthrie, I.K. & Reiser, M. (2000). Dispositional Emotionality and

Regulation: Their Role in Predicting Quality of Social Functioning. Journal of Personality and

Social Psychology, 78, 136-157.


24

neurobiological mechanisms. Specifically, Rothbart defines temperament as

constitutional differences in reactivity and self-regulation. The concept of reactivity

refers to biological arousability, which includes arousal in neuroendocrine,

autonomic, and affective systems. Individual differences in reactivity may be

measured by threshold of reactivity, latency of responding, intensity of a given

reaction and rise and recovery time. Self-regulation, in contrast, refers to processes

that “increase, decrease, maintain and restructure the patterning of reactivity in either

an anticipating or correctional manner” (Rothbart & Berryberry, 1981, pp. 51-52)51

.

Behavioral processes related to self-regulation include approach, avoidance, inhibition

and attentional self-regulation.

Rothbart and colleagues have identified three broad dimensions of

temperament, each of which includes a series of narrower dimensions: (a) surgency-

extraversion, composed of scales such as positive anticipation, activity level, and

sensation seeking; (b) negative affectively, including fear, anger-frustration and social

discomfort; and (c) effortful control, which includes facets such as inhibitory control

attentional focusing and perceptual sensitivity (Posner & Rothbart, 200752

; Rothbart

& Bates, 2006)53

.

Executive /effortful control is conceptualized as effortful control, or self-

regulation, of both attention (persistence, non-distractibility) and emotion (self-

soothing). It is a system for the regulation of temperament, serving as the neuro-

cognitive moderator of both temperamental approachability and negative mood.

Surgency describes the degree to which children approach or withdraw, the

degree of expression of positive reactivity, and the degree of temperamental inhibition

or sociability in novel situations. It may also be referred to as approach / withdrawal,

positive reactivity, temperamental inhibition or sometimes, sociability as it comprises

traits such as smiling, laughter, high intensity pleasure, and positive vocalizations

51

Rothbart, M.K. & Derryberry, D. (1981). Development of Individual Differences in Temperament. In


Hillsdale, NJ : Erlbaum. 52

Posner, M.I. & Rothbart, M.K. (2007), Educating the Human Brain. Washington, DC: Americal

Psychological Association. 53 Rothbart, M.K. & Bates, J.E. (2006). Temperament. In W. Damon, R. Lerner & N. Eisenberg (Eds.),


Ed., pp.



25

Fig : Dimensions of Rothbart Model

Negative affect comprises negative behavioural and attentional reactions to

environmental stimulation and is alternatively labeled as negative emotionality or

reactivity. It encapsulated that distress proneness to both limitations (irritability,

anger) and distress to novelty (fearfulness). It also includes the dimensions of

discomfort, fear, anger, frustration and sadness, and an inverse relationship with

soothability.

An important assumption in this model is that both reactive and self-regulatory

behaviors are intimately linked to neurobiological processes. A case in point is

effortful control, defined as the capacity to inhibit a dominant response in favor of a

subdominant on (Rothbart & Bates, 2006)54

. This capacity, which is related to

persistence, emerges around the first birthday and strongly improves between the

second and the third birthday. Individual differences in effortful control result from

the efficiency of networks controlling attention, in particular those relating to

executive control of attention. These networks are linked to specific neurotransmitters

54



Ed., pp.


Extraversion / Surgency

Activity

Smiling or Laughter

High Intensity Pleasure

Impulsivity

Shyness (-)

Positive Anticipation

Executive/ effortful Control

Attentional Shifting

Attentional Focusing

Inhibitory Control

Low Intensity Pleasure

Perceptual Sensitivity

Negative Affectivity

Fear

Anger

Sadness

Discomfort

Soothability(-)


26

and anatomical brain areas. For example, the executive (or anterior) attention network

is related to the anterior cingulate cortex, the basal ganglia and the lateral prefrontal

cortex. Preliminary evidence suggests that neuromodulation of this system may

involve dopamine. Laboratory measures of temperament include a series of structured

tasks – best exemplified by Goldsmith‟s Lab-TAB – and more recently, computer-

based tests for the assessment of individual differences in attentional processes, such

as the spatial conflict task and the Child Attention Network Test (Posner & Rothbart,

2007)55

. Questionnaire measures of temperament have been developed for each age

period from infancy to adulthood.

1.5.5 Kagan’s Model

Unlike Rothbark‟s theory-driven approach, Kagan‟s approach to the study of

child temperament is more inductive. In contrast to scientists who “begin with a

theoretical view of the human temperaments and devise measures of them”, he aligns

himself with a smaller group that “allows the data to guide the invention of

temperamental categories” (Kagan & Fox, 2006, p. 183)56

. Despite this preference for

induction over deduction his work is not merely a compilation of tiny facts. Rather,

addressing manifold issues in the study of temperament (Kagan, 1994)57

his work

occupies a central place among current approaches to temperament.

