An investigation into differences between the structure of temperament and the structure of personality

This article analyzes the differences between an activity-specific temperament model and the Big Five personality model using the Structure of Temperament Questionnaire--Compact (STQ-77). The STQ-77 has 3 emotionality scales and 9 scales assessing 3 dynamic aspects (arousal, lability, and sensory sensitivity) in 3 areas of activity (physical, verbal-social, and mental). The results of administration of the Russian STQ-77, NEO-FFI, and SSS-V to 174 Russian participants showed how components of temperament can represent the traits described in the Big Five model. The confirmatory factor analysis of the English STQ-77 and the results of a study involving a prolonged word classification task with 221 Canadian participants showed the benefits of the activity-specific approach, separating temperament traits in three areas of activity. Such specificity of temperament traits differentiates them from personality traits.     

Behavioural analysis of interactions between pedestrians and vehicles in street designs with elements of shared space

This paper describes the development and implementation of qualitative behavioural criteria in order to analyse the conduct of pedestrians and vehicles when they are required to interact with each other, with particular interest to street designs with elements of shared space. The new behavioural analysis technique is developed by identifying the fundamental principles that underpin existing traffic analyses, such as traffic conflicts techniques, and adapting those to a qualitative framework that describes the mindset and rationale of road users. The technique is then applied to a case study in London, using video data from periods before and after the redevelopment of the Exhibition Road site from a conventional dual carriageway to a modern design with some elements of shared space. With the main goals being to assess the pedestrians’ confidence and the vehicles’ tolerance/patience when forced to interact with each other, behavioural trends are related to instantaneous characteristics of the vehicle flow (vehicle approach speed and traffic density). The data produced are used to develop and validate qualitative behavioural relationships for pedestrian–vehicle interactions, as well as location-specific conclusions for the Exhibition Road site.     

Approach and Avoidance Temperament as Basic Dimensions of Personality

ABSTRACT This research comprises 6 studies designed to examine approach and avoidance temperament as basic dimensions of personality. In Study 1, we developed direct measures of approach and avoidance temperament. In Study 2, we demonstrated that the approach and avoidance temperament variables are not epiphenomena of response biases. In Study 3, we documented the test‐retest stability of the temperament variables. In Study 4, we documented that approach and avoidance temperament are separate from other like‐valenced variables and may be construed as the core of these variables. In Study 5, we documented that approach and avoidance temperament are separate from chronic promotion and prevention foci. In Study 6, we distinguished the temperament variables from achievement goal variables and documented the temperament variables as antecedents of achievement goals and achievement goals as proximal predictors of performance. Approach and avoidance temperament are discussed as an ideal foundation for a strong, enduring structure of personality.     

Reactive temperament traits and behavioural problems in children: the mediating role of effortful control across sex and age

This study examines the mediating role of effortful control between reactive temperament traits (negative affectivity and extraversion) and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavioural problems. The sample was composed of 424 non-clinical children from 3 to 6 years of age (60% male). Use of a structural equation model revealed effortful control-mediated relations between reactive temperament traits and behavioural problems. Nevertheless, uniquely and directly, negative affect predicted externalizing problems and extraversion predicted internalizing problems. Assessment of invariance by children’s sex showed that the mediating role of effortful control tends to be stronger for externalizing problems in boys than in girls. Results showed no significant age differences. According to these results, effortful control as a method of self-regulation seems to be an essential process through which reactive temperament traits affect a child’s psychological adjustment.     

Influences on communicative development at 24 months of age: child temperament, behaviour problems, and maternal factors

Within a longitudinal study using a large representative, community sample of infants recruited at mean age 8 months, we examined influences on infant communication development at 24 months, including child gender, shy temperament, behavioural and emotional problems, and several variables relating to maternal psychosocial health. On most developmental measures girls were in advance of boys and they also showed shyer temperament. Child gender, shy temperament and maternal psychosocial indices were associated with both vocabulary development as measured by the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI), and communication and symbolic development assessed via the Communication and Symbolic Behaviour Scales-Developmental Profile (CSBS) at 24 months. No prediction was found using scores at 8 or 12 months, although moderate stability between measures between 12 and 24 months was evident. Predictors of 24 month outcomes were all concurrently measured variables, and included temperamental shyness, but very little variance in communication outcomes was explained. Children whose mothers were experiencing clinical levels of depression and life difficulties reported more child behavioural problems.     

