Temperament - Overview

Overview

Temperament is determined through specific behavioural profiles, usually focusing on those that are both easily measurable and testable early in childhood. Commonly tested factors include irritability, activity, frequency of smiling, and an approach or avoidant posture to unfamiliar events. There is generally a low correlation between descriptions by teachers and behavioural observations by scientists of features used in determining temperament.

Temperament is hypothesized to be associated with biological factors, but these have proven difficult to test directly.