Kagan and colleagues studied behavioural inhibition to unfamiliarity and its

counterpart, an uninhibited style, with an emphasis on the longitudinal study of

behavioural and physiological manifestations from early infancy onward. A first

longitudinal study revealed that 2-year-olds who show consistent avoidance or

distress to unfamiliar people, procedures and situations preserved some of these

tendencies until 7 years of age, along with greater sympathetic tone in the

cardiovascular system. Two-year-olds showing minimal avoidance or distress in the

55

Posner, M.I. & Rothbart, M.K. (2007), Educating the Human Brain. Washington, DC: Americal

Psychological Association. 56 Kagan, J. & Fox, N. (2006). Biology, Culture, and Temperament Biases. In W. Damon & R. Lerner

(Series Eds.) & N. Eisenberg (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of Child Psychology, Vol. 3, Social, Emotional

and Personality Development (6th

Ed. pp. 99-166). New York: Wiley. 57

Kagan, Jerome (1994). Galen’s Prophecy: Temperament in Human Nature. New York: Basic Books.


27

same situations also tended to preserve these behavioral dispositions, along with

greater parasympathetic tone (Kagan, Reznik, & Snidman, 1988)58

.

This work was followed by a new large-scale longitudinal study in which

infants were examined in the laboratory from 4 months of age and the spectrum of

physiological measures was considerably extended. On the assumption that early

forms of behavioral reactivity to unfamiliarity would be linked to a differential

threshold of excitability in the amygdala, Kagan focused on motor unrest and crying

as potential markers of amygdalar hyperreactivity. In the new study, about 20% of

healthy Caucasian 4-month-old infants showed frequent motor activity and crying at

the unexpected appearance of unfamiliar visual, auditory, or olfactory stimuli. These

infants were called high-reactive. About 40% of the infants reacted with minimum

motor activity and minimal crying to the same events and were called low-reactive

(Kagan & Snidman, 2004)59

. Compared with low reactive infants, high reactive

infants were 3 times more likely to have developed anxiety symptoms by age of 7

years (Kagan, Snidman, Zentner & Peterson, 1999)60

. High-reactive infants in

adolescence reported, in an interview, more frequent bouts of sadness and showed

frequent heart rate changes, sweating of palms, muscle tension, facial flushing and

breathing difficulty, with high systolic blood pressure as well as distinct EEG and

ERP waveforms at 11 and 15 years of age (Kagan & Snidman, 200461

; Kagan,

Snidman, Kahn & Towrley, 2007)62

.

Kagan refers to high and low-reactive infants as distinctive categories

produced by different biological factors rather than as children who fall on a

continuum of reactivity. In his view, emergent phenomena cannot often be accounted

for by adding quantities. Furthermore, he interprets the biological literature as

implying that distinctly different phenotypes often originate in distinct genomes

58 Kagan, J., Reznik, J.S. & Snidman, N. (1988). Biological Bases of Childhood Shyness. Science, 240,

167-171. 59

Kagan, J.& Snidman, N (2004). The long shadow of temperament. Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press. 60

Kagan, J., Snidman, N., Zentner, M.R., & Peterson, E. (1999). Infant temperament and anxious

symptoms in school age children. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 209-224. 61

Kagan, J.& Snidman, N (2004). The Long Shadow of Temperament. Cambridge, MA: Harvard


Kagan, J., Snidman, N., Kahn, V., & Towrley, S.(2007). The preservation of two infant

temperaments through adolescence. Monographs of the society for research in Child Development,

72 (2), Serial No. 287.


28

(Kagan, 2008)63

. Finally, Kagan acknowledges that a great variety of different

personalities may emerge from a high-reactive temperament, depending on

encountered environments, such as social class, culture, family and historical era.

Even so, Kagan regards temperament as imposing a certain restraint on possible

outcomes: “A low-reactive infant might become a trial lawyer, investment banker,

navy pilot, or criminal, but it is unlikely that he will become a frightened recluse”

(Kagan & Snidman, 2004, p. 3)64

.

1.5.6 Gray, Cloninger And Strelau Model

The approaches just described are all developmental, based on extensive

studies of infants and children. There are also well known theories focusing on adult

temperament, whose possible connections to child temperament are being explored.

For example, Gray‟s (1991)65

well-known neural theory of the Behavioral Inhibition

System (BIS) and Behavioral Approach System (BAS) has exerted considerable

influence over theory building in the child temperament area. It has been adapted, for

example, by Martin (1999)66

in the revised Temperament Assessment Battery for

Children (TABC-R), which measures negative emotionality, activity and persistence

(based on NYLS concepts), as well as inhibition and impulsivity, which derive from

the BIS and BAS.

Cloninger (1987)67

is best known for his bold vision of an intimate connection

between temperamental characteristics and neurotransmitter systems. Specifically, he

sees novelty seeking, the tendency to seek out novel stimulation, as influenced by the

dopaminergic system; harm avoidance, the tendency to avoid aversive stimulation and

show behavioural inhibition, as influenced by the serotonergic system; and reward

63

Kagan, J.(2008). The biological contribution to temperaments and emotions, European Journal of

Developmental Science, 2,38-51. 64

Kagan, J.& Snidman, N (2004). The Long Shadow of Temperament. Cambridge, MA: Harvard


Gray, J.A. (1991). The neuropsychology of temperament. In J. Strelau & A. Angleitner (Eds)

Explorations in temperament. International Perspectives on Theory and Measurement. (PP.105-128).