Russian Neuropsychology After Luria

It is now more than 20 years after Luria's death in 1977. His collaborators, disciples, and followers both in Russia and abroad continue to further develop his work. The development of Russian neuropsychology reflects the universal tendency to replace static neuropsychology, which relates individuals' behavior to fixed cerebral lesions, with dynamic neuropsychology, which analyzes the dynamics of brain-behavior interaction. Three types of Russian studies illustrate the latter approach: (1) neuropsychological follow-up of different nosological groups of patients in the process of medical or psychological treatment, (2) studies of cognitive evolution (developmental neuropsychology), and (3) studies of cognitive involution (neurogeriatrics). All studies focus on cortico-subcortical and interhemispheric relationships. Another change in modern Russian neuropsychology consists of combining the qualitative approach with the quantitative one, but the system of rating is based, following Luria's tradition, on the psychological evaluation of each task's structure and the qualitative analysis of the patients' performance and possibilities for its correction. Hence, Luria's creative and comprehensive approach stimulates the further development of neuropsychology in Russia.     

Gender Studies in Post-Soviet Society: Western Frames and Cultural Differences

This article is devoted to theexploration of some trends in gender studies incontemporary Russia and is based on ourresearch and teaching in the field over thecourse of seven years. The main concepts ofgender research – gender, feminism,women's subjectivity – were introduced to theRussian public early in 1990s; Russian genderstudies began to develop as a whole due to theapplication of Western concepts and theories.The article examines the growth of genderstudies over the last 10 years, contextualdifferences as well as theoretical approachesin Russian gender studies as these have arisenin the context of the `Russia – West'dichotomy.     

Motivation and goal orientation in vulnerability to depression

Depression may be related to motivational systems that govern approach and avoidance behaviour such as temperament and goal orientation. Using a remitted depression design we found that previously depressed and never-depressed individuals did not differ on number of approach goals generated, degree of goal commitment or extent of planning to reach goals. However, previously depressed individuals generated more avoidance goals indicating that the tendency to set avoidance goals may be a trait-like vulnerability to depression. Previously depressed individuals also reported higher activation of the behavioural approach system (BAS) raising the possibility that this system is energising approach behaviour in the service of avoiding aversive consequences.     

Motivation and goal orientation in vulnerability to depression

Depression may be related to motivational systems that govern approach and avoidance behaviour such as temperament and goal orientation. Using a remitted depression design we found that previously depressed and never-depressed individuals did not differ on number of approach goals generated, degree of goal commitment or extent of planning to reach goals. However, previously depressed individuals generated more avoidance goals indicating that the tendency to set avoidance goals may be a trait-like vulnerability to depression. Previously depressed individuals also reported higher activation of the behavioural approach system (BAS) raising the possibility that this system is energising approach behaviour in the service of avoiding aversive consequences.     

领导班子成员气质类型相融度研究

采用安菲莫夫气质量表测量了19个市级企事业单位97名局级党政领导班子成员的气质类型。在对和谐领导班子和矛盾冲突领导班子成员的气质类型的分析结果表明:(1)局级领导班子成员的气质类型分别为多血质和黏液质混合型、多血质类型、多血质与胆汁质混合型;(2)和谐领导班子成员的气质类型与矛盾冲突领导班子成员的气质类型之间具有显著性差异;(3)企业单位主要领导成员的气质类型与事业单位主要领导成员的气质类型之间存在显著性差异。     

Temperament and personality: origins and outcomes

This article reviews how a temperament approach emphasizing biological and developmental processes can integrate constructs from subdisciplines of psychology to further the study of personality. Basic measurement strategies and findings in the investigation of temperament in infancy and childhood are reviewed. These include linkage of temperament dimensions with basic affective-motivational and attentional systems, including positive affect/approach, fear, frustration/anger, and effortful control. Contributions of biological models that may support these processes are then reviewed. Research indicating how a temperament approach can lead researchers of social and personality development to investigate important person-environment interactions is also discussed. Lastly, adult research suggesting links between temperament dispositions and the Big Five personality factors is described.     

论俄罗斯主体心理学的心理发展观

主体心理学是俄罗斯心理学发展的新方向。在个体心理发展方面,俄罗斯主体心理学认为,主体积极性是影响心理发展的第三因素;主体与客体的相互作用是心理发展的机制,其中主体起主要作用;根据主体性发展的水平可以把心理的发展划分为9个阶段。文章认为俊罗斯主体心理学的心理发展观具有一定的积极意义。     

Predicting depression from temperament, personality, and patterns of social relations

The present study used a levels-of-analysis perspective (McAdams, 1995) to link temperament to depression. We hypothesized a mediational role for three personality variables (Agreeableness, Extraversion, Neuroticism) and two interpersonal variables (social support and negative social exchange) in channeling the effects of temperament. A structural equation modeling approach supported the hypothesis that these three personality variables were mediators of the link between temperament and depression. The patterns of mediation differed for Agreeableness, Extraversion, and Neuroticism. In addition to the three personality variables, social support and negative social exchange were also found to mediate the effects of temperament. There was no evidence that patterns of relations among the variables differed between males and females. Results are discussed in terms of a levels-of-analysis approach to the examination of the effects of temperament and personality on adaptation outcomes.     

