Socioemotional Development – Temperament and Personality

Why Understanding Temperament and Personality Matters for Your EPPP

When you're working with clients, you'll quickly notice that people respond to life events in remarkably different ways. One person bounces back from setbacks while another gets stuck. A child who throws tantrums in new situations might grow into an anxious adult, or they might not. Understanding temperament and personality development gives you the framework to predict, explain, and intervene effectively throughout the lifespan.

For the EPPP, this material connects developmental psychology with clinical practice. You'll need to recognize classic temperament patterns, distinguish between major personality theories, and understand how early traits shape later outcomes. Let's break this down into manageable, memorable pieces.

Temperament: The Raw Material of Personality

Temperament is your biological starting point (genetically influenced but shaped by environment. {{M}}Think of temperament as the default settings on a new phone{{/M}}) some come pre-programmed to be highly responsive to notifications, others require significant prompting to react. These settings influence how you'll use the phone, but they don't determine everything about your experience.

Research shows that temperament displays low to moderate stability over time, with patterns becoming more consistent after age three. This means early temperament matters, but it's not destiny.

Thomas and Chess: The Three Temperament Types

Thomas and Chess (1977) studied infants and identified patterns based on nine dimensions: activity level, distractibility, adaptability, intensity of reaction, and others. Most infants fit into one of three categories:

Easy children (about 40% of infants):

• Positive mood most of the time
• Adapt quickly to new situations
• Handle frustration reasonably well
• Predictable eating and sleeping patterns

{{M}}These are the people who, as adults, adapt smoothly when their company reorganizes, who can switch to a new project without melting down.{{/M}}

Slow-to-warm-up children (about 15% of infants):

• Mildly negative mood initially
• Need time to adjust to new people and situations
• Low activity levels
• Moderately regular routines

{{M}}As adults, these might be your clients who need several sessions before they open up, or colleagues who need advance notice before meetings with new stakeholders.{{/M}}

Difficult children (about 10% of infants):

• Frequently negative mood
• Cry often and intensely
• React negatively to novelty
• Highly active
• Irregular feeding and sleeping

The remaining 35% of children don't fit cleanly into these categories.

Here's what makes Thomas and Chess clinically useful: their goodness-of-fit model. This proposes that outcomes depend on the match between a child's temperament and environmental demands. A difficult child with patient, consistent parents who allow gradual exposure to new experiences can become less difficult over time. {{M}}It's like having a high-maintenance plant. It can thrive with the right care conditions, but wither quickly without them.{{/M}}

Rothbart: Reactivity and Self-Regulation

Rothbart's model focuses on two core components of temperament:

Reactivity refers to how quickly, intensely, and for how long your biological systems respond to stimuli. It has two factors:

• Surgency/extraversion: high activity, intense pleasure-seeking, low shyness
• Negative affectivity: mood instability, tendency toward sadness, fear, and irritability

Self-regulation refers to processes that control reactivity. The key factor here is effortful control (the ability to suppress a dominant response to perform a less automatic one. {{M}}When you're frustrated with a difficult client but maintain your professional composure instead of snapping{{/M}}) that's effortful control.

Children with high reactivity but good effortful control have better outcomes than those with high reactivity and poor control. This distinction is clinically important: it suggests intervention targets. You can't easily change reactivity (it's largely biological), but you can build effortful control through practice and environmental support.

Kagan: Behavioral Inhibition

Kagan focused on behavioral inhibition (BI), the tendency to respond to unfamiliar people and situations with negative affect and withdrawal. About 15-20% of infants show high BI.

Longitudinal studies reveal both continuity and discontinuity. High-BI children are more likely to remain inhibited into adolescence and adulthood, but not all do. Critically, high BI increases risk for:

• Anxiety disorders (especially social anxiety)
• Depression
• Poor social functioning

Research also shows that parents of high-BI children often had childhood anxiety disorders themselves, suggesting both genetic and learned components.