New York : Plenum Press. 66

Martin, R.P.(1999). The Temperament Assessment Battery for Children-Revised (TABC-R). Athens,

GA : School Psychology clinic.

67

Cloninger, C.R. (1987). A systematic method for clinical description and classification of personality

variants. Arhieves of General Psychiatry, 44, 573-588.


29

dependence, the tendency to seek out and strongly respond to social rewards, as an

expression of the neuroadrenergic system. Persistence, the tendency to be persevering

and industrious, has not (yet) been attributed to a specific neurotransmitter system.

Recent studies suggest that the four temperament components can be assessed as early

as preschool age (Constantio, Cloninger, Clarke et al. 200268

; Goth, 2008)69

.

Integrating temperament concepts from work in the Soviet temperament tradition and

that in Western research, Strelau‟s (1989)70

. Regulative Theory of Temperament

emphasizes how individuals differ in reactivity or arousability and how their

characteristic patterns of activity serve to maintain their preferred levels of arousal.

Although researchers in the Pavlovian tradition derived their theories from work on

adults, they were among the first to apply temperament concepts to developmental

and educational contests ( Strelau 1983)71

.

1.5.7 Buss Model : Base Of The Present Study

Buss and Plomin (197572

, 1984)73

defined traits as temperament if they

fulfilled certain criteria-thus the designation of their approach as “criterial”. They

chose criteria on the basis of comparative psychology, in particular the work of S.

Diamond (1957)74

. Diamond thought that observations of adult human behavior, “no

matter how sophisticated in either a statistical or a clinical sense, have the common

failing that they are unable to distinguish between the essential foundations of

individuality and its cultural elaboration”. To identify these essential foundations of

individuality, Diamond argued, one had to look at the animal world. He conducted

that four temperamental traits are shared by primates: fearfulness, aggressiveness,

68

Constantino, J.N., Cloninger, C.R., Clarke, A., Hashemi, B.& Przybeck, T.(2002). Application of the

seven-factor model of personality to early childhood. Psychiatry Research, 109, 223-243. 69

Goth, K.(2008). Die (Junior) Temperament and character inventor familie. Ist das biopsychosoziale

person lichkeitsmodell cloningers inhaltsaquivalent vom kindergarten-bis zum Erwachsenenalter

abbildbar? Munchen, Germany: Hut Verlag. 70

Strelau, J. (1989). The regulative theory of temperament as a result of East-West influences. In G.A.

Kohnstamm, J.E. Bates, & M.K. Rathbart (Eds), Temperament in Childhood (PP. 35-48). Chichester,

England : Wily. 71

Strelau, J. (1983). Temperament, Personality, Activity. London : Academic Press. 72

Buss, A.H. and Plomin, R. (1975). A Temperament Theory of Personality Development. New York:

Wiley. 73


Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc. 74

Diamond, S. (1957). Personality and Temperament. New York : Harper.


30

affiliativeness and impulsiveness. In Diamond‟s view, only those dimensions that are

useful to describe behavioral differences in primates should be relevant for the study

of human temperaments.

Buss and Plomin (1975)75

both endorsed and expanded Diamond‟s

“phylogenetic” approach to defining temperament. They required that temperament

traits show early appearance in ontogenesis, “preferably infancy (the first two years of

life)” (Buss & Plomin, 1984, p. 84)76

. Thinking of temperament as the constitutional

part of personality, they also proposed a third criterion, heritability. The more

heritable a given trait, the more likely it is to be a temperament traits are those

presenting particularly strong links to physiological and biological processes. Their

final criterion was continuity. More specifically, Buss and Plomin (1984) said, “We

are more interested in traits that are predictive of later development, that is, traits that

show some continuity or at least have residuals for later personality”.

Originally, the authors thought that four traits fulfilled these criteria, namely,

emotionality, activity, sociability, and impulsivity. Emotionality is a predisposition to

get easily distressed and upset. The “total activity level refers to the total energy

output” (Buss & Plomin, 1975, p. 32-33). Sociability “is tendency to prefer the

presence of others to being alone” (Buss & Plomin, 1984, p. 63). Sociability is not the

same as shyness, because shy people may desire the presence of others, but they avoid

it because they tend to be tense and anxious when surrounded by other people,

especially unfamiliar people. Impulsivity was originally included (Buss & Plomin,

1975) but later dropped because factor analyses had shown that the trait seems to be

composed of various subcomponents, only some of which replicated. More important,

Buss and Plomin (1984) concluded that impulsivity does not emerge until school age,

a view that contradicted their criterion of a very early appearance in development.

75

Buss, A.H. and Plomin, R. (1975). A Temperament Theory of Personality Development. New York:

Wiley. 76


Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.


31

Table 1.2

Summary of recent status of the structure of Buss’s Theory of

Temperament (1995)

Type Temperament – 1 Temperament – 2

Emotionality Activity Sociability Impulsivity

Traits/

Components

Anger Tempo Control

Fear Vigour Discipline

Distress Tempo +

Energy

Reflection

There are four temperamental traits: emotionality, activity, sociability and

impulsivity, which are represented by the acronym EASI. These temperaments are

divided into two temperaments. Temperament – I and temperament – II.

Temperament – I:

It consists of emotionality and activity.

