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In psychology, temperament is the general nature of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion. It derives from the theory of the humours, which had corresponding temperaments. It played an important part in premodern psychology, and was important to philosophers like Immanuel Kant and Hermann Lotze. Writers as different as William James and Tim LaHaye have written on temperament. It has also inspired artists like Carl Nielsen, and Hindemith, whose music is featured in George Balanchine's ballet "The Four Temperaments." See also Keirsey Temperament Sorter.
Temperament in babies
Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess began a classic logitudinal study in the 1950s regarding infant temperament. The study focused on how temperamental qualities influence adjustment throughout life. Chess and Thomas rated young infants on a variety of characteristics, such as activity level, mood, sleeping and eating patterns, and attention span. The found that most babies could be categorized into one of three groups: easy, difficult, and slow-to-warm-up. About one third of all infants tested were characterized as average babies because they did not fit neatly into one of these three categories (Thomas & Chess 1977).
Easy babies readily adapt to new experiences, generally display positive moods and emotions and also have normal eating and sleeping patterns. Difficult babies tend to be very emotional, irritable and fussy, and cry alot. They also tend to have irregular eating and sleeping patterns. Slow-to-warm-up babies have a low activity level, and tend to withdraw from new situations and people. They are slow to adapt to new experiences. Thomas and Chess found that these broad patterns of temperamental qualities are remarkably stable through childhood.
Most experts agree that temperament does have a genetic and biological basis; but researchers also agree that environmental experiences can modify a child's temperament. Parents can encourage new behaviors in their children, and with enough support a slow-to-warm-up child can become less shy, or a difficult baby can become more emotionally stable.
Artistic Temperament
The tendency for those who are highly artistic to show dramatic swings in emotion. While not solely possessed by artists, it is highly prevalent among artists of all mediums, including painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, etc. This behavior is often characterized by being highly passionate about subjects of importance to the possessor of this behavior, extremely dedicated to certain goals, often hyper-aware of the presence of others, and at other times seemingly oblivious to the presence of others (which explains the odd, extreme movements some artists may have while performing their art.) It is also accompanied by the full range of all the emotions, often elevated to extremes. There is a theory that this due to the high instance of bipolar disorder in the artistic community, however this is a subject of debate. Also, in some individuals its origin could be due to a self-fulfilling expectation that, "Since I am an artist, I should have an artistic temperament."
Rudolf Steiner and the four temperaments
In his lectures on education, Rudolf Steiner brought a new approach to the four classical temperaments: melancholic, phlegmatic, sanguine and choleric. He emphasized their importance in elementary education, as this is a time when the child is strongly affected by his or her nature in this respect. A person's temperament may change, especially in the pre-puberty years, and in any case diminishes in importance as the personality becomes more developed after puberty.
In any case, the temperament is not exclusive; most people combine aspects of all of them. One or two may dominate, however, or be prominent by their absence. In addition, for each temperament Steiner pointed out that there are less and more mature forms: the sullen, self-absorbed melancholic can mature to the sympathetic helper and/or the deep thinker. A person may transform his or her own temperament, as well, either by becoming more mature in what is naturally given or by metamorphosing into a different temperament.
Other
In the hobby of dog fancy, temperament is an important conformation point.
References
Anschütz, Marieke, Children and Their Temperaments. ISBN 0863151752. Carey, William B., Understanding Your Child's Temperament. ISBN 1413470289. Steiner, Rudolf, The Four Temperaments. ISBN 910142114
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