Difficult temperament in adulthood was conceptualized via a combination of the three EAS dimensions, high Activity–Tempo, high Anger and Low Sociability to obtain conceptual concordance with the childhood perceived difficult temperament cluster.
Difficult temperament describes children who are characterized by negative mood, withdrawal, low adaptability, high intensity, and low regularity (Thomas, Chess, Birch, Hertzig & Korn, 1963).
Parents struggling with difficult temperament say they continually remind and nag; name-call, yell, bribe, plead, make empty threats; give into power-struggles; feel as if their child “calls all the shots” or “rules the roost”; over-react; argue with co-parent over discipline; or give up trying to discipline at all.
These five broad domains include: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (Think OCEAN to remember). This applies to traits that you may use to describe yourself.
Although having a difficult temperament is not a developmental disorder, challenging behaviors can sometimes indicate conditions such as: autism spectrum disorder (ASD) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) emotional disturbance (ED)
The four temperaments described individuals as sanguine (optimistic, social, and associated with the element of air), melancholic (analytical, quiet, earth), choleric (short-tempered, irritable, fire), and phlegmatic (relaxed, peaceful, water) (Buckingham, 2002).
The main difference between an easy baby and a difficult baby is that an easy baby has more regular bodily functions and more positive reactions to stimuli while a difficult baby has less regular bodily functions and more negative reactions to stimuli.
While many may suspect that people's personalities are fixed in childhood, new research suggests that most people's personalities evolve throughout their lives.
Although people with melancholic temperaments may tend to keep their emotions guarded, they can still be emotional individuals. They may be the most emotional of all the temperament types. Their heightened, ever-changing emotions can cause their mood to take a quick turn.
Cholerics are of the opinion and belief that they know what is best for those around them, and what is acceptable behavior according to them. They have a severe problem with anger; “the angry temperament”. Cholerics have a tendency to seldom express other emotions such as love, tenderness, warmth and compassion.
Temperament dictates your overarching demeanor, and the strength and significance of your reaction to setbacks and successes. Temperament can dictate something else, too: Your predilection for mental disorders. Studies show that innate traits directly contribute to the development of psychiatric illnesses.
There are three general types of temperaments: easy-going, slow-to- warm, and active. Easy-going children are generally happy and active from birth and adjust easily to new situations and environments. Slow-to-warm children are generally observant and calm and may need extra time to adjust to new situations.
Traditionally temperament is distinguished from personality because it refers to stable individual differences that appear from birth onwards.
Temperament refers to biologically based, consistent, enduring, patterns of normative behavior. Mental illness, on the other hand, refers to consistent, enduring, dysfunctional or pathological patterns of behavior.
: easily annoyed or angered : having or showing a bad temper : surly, ill-tempered.
A strong-willed temperament is associated with disruptive behavior later in life. These spirited kids have a more difficult time adapting to transitions. They have more mood fluctuations and stronger persistence when they want things their way.
Research has indicated that individuals with high emotional reactivity (high neuroticism) and introverted tendencies (low extroversion) are more likely to experience anxiety than other personality types [101].
A person may have good manners, but their insecurity does not let them be at peace. Often their insecurity will pour out and take the form of envy or jealousy. “A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.”
Neuroticism
"Many individuals who are high in neuroticism become hypersensitive to situations that trigger strong emotions, such as sadness," he adds. In other words, those who have high neuroticism feel emotions very deeply, resulting in them crying more often.
Self-esteem correlates with all temperament traits; we found a negative correlation with dissatisfaction and fear, and highly positive correlation with sociability.
Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess, researchers, found that temperament is influenced by nine temperament traits: activity, regularity, initial reaction, adaptability, intensity, mood, distractibility, persistence-attention span, and sensory threshold.
Scientists estimate that 20 to 60 percent of temperament is determined by genetics. Temperament, however, does not have a clear pattern of inheritance and there are not specific genes that confer specific temperamental traits.
#1 Smartest Personality Type-INTJ
These people often have high logical-mathematical intelligence and are good with logical reasoning and analysis. They also handle numbers easily. Problem-solving is a simple process, and complex theories make sense.
Personality tests can give us some insight into who we are, even if they are not necessarily the perfect measurement of oneself. A personality test can be especially useful if you want to find out what kind of temperament you have, for example, a melancholic temperament.
Slow-to-warm children are generally mellow, less active babies from birth, and can have some difficulty adjusting to new situations. Difficult children have irregular habits and biological routines (e.g., eating, sleeping), have difficulty adjusting to new situations, and often express negative moods very intensely.