The Rusalov Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ): results from an Australian sample

Recently, a new temperament inventory [the Rusalov Structure of Temperament Questionnaire (STQ)] has been developed to account for advances in theoretical models of basic central nervous system processes. Rusalov has hypothesized that temperament consists of 8 dimensions; 4 object and 4 subject related interactions. Australian data is presented, suggesting good agreement between the STQ results in the Australian and Russian samples. Generally, internal reliability was adequate for questionnaire responses.     

Social anxiety disorder in children and youth: A research update on aetiological factors

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a heterogeneous and distressing problem for many children and youth. This review focuses on the etiology and maintenance of SAD, and examines research findings in several key areas of investigation: genetic or hereditary factors (twin and family studies), temperament characteristics (behavioural inhibition), and parent–child interactions (attachment, parenting styles). It is concluded that genetic influences, behavioural inhibition, and parent–child interactions play significant and interactive roles in the development and maintenance of SAD. Other influences such as peer relationships, social skills deficits, and traumatic experiences are also acknowledged. Ultimately, an understanding of such pathways should facilitate effective early screening and intervention of children at risk for severe social anxiety.     

把握当代心理学的发展趋势

本文认为,开展心理学的科学研究与学术交流,必须把握当代心理学的发展趋势,作者提出当前的主要趋势是：1．心理学的综合化;2．心理学的本土化或中国化;3．心理学的实用化     

The concept and status of trait in research on temperament

The aim of the paper is to show that research on temperament is inescapably bound with the concept of trait as applied in personality research. It is the individual differences approach on which temperament studies are based, and traits are the basic units by means of which these differences are described. Taking as a point of departure the definition of trait understood as a relatively stable and individual‐specific generalized tendency to behave or react in a certain way expressed in a variety of situations, the hypothetical status of temperament traits is discussed. Special attention is paid to states and behaviour by means of which temperament traits are inferred as well as to the biological and environmental determinants of these traits. Temperamental traits constitute only a part of the personality structure viewed from the perspective of individual differences and this perspective is only one of the many from which the complex nature of personality should be viewed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How many infants are temperamentally difficult? Comparing norms from the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire to a population sample of UK infants

The original norms for the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire (RITQ) were published in 1978 and were based on a small sample from the US. The aim of this study is to compare temperament scores from the original RITQ against scores from a large population-based cohort of infants from the UK. This study consists of 10,937 infants from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) born between April 1991 and December 1992 in the southwest of England. Infant temperament at 6 months of age was reported by parents using the adapted RITQ. Responses were scored according to the RITQ manual and then categorized into temperament groups (easy, intermediate low, intermediate high, and difficult) using either the RITQ norms or norms derived from the data. The scores for each temperament subscale and the proportion of children in each temperament group were compared across the two methods. Subscale scores for the ALSPAC sample were higher (more “difficult”) than the RITQ norms for rhythmicity, approach, adaptability, intensity, and distractibility. When RITQ norms were applied, 24% infants were categorized as difficult and 25% as easy, compared with 15% difficult and 38% easy when ALSPAC norms were used. There are discrepancies between RITQ norms and the ALSPAC norms which resulted in differences in the distribution of temperament groups. There is a need to re-examine RITQ norms and categorization for use in primary care practice and contemporary population-based studies.     

Basic personality dispositions, self-esteem, and personal goals: an approach-avoidance analysis

ABSTRACT This research examined the hypothesis that self-esteem negatively predicts avoidance (relative to approach) personal goals, as well as the hypothesis that self-esteem mediates the link between indicators of approach and avoidance temperament and avoidance (relative to approach) personal goals. Study 1 established that self-esteem is indeed negatively related to avoidance (relative to approach) goals, even with social desirability concerns controlled. In Study 2, self-esteem was found to mediate the relation between Neuroticism (conceptualized as an indicator of avoidance temperament) and avoidance (relative to approach) personal goals. In Study 3, self-esteem was documented as a mediator of the relation between BAS and BIS sensitivity (conceptualized as indicators of approach and avoidance temperament, respectively) and avoidance (relative to approach) personal goals in the achievement domain. The implications of these findings for our understanding of basic personality dispositions, self-esteem, and personal goals are discussed.