Emotionality refers to negative affect, specifically, being distressed or upset.

In everyday usage, these terms include not only the high (Physiological) arousal state

of frustration, pair or generalized discomfort, but also the low arousal state of

bereavement and depression. These low arousal states are specifically excluded on the

assumption that what is inherited in emotionality is the tendency to become

(astronomically) aroused easily and intensely. In brief, emotionality is defined as high

arousal, generalized negative affect, its synonym being distress. But low arousal states

e.g. bereavement and depression, are excluded. Negative emotionality has been found

to correlate consistently with many of the symptoms of anxiety and depression

(Watson, Clark and Carey, 1988)77

. There relationship make sense, for anxiety and

depression involve negative mood and by extrapolation, the temperament of

emotionality. This chain of reasoning and empirical relationship leads to the

conclusion that extremely high state of emotionality in likely to be precursor of mood

related abnormal behaviour.

This account of emotionality is necessarily brief because the temperament of

emotionality has received less attention than its derivatives, fear and anger, perhaps

77 Watson, D., Clark, L.A., and Carey, G. (1988). Positive and Negative Affectivity and their Relation

to Anxiety and Depressive Disorders. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 346-353.


32

the reason for the paucity of research in that emotionality is very broad and diffuse, ,

while the disposition of fear and anger are more narrowly defined and lend

themselves more readily to study. Emotionality having three components (Anger,

Fear, Distress)

Anger is constructed as an immediate negative reaction to a current situation,

a transient reaction that involves physiological arousal and logical expression (already

described as a component of aggression).

Fear is a universal emotion, not only in our species but probably in most

animals and certainly in all mammals. The fear reaction itself is not unitary but

consists of sexual components. Fearfulness involves the tendency to be wary, run

way, as well as the accompanying subcomponents of fear are:

(a) Feeling and cognition: Though animals may have feelings, they can not

verbalize them; we can. However, frightened people report a variety of

internal sensations, butterflies in the stomach, a vague feeling of unease or

weakness, a tightening of the muscles as tension mounts in the neck or back,

nausea, cramps or a consorted or dry Throat. The cognition reported in fear

usually focus on imminent or distant danger: becoming hurt or sick, having an

accident, failing an exam, being rejected and so on through a list of harmful

physical or psychological events. In a word, this is apprehension. These

feelings and cognitions are what we identity as fear in everyday situations, but

these are other components.

(b) Physiological reaction: The pioneering research of the physiologist Walter

Cannon established the internal bodily reaction to fear. Sugar is released into

the bloodstream; blood is shifted from the viscera to the skeletal muscles,

which shows digestion, the bronchioles of the lungs expend, and the breathing

rate increases; and the heart beats faster. All these bodily reactions allow

greater muscular exertion, which in turn produces sweating. Cannon

recognized that these various physiological reactions were part of the body‟s

preparation for massive action in the fact of threat.

(c) behaviour Instrumental: Fear typically occurs in the face of threat real or

imagined. One immediate and typical of dealing with danger is to escape by


33

running, climbing or even hiding. Another way is to seek reassurance from a

more powerful person who is strong enough to cope with that threat after

smoothing, or both.

Fear can paradoxically induce an inhibition of behaviour, either because the

frightened person freezes into immobility or because he or she becomes wary

and stops all behaviour unrelated to the immediate danger. When the

immediate threat has dissipated, there is a residual tendency to avoid, the event

or the place associated with danger. Thus, some people simply can not enter

an airplane even when they must travels thousands of miles, and others can not

be induced to get up and talk to an audience.

(d) Emotional Expression: A fearful face is so easily recognized that it can be

identified by people from a variety of cultures around the world (Ekman and

Friesen, 197178

; Ekman et. Al. 1987)79

. The eyes are especially prominent:

Open wide to expose an unusual amount of white. The month is open, and the

lips tense. The brows are raised and drawn together. The body is tense. Neck

and shoulders muscles tend to be rigid, and the hands are usually clenched

tightly. There may be a spillover into random movements as the person sits

down and gets up repeatedly, paces back and forth, makes vague gestures,

wrings the hands, wipes the brows and touches the heir or face. If the fear is

sufficiently intense, the person may cringe in terror, the hands and lips

trembling and the voice quivering or becoming hoarse as the throat constricts.

Distress may be observed in an infant, say, a boy, on the first day of life. He

crinkles his face as if to cry, through t ears will not be available until later. His face

reddens, and his breath comes in gasps. He may kick his legs, move his arms

vigorously, or even his back. The infant obviously is uncomfortable, and his distress

can usually be relieved by feeding him, warming him, or picking him up and

comforting him.

78

Ekman, P. and Friesen, W.V. (1971). Contrasts Across Cultures in the Face and Emotion. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 17, 124-129. 79

Ekman, P., Friesen, W.V., O‟Sullivan, M., Chan-A., Diacoyanni – Tarlatzis, Z., Kruse, R.,

Lecompte, W.A., Pitcairn, T., Ricci-Bitti, P.E., Scherer, K. and Tomita, M. (1987). Universals and

Cultural Differences in Judgement of Facial Expression of Emotion. Journal of Personality and

Social Psychology, 53, 712-717.


