ABSTRACT
A lucid description of the conceptual relation between early temperament and the construct of personality has been given by Buss (1989), "Temperaments are the subclass of personality traits that are inherited.... Temperaments also differ from other personality traits in their initial appearance during the first year of life. The combination of inheritance and early appearance suggests that they are basic building blocks for personality" (p. 49). From the perspective of temperament theory, Bates (1986) had a similar formulation of the relationship between temperament and personality. "Some users of temperament are primarily interested in discovering basic constitutional substrates to a child's personality.... Others . . . are interested in basic description of the individuality of very young children. For them, temperament concepts stand in for the personality concepts used with older children and adults" (p. 2f.). Thus, there is a clear conceptual connection between temperament and personality in which personality is seen as the broader concept encompassing temperament in more mature individuals. Temperament refers to early appearing personality traits that may or may not have a biological origin. A meeting between the two areas is facilitated by methodological similarities such as the use of questionnaire approaches and factor analysis.
