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Low affective temperament consistency during development: Results from a large retrospective study
Roberta Zorzetti1, Luiza Doro Pereira1, Diogo R Lara1
1School of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 6681, Pd 12A, Porto Alegre, RS 90619-900, Brazil.
Journal of Affective Disorders
|February 11, 2019
Summary
Affective temperaments, considered stable personality traits, frequently change from childhood through adulthood. This study found most adults shifted temperament groups, challenging the view of temperament as a fixed phenotype.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Personality Science
Background:
- Temperament is traditionally viewed as a stable personality trait, an endophenotype formed early in life.
- The extent of temperament trait changes throughout the lifespan remains unclear.
- This study investigates changes in affective temperament from late childhood to adulthood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine affective temperament changes across developmental stages.
- To assess shifts in temperament from childhood to adolescence and into adulthood.
- To challenge the notion of temperament as a static personality characteristic.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional web-based survey using the Affective and Emotional Composite Temperament Scale.
- Retrospective assessment of temperament at ages 10-12 and 18 years.
- Sample of 36,255 adults aged 24-40 years, categorized into four affective temperament groups: internalized, externalized, stable, and unstable.
Main Results:
- A significant majority (66.2%) of participants changed affective temperament groups by adulthood.
- Internalized temperaments decreased, while externalized temperaments increased from childhood to adolescence.
- Stable temperaments decreased and unstable temperaments increased from adolescence into adulthood.
Conclusions:
- Affective temperaments demonstrate significant plasticity across the lifespan.
- Findings contradict the established view of temperament as a consistent, unchanging phenotype.
- Temperament may be more dynamic than previously understood, with notable shifts occurring over time.
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