Temperament and Emotion

Temperament is defined as an early appearing, biologically rooted, and relatively stable disposition that contributes to children's emotionality/affectivity, effortful control, activity level, and attention. Individual differences in temperament are evident in how infants and children experience, express, and regulate their emotions. This entry discusses approaches to the study of child temperament; the working definitions of temperament and emotion that have developed from these approaches; and the relations between temperament and emotion across infancy and childhood that lead to individual differences in behavior and socioemotional outcomes. It also discusses the development of temperament and emotion in terms of intrinsic (i.e., biological and cognitive) and extrinsic (i.e., contextual) processes. These intrinsic and extrinsic processes link early temperament to socioemotional behavior and later child adjustment.