For the EPPP, remember that behavioral inhibition is a specific, measurable temperament trait with clear long-term implications. Not just "shyness."

Personality Development: Classical Theories

The exam expects you to know two foundational stage theories cold: Freud's and Erikson's. Let's make them stick.

Freud's Psychosexual Stages

Freud proposed five stages from birth through adolescence, each focused on a different body zone where libido (sexual energy) concentrates. Excessive gratification or frustration at any stage causes fixation, affecting adult personality.

Memory tip: O-A-P-L-G ({{M}}like "opal jug" without the J and U{{/M}}). Match ages with stages: 0-1, 1-3, 3-6, 6-12, adolescence.

Erikson's Psychosocial Stages

Erikson expanded personality development across the entire lifespan, emphasizing social and cultural influences over biological drives. Each of eight stages involves a psychosocial conflict. Successful resolution produces a virtue (positive outcome).

Notice that Erikson's first five stages align age-wise with Freud's stages. The key difference: Erikson continues through adulthood, focusing on relationship and meaning issues rather than biological drives.

Memory strategy: The virtues tell a story of human development. Hope, Will, Purpose, Competence, Fidelity, Love, Care, Wisdom. {{M}}It's like leveling up in life, with each stage building on previous achievements.{{/M}}

Parenting Styles: Critical for Child Outcomes

Baumrind identified parenting styles based on two dimensions: demandingness (control) and responsiveness (warmth/acceptance). This creates four styles:

Authoritative (High Demand + High Response)

These parents set clear rules but explain reasoning. They're warm and affectionate while encouraging independence. They respect children's opinions.

Child outcomes: Best overall. Self-confident, independent, cooperative, good social skills, high academic achievement

Note the cultural caveat: The link between authoritative parenting and academic achievement is weaker for Asian American and African American students than European American students, suggesting cultural context matters.

Authoritarian (High Demand + Low Response)

These parents have many strict rules, emphasize control and authority, use harsh punishment, and show little warmth. They discourage autonomy.

Child outcomes: Insecure, moody, dependent, easily annoyed, poor social skills, lower academic achievement. Increased risk for bullying others (more than being bullied).

Harsh parenting (similar to authoritarian) consistently predicts externalizing behaviors (aggression, oppositional behavior) that persist into adulthood.

Permissive (Low Demand + High Response)

These parents rarely control children's behavior, encourage emotional expression, and accept even problematic behaviors like aggression.

Child outcomes: Self-centered, immature, rebellious, poor impulse control, poor social skills, low academic achievement. Increased risk for being bullied (more than bullying others).

Uninvolved/Neglectful (Low Demand + Low Response)

These parents are disengaged from children's lives, unaware of needs, focused on their own needs.

Child outcomes: Worst overall. Low self-esteem and self-control, moody, noncompliant, poor social skills and academic achievement, prone to substance use and delinquency. Most strongly associated with juvenile delinquency among all parenting styles.

{{M}}Think of these styles like management approaches in a workplace{{/M}}: Authoritative managers set clear expectations but listen to employee input (best performance). Authoritarian managers rule with an iron fist (resentment builds). Permissive managers let anything slide (chaos). Uninvolved managers are never around (department falls apart).{{/M}}

Personality Changes Across Adulthood

Contrary to popular belief, personality isn't fixed after childhood. Research distinguishes between:

Rank-order stability: Whether people maintain their relative positions on traits compared to peers. This is high across adulthood, if you're more extraverted than your peers at 25, you'll likely still be at 65.

Mean-level change: Whether absolute levels of traits change over time. Predictable patterns emerge:

• Neuroticism decreases: People become more emotionally stable with age
• Extraversion and openness: Remain stable or decrease slightly
• Agreeableness increases: People become more cooperative and warm
• Conscientiousness increases: People become more organized and responsible

{{M}}It's as if adulthood comes with natural upgrades to emotional regulation and social cooperation{{/M}}. Possibly because life demands them.