34

Distress splits into fear and anger and should be related to each other.

Differentiation does into cause distress simply to disappear.

Activity

Activity is defined as the amount of energy expended in body movements. As

such, it is the temperament must open to observation, as is clear when children are at

play. They climb ropes, climb over play ground equipments, dash up a ladder to race

down a slide or jump vigorously on a swing. They ride by cycle or tricycle, roller

sake, ice spate, improper or push wagons.

Notice that the energy is physical, not the „mental energy‟ assumed to be

involved in thinking, remembering, and imaginary which may require intense

concentration. Such prolonged concentration may induce fatigue, hence the

assumption that energy has been expended. But these cognitive processes are

excluded from energy has been expended. But these cognitive processes are excluded

from the definition of activity, which consists only of physical behaviour.

As any parents or teacher knows, children vary greatly in the energy they

display. Some are so active that they seem bursting with energy whereas others are so

languid that they seem to be weak or chronically ill. Most children are some where

between these extremes. Activity refers to total energy output, as expressed in vigor

or tempo (components). Active adults may speak rapidly, ascend stairs quickly, and

perhaps even dash for an elevator. Even their gestures may be brink as they bustle

through life.

Tempo is a major component of the trait of activity. People at the low end of

this trait dimension tend to speak deliberately or even drawl, stroll when they walk,

take their time ascending stairs and in general, maintain a slow pace of life. They

regard high tempo people as excessively driver and perhaps even manic. They are

regarded by people with a rapid tempo as being lethargic, sluggish and dull.

Vigor responses are of greater amplitude or intensity e.g. taking lonely,

laughing hearty, pushing doors open with force, taking longer strides when walking

and making broader and more emphatic gestures. Vigorous people prefer sports that

involve great strength, and endurance such as weight lifting, mountain climbing,

swimming, running a marathon. A person of less vigour might in fact not in


35

agreement to this sentiment, expressed by a frigid of mine: “When I feel the urge to

exercise, I lie down until it passes.” Highly active need to expend energy, whether

through tempo or vigour. Some like their schedule fully taken up with appointments,

classes, specific jobs and other responsibilities; having an empty schedule may cause

boredom, for there is nothing to do. Others want a fast pace or vigorous activity at

work or play and may chate at inferred idleness of the requirement of just sitting still

or waiting. In brief, there is motivational component at the high end of the activity

dimension.

In summary, tempo involves fast paced repetitive behaviour and vigour

involves responses of great amplitude. But at the upper end of the trait dimension,

there is also a third minor component that cuts across tempo and vigour; the

motivation to be up and around to keep busy and generally, to be expending energy.

This motivational component is absent at the low end of the activity dimension, low

activity people having no particular need to be up and doing something. But it is not

operationalized in tools and theory.

Temperament – II

Sociability and impulsivity are included in it.

Sociability is defined as a preference for being with others as opposed to

remaining alone. We evolved from ancestral primate stock, and most living primates

are highly social animal; our species is no exception. It is not much of an exaggeration

to say that no normal person can become a hermit. Even the least social person still

like to be with others, through his/her motivation to do so may be weak. Highly

sociable persons are strongly motivated to seek out others and remain in their

company.

The research suggests that sociability is a persistent trait from infancy.

Approximately 10% of the population has a high degree of sociability at birth and

10% has a low degree of sociability (Kagan, 1984)80

. Even when there is no external

reason for being with others, such as cooperation, exchange, or defense, we may still

prefer to do so. Certain social stimuli are pleasurable in and of themselves – that is,

80

Kagan, J. (1984). The Nature of the Child. New York: Basic Books.


36

they are intrinsically rewarding. These stimuli may be divided into two classes (Buss,

1983)81

of intrinsic social rewards; stimulation reward and affective reward.

Sharing is one kind of stimulation rewards. There can be downside to sharing

activities. However, sometimes there are too many people. In a packed movie theatre,

people may talk during the film to the annoyance of others. When a cafeteria table is

jammed with people, there may not be personal space, that “envelope” of space that

we need to maintain an adequate distance from strangers or acquaintances (Hall,

1966)82

. Thus, though sharing tends to be rewarding, crowding can make shared

activities aversive. We want not only to share an activity with others but also to

receive their attention. No one like to be ignored, for it spawns feeling of rejection,

anger, or hurt. This general observation has been confirmed in the laboratory

(Fenigstein, 1979)83

. In a waiting room, subjects were uncomfortable and felt rejected

when they were shunned by other „subjects‟ (experimental confederates) who were

strangers. We want people to look at as and listen to us, for these sensory actions

convey an interest in us.

Attention is another stimulation reward. Attention of the kind described is

normative; its absence implies that something is socially wrong. As we all know from

experiences, however, there can be too much attention from others. Most of us do no

like to be stared at as if there were something wrong with our appearance or

demeanor. Clearly too much attention can be just aversive as too little.

Beyond attention others can offer resposivity. Responsivity is the third

stimulation reward, includes the first two rewards for in a conversation an activity is

shared and each person receives attention. However, it is dynamic in that interaction

flows back and forth between two people.

