New York Longitudinal Study PDF

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New York Longitudinal Study...

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11/27: Emotions cont. Individual Differences 

Temperament: constitutionally based individual differences in emotional, motor, ad attentional reactivity and self-regulation o

Biological basis? Consistent across contexts? Stable over time?

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New York Longitudinal Study

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Repeatedly interviewed parents in depth about infants’ specific behaviors

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Identified 9 aspects of infant temperament 

Activity level, rhythmicity, approach/withdrawal, adaptability, intensity of reaction threshold of responsiveness, quality of mood, distractibility, attention span

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Findings: lots of similarities, but lots of differences

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Easy babies (40%): easy-going, not overly reactive, predictable, stable

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Difficult (10%): upset easily, hard to soothe, less controlled

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Slow-to-warm-up (15%): first difficult, then easy, takes time to adjust

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Remaining 35% didn’t fit definitely into these categories

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Stability of temperament over time: yes to a degree 

Higher “fearful distress” in infancy = more fear in novel situations in 2 year olds = more social inhibition at 4.5 years

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Tendency for negative emotion at age 3 = more negativity at ages 6 and 8

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Greater ability to focus attention in preschool = greater ability to focus attention at ages 11 and 12

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Temperament-predicting personality:

Temperament and social adjustment 

Central to development of social skills

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Being able to act positively towards others makes you nicer to be around

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A Longitudinal Study: New Zealand o

Children who were negative, impulsive, unregulated had more adjustment problems 

Not getting along well with others

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More likely to engage in illegal behaviors, get in trouble with law

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At 21: less happy relationships, more unemployment, fewer sources of social support

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“Goodness of Fit” 

Adjustment depend son how one’s temperament fits into their particular environment

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Parents’ socialization practices can affect child’s temperament and vice versa

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Ex. baby who receives subjective pain which causes irritability which spreads to parent and causes vicious cycle, opposite also true

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“Squeaky Wheel” in interaction with environment 

Sometimes a “negative” temperament can be a good thing

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In places where there aren’t enough resources to go around could be beneficial in terms of teaching appreciation and empathy for things, ex. Rich kid or only child syndrome...