Sex Differences in Personality

Studies across cultures find small but consistent differences:

Women score higher on: Neuroticism, agreeableness, warmth, openness to feelings

Men score higher on: Assertiveness, openness to ideas

These differences appear larger in individualistic cultures than collectivist ones, suggesting cultural factors amplify biological tendencies.

Self-Awareness and Identity Development

Mirror Self-Recognition

By 18-24 months, most children pass the mirror self-recognition test (touching their own nose when they see a red dot on it in the mirror, not the mirror image). This demonstrates self-awareness, understanding that you're a separate individual.

Exception: Children with developmental delays (Down syndrome, autism spectrum disorder) pass later, typically when they reach the equivalent cognitive developmental age. For example, children with Down syndrome usually pass around ages 3-4.

Mirror self-recognition is a prerequisite for secondary emotions (embarrassment, envy, empathy). You need to be aware of yourself to feel self-conscious.

Self-Understanding Development

How children describe themselves changes predictably:

Early childhood (2-6 years): Concrete, observable features. "I have brown eyes," "I'm 5 years old," "I like pizza"

Middle childhood (7-11 years): Trait labels and comparisons. "I'm good at sports," "I'm truthful," "I'm better at math than most kids"

Adolescence (12-18 years): Abstract qualities, beliefs, values. "I believe in equality," "I'm usually self-conscious." They also recognize inconsistencies: "I'm outgoing with friends but shy with strangers"

{{M}}This progression mirrors how we update our professional identities. Early career focuses on concrete skills, mid-career on comparisons to peers, later career on values and integrated identity.{{/M}}

Gender Identity Theories

Four major theories explain how children develop gender identity:

Kohlberg's Cognitive Developmental Theory

Three sequential stages dependent on cognitive development:

1. Gender identity (ages 2-3): Correctly labels self and others as male/female
2. Gender stability (age 4): Understands gender is stable over time (boys become men)
3. Gender constancy (ages 6-7): Understands gender is stable across situations and doesn't change with appearance

Problem with the theory: Children prefer gender-typed toys and activities before achieving gender constancy, contradicting Kohlberg's prediction.

Social Learning Theory

Proposes gender identity develops through:

• Observing and imitating same-gender models
• Differential reinforcement (praise for gender-appropriate behavior)

Key point: Gender-typed behaviors come before gender-related beliefs (opposite of Kohlberg).

Bem's Gender Schema Theory

Combines cognitive and social learning approaches. Children develop gender schemas. Mental frameworks organizing information about what's appropriate for each gender. By age 3, children have strong gender schemas for toys.

Gender-schematic people: Use gender norms extensively to guide behavior and judge others Gender-aschematic people: Less influenced by gender norms

Development depends on childhood exposure to and reinforcement for following gender norms.

Egan and Perry's Multidimensional Model

Doesn't explain development but identifies five components of gender identity:

1. Membership knowledge: Knowing your own gender
2. Gender typicality: How similar you feel to same-gender peers
3. Gender contentedness: Satisfaction with your gender
4. Felt pressure: Pressure to conform to gender norms
5. Intergroup bias: Belief your gender is superior

Research findings: High typicality and contentedness predict positive outcomes (self-esteem, peer acceptance). High felt pressure predicts adjustment problems.

Psychological Androgyny

Bem's Sex Role Inventory identifies four gender identity types:

• Feminine (high feminine/low masculine)
• Masculine (high masculine/low feminine)
• Androgynous (high feminine/high masculine)
• Undifferentiated (low feminine/low masculine)

Bem viewed androgyny as ideal because it provides behavioral flexibility. Research supports this: Androgynous individuals adapt better to varying situations and show higher self-esteem and peer likability.

However, some studies suggest high masculinity (regardless of femininity) most strongly predicts high self-esteem and adjustment, so results are mixed.