Each of three rewards may be regarded as dimension, whose extremes may be

unpleasant, but whose middle range is pleasurable. Only the stimulation rewards are

relevant for the trait of sociability. Said another way highly sociable persons

especially desire these social rewards.

81

Buss, A.H. (1983). Social Rewards and Personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,

44, 553-563. 82

Hall, E.T. (1966). The Hidden Dimension. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 83 Fenigstein, A. (1979). Self-Consciousness, Self-Attention and Social Interaction. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 75-86.


37

Stimulation Rewards

In order of Increasing Stimulation

Reward Too little Too much

Sharing

Attention

Resposivity

Isolation

Shunning

Boredom

Crowding

Conspicuousness

Over reaction

Affective Rewards: The other class of social stimuli, affective rewards are

more familiar then the first class. If consists of praise, sympathy and affection.

Usually offered only by friends or those in intimate relationship, there rewards tend to

induce moderate to strong positive affect in the recipient hence their name.

These three rewards are universally sought and valued. Each has its unpleasant

opposite: for praise, criticism; for the rewards may be regarded as a dimension, but

each dimension is bipolar; positive at one end and negative at the other. By definition,

only the positive end is reinforcing, and there can not be too much of positive end;

sympathy, praise or love. These three rewards may be ranked in order of increasing

intensity and the degree to which they enhance a relationship. The more intense the

affective rewards the more likely it is to occur in a close relationship. Thus, praise

may offered by friends sympathy be very good friends and love by family members or

lovers.

As far as affective rewards, who does not want praise, sympathy, and love?

These rewards are wanted not only by sociable individuals but also by unsociable

persons. But there may be individuals who especially need of the affective rewards

and therefore place a higher value on it. Those who are low in self esteem, for

instance, might be especially motivated to seek praise, as a way of boosting self-

esteem.

Impulsivity: Impulsivity, or impulsiveness is a complete trait as is clear in the

following definition: Impulsivity is “the tendency to response quickly and without

reflection: It is rather coarse variable which includes: (1) Short reaction time to social

press (2) Quick intuitive behaviour (3) Emotional driveness (4) Lack of forethought.

The subject is usually somewhat restless, quick to move, quickly to make up his mind,


38

quick to voice his opinion. The subject often says the first thing that comes into head,

does not consider the future consequences of his conduct. Deliberation is easier to

observer than impulsion. It is marked by : (1) long reaction time to social press (2)

inhibition of initial impulses (3) hesitations, caution and reflection before action (4) a

long period of planning and organizing before beginning a piece of work. The subject

may have obsessional doubts: a 'load' of considerations which he must 'lift' before

beginning usually experiences difficulty in emergency (Murray, 1938)84

. Impulsive

people tend to respond immediately to whatever stimulus impinges on them, with out

forethought or care for later consequences. At the end of this dimension, deliberate

people wait, reflect and consider many possible consequence before they are ready to

act. In short, impulsive people act quickly and deliberately people act slowly., The

concept of quick action may seem familiar, overlapping the tempo component of

activity, but there is a difference. Tempo refers to the rate of response once the

behavior has started. Impulsivity refers to the time between a stimulus and the start of

the response, which may be called the latency of response e.g. One may be slow to act

(deliberate), but once action is initiated, he moves rapidly (fares tempo), Impulsivity

and tempo linked by the dimension of time but differ in when the issue of time comes

up before responding (impulsivity) or during responding (tempo).

The relationship between activity and impulsively is of course an empirical

issue. "The correlation of the EASI-I were in the thirties for both the sexes, but

subsequent examination of the activity items revealed one that appears to overlap

impulsivity can not sit still for long" (Buss & Plomin, 1975)85

. When that activity

time was replaced by another one on the EAS-II, the correlation was not different

from zero for both sexes. Despite their linkage in being related to time, the two traits

are independent.

The various behavior that make up impulsivity may be divide into three major

components. In each instance there is a dimension that extend from the impulsive

extreme to the deliberate extreme.

84

Murray, H.A. (1938). Explorations in Personality. New York: Oxford University. 85 Buss, A.H. and Plomin, R. (1975). A Temperament Theory of Personality Development. New York:

Wiley.


39

Control: Emotions, motives, and temptation (incentives) are the three aspects

of control. These three aspects of control differ in the tendency to be controlled, The

first two are emotions that can be suppressed or expressed and motives that one can

act on, l delay, or entirely inhibit. Both emotions and motives represent internal

pressure to act. Incentives on the other hand, can be so enticing that they may prove

difficult to resist. Incentives represent an external pull on behavior.

Discipline: Focus and impatience are the aspect of discipline. Focus is closely

related to impulsivity. Impulsive people tend to be distractible, unable to concentrate

on a book, a paper, or a lecture. Their attention wanders from the immediate stimulus

to any event that happens to occur, At the other extreme are people whose intense

concentration does not wane, they are constantly engrossed in the task at hand. Such

people may be so caught up in an activity as to disregard anything else occurring

around them.

Another aspect of discipline impatience Consider the many contexts that

require us to wait a physician's office, a supermarket line, the delivery of mail. Some

people can endure the wait calmly, even stoically. At the opposite extreme are people

who seem unable to cope with even the slightest delay. They fidget, pace restless

glance repeatedly at the clock and complain bitterly about the passage of time.

