The relationship between child temperament to subsequent adjustments - Essay Example

 The relationship between child temperament to subsequent adjustments Introduction This paper aims at discussing how the temperaments that childrenhave in childhood could prove to be beneficial or pose a challenge to later adjustments in life. It will hence describe the existing temperaments; discuss the benefits of the various temperaments in subsequent adjustments in life as well as touch on the challenges that these very temperaments could pose in later changes in the child’s life and finally give a comprehensive conclusion. 1.1 Temperaments in Childhood Human beings tend to be endlessly varied; looking into the existing temperaments will clearly bring this out. Steiner (2008) claims that temperaments are in play in individuals in everyday life; the moment individuals come across each other, there is a tendency to view temperaments externally in terms of tangible characteristics. Some of these characteristics, however, appear to be hereditary; as children, human beings tend to inherit some of these characteristics from parents. This inheritance in the long run does influence our individual qualities and nature as it is. Nevertheless, as a child starts to move from childhood Steiner (2008) explains, other qualities and characteristics start to be adopted which have nothing to do with inheritance but with the person’s individual existence. Therefore, this only means that besides how we are born, a person’s temperament does encompass also subjective experiences acquired from school and elsewhere in life. Damon, Lerner and Eisenberg (2006) describe a temperament to be individual differences in reactivity (emotional responses) and self- regulation (controlling one’s temperament) based on heredity, maturation and subjective experiences. Hence, temperaments tend to be innate behavioral styles of individuals; thus each person’s temperament is unique and keeps varying as each person has had a different experience and has come from a unique background. This applies to children as well; if anything, Damon, Lerner and Eisenberg (2006) claim that, “the child’s temperament is important in the developmental web of life” (p. 101).This insinuates that the temperament that the child bears in childhood is likely to influence how the child continues to develop throughout life. There has been immense research in the field of childhood temperaments; Damon, Lerner and Eisenberg (2006) identify one of the studies, ‘the Australian Temperament Studies’ (ATS) as one that came up with temperament factors of children between 3 and 8 years. The factors entailed: inflexibility, persistence, sociability, negative emotionality, self-regulation and rhythmicity. Rosenberg and Krajicek (2006) assert that Children’s temperaments could therefore be placed under three broad categories which are: difficult to warm, slow to warm and easy to warm,each of these temperaments has its own distinct temperament factors. Shaffer (2008) affirms this by explaining that the children that are difficult to warm are active, irritable and have irregular habits, slow to warm on the other hand, are inactive, moody and adapt slowly to new people and situations while the easy to warm adapt to new experiences, have regular habits and have a positive mood. This diversity could be beneficial or give the child a hard time; for instance, the difficult to warm temperament predisposes the child to possible verbal and or physical abuse as they could easily irritate the parents. Damon, Lerner and Eisenberg (2006) attest to the fact that it is possible for children to transfer their temperaments from one context to another, the problem however sets in when it comes to adjustments. This is because the implications of adjustments depend on the diverse contexts. 1.2 Benefits of childhood Temperaments in Subsequent adjustments Rosenberg and Krajicek (2006) point out that, “individual attributes that may be protective factors contributing to a child’s resilience include intelligence, which can enhance problem solving abilities; easy temperament, which may decrease irritability and therefore assist a child in being sociable and engaging with peers” (p.115). The easy to warm temperament in children seems to foster healthy emotional development, sociability and self- regulation; furthermore, it is attested to enhancing resilience in the child. The attributes that come with this specific temperament are very key in everyday life; emotional health will ascertain that this child remains stable in life such that whatever happens will be quickly adjusted to. For instance, if this child will know exactly how, where and when to invest their emotions a skill that could be applied in all the stages of life as it will influence the sort of relationships that are created with others; this child will seek meaningful and healthy relationships in life as they are emotionally healthy and are willing to approach others and make friendships. Additionally, resilience will induce a sense of overcoming adversities in the child by applying suitable coping skills. This child will therefore, grow up with the perception that challenges are not the end of life but are only meant to strengthen and enable a person to focus on the goals set in life. In the long run, irrespective of what the child faces there will be a sense of overcoming and establishing positive outcomes from the presenting challenges not just then but also later in life. Thus making necessary adjustments will not be as challenging for a child who had this easy to warm temperament had a bigger picture of what they need to achieve in life; hence a need to bounce back and live on. Adaptation and coping are important skills in life since circumstances change each day, thus if a child falls under the easy to warm temperament then these essential skills are secured. 1.3 Challenges that Temperaments pose in subsequent Adjustments In the difficult to warm temperament, the children reflect high levels of irritability (Damon, Lerner and Eisenberg, 2006). This by all means attracts possible abuse both physically and emotionally from the care-givers parents included. In the long run, such a child ends up developing unhealthy emotional habits such as hostility and aggression as this was what their temperament predisposed them to. In an instance where later in life the child is moved to a friendlier environment, then an adjustment challenge is posed to them as they fail to grasp the essence of politeness and kindness. Therefore, the child is unable to establish meaningful relationships in life as they continue to develop due to being harsh and rude. This could also result in rebellion as the child harbours feelings of resentment towards authority, hence ends up breaking laws which results in having to face adverse consequences such as serving a term in jail. The slow to warm on the other hand reflects signs of being inactive and uninterested; Shaffer (2009) claims that these children portray a different kind of adjustment challenge as theirs is as a result of lacking interest in embracing new activities. Therefore, if not in the comfort of their close family members who probably understand that they are withdrawn, these children face the challenge of socializing with others more so because they are easily ignored and left out of events. This continues to manifest as they develop throughout life, hence making them struggle with feelings of rejection from their peers continually neglect them due to their nature. 1.4 Conclusion The paper clearly brings out the distinct temperaments in children; it is evident to that temperaments form the basis of the emotional and behavioural personality development in adults and also influence what direction the child’s development will take.Temperament stability is expected as a child advances in age; however, it is important to note that this could be hindered by the social predisposition of the child. However, stability continues to develop beyond adulthood reaching its peak in middle adulthood (Damon, Lerner and Eisenberg, 2006). Additionally, different temperamental characteristics provide room for diverse developmental outcomes such that children with the same temperaments could easily end up developing in diverse ways while those with the different temperaments could end up reflecting development along the same line. This is to say that temperament formation is influenced by various interacting factors that work together. Damon, Lerner and Eisenberg (2006) say that, “temperament in itself does not constitute, a negative versus positive adjustment, but it conditions, developmental processes that determine adjustment” (p. 141). This explains the varying instances of adjustments as portrayed by the different temperaments; it is the development predisposition of the temperament that in turn determines how a child ends up making subsequent adjustments in life. All the same, there is a need to predispose a child to an environment that is appealing and will foster temperaments that enable a child to cope with the diverse circumstances in life. Shaffer (2009) identifies with this by saying that temperamental patterns are not permanent as they can change and do not have to be carried on into later life with them, but one of the determinant factors is parental rearing styles; Thus parents ought to be very keen. References Damon, W, Lerner, R & Eisenberg, N. (2006). Handbook of child Psychology: social, emotional And personality development (6thed). USA: John Wiley & sons Rosenberg, M &Krajicek, M. (2006). Nursing Excellence for children and families. New York: Springer Publishing Company Shaffer, D. (2009). Personality Development (6thed). USA: Wadsworth, cengage learning Steiner, R. (2008). The four Temperaments. USA: Rudolf Steiner Press Read More