Marcia's Identity Statuses

Marcia extended Erikson's identity vs. role confusion stage by identifying four statuses based on whether someone has experienced an identity crisis (exploration period) and made an identity commitment:

{{M}}Think of career development: Diffusion is having no career direction. Foreclosure is becoming a doctor because your parents insisted without considering alternatives. Moratorium is actively job searching and exploring options. Achievement is committing to a career path after thoughtful exploration.{{/M}}

Important: Identity formation happens at different rates for different domains (occupation, religion, politics). Adults may recycle through moratorium and achievement as life circumstances change.

Common Misconceptions

Misconception 1: "Temperament is destiny" Reality: Temperament shows only low to moderate stability. Goodness-of-fit matters, a difficult child with supportive parenting can have excellent outcomes.

Misconception 2: "Personality is fixed by adulthood" Reality: Mean-level changes occur predictably throughout adulthood, especially increases in agreeableness and conscientiousness.

Misconception 3: "Authoritarian and authoritative parenting are similar" Reality: They're opposites on responsiveness/warmth. Authoritative combines high control with high warmth (best outcomes). Authoritarian combines high control with low warmth (poor outcomes).

Misconception 4: "Children must understand gender constancy before showing gender-typed preferences" Reality: Research shows children prefer gender-typed toys well before achieving gender constancy, contradicting Kohlberg's prediction.

Misconception 5: "Identity achievement is permanent" Reality: People can recycle through moratorium and achievement throughout adulthood as circumstances change.

Practice Tips for Remembering

For Freud's stages: Create a sentence with O-A-P-L-G. "Old Aunts Prefer Large Gifts" with ages 0-1, 1-3, 3-6, 6-12, adolescence.

For Erikson's virtues: The sequence tells a developmental story. Hope→Will→Purpose→Competence→Fidelity→Love→Care→Wisdom. Each builds on the previous.

For parenting styles: Draw a 2×2 grid with Demandingness on one axis, Responsiveness on the other. Place the four styles in quadrants. Authoritative (high/high) is always top-right, the "best" position.

For temperament models: Associate each researcher with their unique contribution:

• Thomas & Chess = Three types (Easy, Slow-to-warm, Difficult)
• Rothbart = Reactivity and regulation framework
• Kagan = Behavioral inhibition specifically

For gender theories: Timeline them. Kohlberg (cognitive first), then Social Learning (behavior first), then Bem (combines both with schemas), then Egan & Perry (describes components, not development).

For Marcia's statuses: Use a decision tree: First ask "Crisis?" Then ask "Commitment?" This generates the four combinations.

Key Takeaways

• Temperament is genetically influenced but environmentally shaped, showing low-to-moderate stability that increases after age 3
• Goodness-of-fit between temperament and environment predicts outcomes better than temperament alone
• Thomas and Chess identified three types: Easy, Slow-to-warm-up, Difficult (memorize characteristics)
• Behavioral inhibition (Kagan) predicts anxiety and social difficulties with moderate continuity
• Freud's five psychosexual stages end in adolescence; Erikson's eight psychosocial stages span the lifespan
• Know stage names, ages, and Erikson's virtues cold for the exam
• Authoritative parenting (high demand + high response) produces best outcomes; uninvolved/neglectful produces worst
• Authoritarian parenting links to bullying others; permissive parenting links to being bullied
• Personality shows high rank-order stability but predictable mean-level changes in adulthood (decreasing neuroticism, increasing agreeableness and conscientiousness)
• Mirror self-recognition emerges 18-24 months and enables secondary emotions
• Kohlberg's gender theory emphasizes cognitive stages; social learning emphasizes observation and reinforcement; Bem's schema theory combines both
• Marcia's identity statuses depend on crisis (exploration) and commitment: Diffusion, Foreclosure, Moratorium, Achievement
• Identity formation occurs at different rates across domains and can recycle in adulthood

This material connects developmental foundations with clinical practice. When you're assessing a client, understanding their temperamental starting point, parenting history, and identity development gives you a richer picture of how they arrived at their current functioning. And where interventions might be most effective.