Reflection: Refection refers to planning, deliberation and caution, or their

opposites. Many activities require preparation if they are to go off smoothly.

Impulsive people somehow do not prepare adequately, they seem to lack planfulness.

Making decision is closely related to making preparations. Consider two men

who need to buy a car. One drop into a showroom to look at a car, drives it, looks

under the hood, likes its color and the way it performs and buys it on the spot. The

other goes through the same process but does not bug the car immediately. He needs

time to think about such an expensive purchase and is cautions about making a sudden

choice. He ponders whether he can afford it, whether to finance it or pay cash,

whether the car is reliable. He consults consumer magazines and asks his friends

about their cars. For any given make, he shops around for the best bargain. He may

ruminate about these issues for weeks, being in no hurry to come to a decision.

Impulsive people, seemingly unable to look before they leap, jump headlong into


40

situations that may prove their undoing. They may buy expensive items on credit,

only to discover that they can not make the payments.

Components of Impulsivity

Control Lack of Control

Suppressions Emotions

Inhibits Action

Resists Temptation

Expresses Emotions

Acts on Motives

Gives into Temptation

Discipline Lack of Discipline

Persists in one activity (patience)

Remains focused

Jumps from one activity to anther is

easily distracted

Reflection Lack of Reflection

Plans painstakingly

Deliberates at Length

Acts cautiously

Does not plan

Decides on spur of the moment

Acts rashly

Control refers to pressure to act, whether the pressure is internal or external

Discipline consist of one or another aspects of persistence: Staying with an activity,

remaining focused or just waiting. Refection refers to planning deliberation and

caution or their opposites. The three behaviors with in each components are highly

similar and may even over lop, which is why the behaviors have been grouped

together. Is there any concepts that links all three components? Perhaps it is time.

Lack of reflection involves time virtually by definition. Lack of discipline may be

regarded as failure to persist over time. Lack of control may be seen as failure to wait

until a motive or emotion has waned or a temptation is no longer present. Time as the

link among the three components is entirely consistent with Murray's definition of

impulsivity mentioned earlier, "The tendency to respond quickly and without

reflection."

All these models, though propounded by different psychologists iterate similar

views. The core of each theory is that temperament has biological underpinnings, is

relatively stable and is evident since birth. The dimensions proposed by the various


41

psychologists too are similar. Ma observed that Buss and Plomin‟s sociability theory

shares a similar view of temperament with Thomas and Chess‟s trait of approach /

withdrawal and with Rothbart‟s shyness. She also pointed out that anger / Frustration

in Rothbart and Derryberry‟s scale contains qualities of mood similar to that of

Thomas and Chess questionnaire and to emotionality in Buss and Plomin‟s survey. In

a similar vein, although not exactly comparable, Thomas and Chess‟ idea on

persistence trait and Rothbart and Derryberry‟s idea of attentional focusing share

certain aspects. The idea of sensitivity threshold in Thomas and Chess‟ theory, too, is

close to Rothbart‟s perceptual sensitivity. According to Ma, these researchers

approached temperament theory from different perspectives and, yet, they extend and

expand on each other rather than contradict one another.

In addition to these models an increasing number of books and review

chapters, over the past ten years have mirrored the importance of temperament as both

a critical developmental outcomes and as a moderator & predictor of other

developmental outcomes.

1.6 RESEARCH IN EARLY 2000s ABOUT TEMPERAMENT

In the early 2000s, research on temperament in children and adolescents is

making use of new brain imaging technology to expand understanding of the

biological processes that influence emotional self-regulation and task-related

activities. This technology is known as functional magnetic resonance imaging

(fMRI). Functional magnetic resonance imaging is based on the fact that activity in a

specific part of the brain is accompanied by an increased flow of blood to that region.

As the blood flow increases, the amount of deoxyhemoglobin, a form of hemoglobin

that has lost its oxygen content, decreases in the affected area of the brain. Since the

amount of deoxyhemoglobin in the blood affects the magnetic resonance image

signal, it can be used as the source of the signal for fMRI. This discovery means that

fMRI studies can be conducted without injecting radioactive materials into a subject‟s

blood. In addition, it means that usable MRI images can be obtained in a very short

period of time (1.5 – 2 minutes on average) rather than the longer periods of testing

required when radioactive materials are used.


42

FMRI has many beneficial applications, ranging from more accurate planning

for brain surgery to more affective pain management. In terms of the temperament,

fMRI allows researchers to study such complex brain activities as problem-solving as

well as visual and auditory (hearing) perception. In 2003, the National Institute of

Mental Health (NIMH) began a study that uses fMRI technology on 60 children and

adolescents between the ages of nine and 16. The study is designed to test the

hypothesis that differences in temperament related to differences in brain functioning

put some children at an increased risk of certain psychiatric disorders later in life. The

type of child that Kagan‟s research group identified as inhibited, for example, appears

to have the same pattern of disturbed nerve cell activity that has been identified in

adults diagnosed with mood or anxiety disorders. Specifically, inhibited children seem

to have a higher level of activity in a part of the brain called the amygdala, which

regulates emotion and a lower than average level of activity in the prefrontal cortex,

which governs a person‟s ability to express emotions. Exuberant children, on the other

hand, are thought to have a relatively high level of activity in the prefrontal cortex in

response to certain stimuli.

