ABSTRACT
Temperament is a domain particularly well suited for life span analysis, because it is based on constitutional aspects of the individual, and can be used to describe individuality in the young infant as well as the older child and the adult. Temperamental individuality can also be seen as the core of the developing personality (Rothbart, Ahadi, & Evans, 2000). Temperament does not, however, specify a simple set of dispositions that can be measured in the newborn and studied throughout life, because the systems underlying temperament themselves develop over time (Derry-berry & Rothbart, 1997; Rothbart, 1989; Rothbart & Derryberry, 1981). In this chapter, we provide a conceptual introduction to the temperament domain and describe some of the findings on developmental onset of temperamental dispositions. We then present a longitudinal study that links temperament in infants as measured in the laboratory to temperament at 7 years of age as assessed by parent report.