In addition to its usefulness in studying the parts of the brain that are activated

by sensory perception, thinking, and emotional responses to various stimuli, fMRI

may also be helpful in distinguishing between problem behaviors in children that are

rooted in temperament and behaviors that indicate a psychological problem. As of the

early 2000s, research in the area of temperament has not been closely coordinated

with research in childhood psychiatric disorders; as a result, both the causes and

treatments of these disorders were, as of 2004, not well understood. Child

psychiatrists have already observed that avoidant personality disorder (APD) and

generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are closely linked to the inhibited type of

temperament as described in Kagan‟s work. To give another example, such

temperament traits as irritability and strong negative reactivity are thought to

contribute to the development of oppositional defiant disorder in some children.

Lastly, attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder is thought to be heavily influenced by

genetic factors affecting the child‟s temperament, including the production and


43

metabolism of certain neurotransmitters in the brain that affect the child‟s ability to

focus his or her attention.

1.7 STATEMENT OF THE STUDY

The research scholar wanted to know the correlation and influence of

temperamental traits with sports achievements, therefore he decided to take-up Buss

and Plomin‟s model as the basis of his study. The problem was stated as –

“A STUDY OF TEMPERAMENTAL TRAITS IN RELATION TO SPORTS

ACHIEVEMENT AMONG SPORTS PERSONS”

1.8 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the present study was as under :

To examine the direct effect of temperamental traits on the performance of

sports persons.

To study temperamental traits (EASI) of athletes with varying level of

performance participating in inter college and inter-university tournaments.

To find out how male and female athlete‟s performance differ from each other

on the emotionality, sociability, activity and impulsivity.

To find out the implications of this research on training, learning and teaching

process.

1.9 HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

The hypotheses of the study were formed as under :

There will be no significant difference on emotionality level in inter university

participating sports persons and inter-college position holder sports persons.

There will be no significant difference on activity level in inter university


There will be no significant difference on sociability level in inter university



44

These will be no significant difference on impulsivity level in inter university


There will be no significant difference on emotionality level of male and

female sports persons at inter university tournaments.

There will be no significant difference on activity level of male and female

sports persons at inter university tournaments.

There will be no significant difference on sociability level of male and female


There will be no significant difference on impulsivity level of male and female


There will be no significant difference on emotionality level of male and

female sports persons at inter college tournaments.

There will be no significant difference on activity level of male and female

sports persons at inter college tournaments.

There will be no significant difference on sociability level of male and female

sports persons at inter college tournaments.

There will be no significant difference on impulsivity level of male and female

sport persons at inter college tournaments.

1.10 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The present study has its limitation as far as selection of subject are concerned.

The college selection committees will select the college team, for inter college

competition and in case of university teams, the same will be done by the university

club / committee of different games, after organizing coaching camps at university

level.

The study is also limited in term of subjects. The subjects will be those who

have won positions in case of inter college level athletes and those representing

universities in case of inter university level athletes.


45

1.11 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study will help the physical educators, coaches, and trainers to understand

and modify the social, physical and psychological make up of sports persons

engaged in various sports activities which bring about desired changes in

performance abilities of the inter college and inter university athletes.

The study will help in finding out how the athletes with varying level of

performances would differ from each other on the variable relating to emotion,

activity, sociability and impulsivity.

The findings of the study may be utilized in the selection of right candidates

for participating at inter college and inter university level of sports by taking

the temperamental traits into consideration. The study will also contribute

towards professional literature on sports coaching in Indian context.

The complied data for 400 sports persons can be further utilized as secondary

data by other application also.

The finding of the study might help the sports persons to evaluate themselves

so as to motivate themselves for better performance.

The study is significant for the sports persons as well as institutes to develop

right environment, right development programmes and right talent search

programme.

The study might motivate other investigators to take similar study at different

level of sports competitions and in a particular sports discipline.

1.12 DEFINITION OF TERMS

(i) Emotionality

Emotionality is the observable behavioural and physiological component

of emotion, and is a measure of a person's emotional reactivity to a stimulus.

Emotionality refers to negative effect, specifically, being distresses or upset. In

everyday usage, these terms include not only the high (physiological) arousal state of

frustration, pair or generalized discomfort, but also the low arousal stare of


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bereavement and depression. Emotionality having three components- Anger, fear and

distress.

(ii) Activity

Activity is measurable amount of work performed to convert inputs

into outputs. Activity is defined as the amount of energy expended in body

movements. It refers to total energy output. Tempo and vigor are the main

components of activity.

(iii) Sociability

Sociability is defined as a preference for being with others as opposed to

remaining alone.

(iv) Impulsivity

Impulsivity is the tendency to response quickly and without reflection. The

subject is usually somewhat restless, quick to move, quickly to make up his mind,

quick to voice his opinion. The subject often says the first thing that comes into head,

does not consider the future consequences of his or her conduct.

(v) Athlete/Sports person

Athlete/sportsperson means male or female players, who engage in an

organised sports.

(vi) Temperament

Temperament is the combination of mental, physical, and emotional traits of

a person; natural predisposition.

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