Читать книгу Lifespan Development - Tara L. Kuther - Страница 315

“Joshua is such an easygoing baby!” gushed his babysitter. “He eats everything, barely cries, and falls asleep without a fuss. I wish all my babies were like him.” The babysitter is referring to Joshua’s temperament. Temperament, the characteristic way in which an individual approaches and reacts to people and situations, is thought to be one of the basic building blocks of emotion and personality. Temperament has strong biological determinants; behavior genetics research has shown genetic bases for temperament (Saudino & Micalizzi, 2015). Yet the expression of temperament reflects reciprocal interactions among genetic predispositions, maturation, and experience (Goodvin et al., 2015; Rothbart, 2011). Every infant behaves in a characteristic, predictable style that is influenced by his or her inborn tendencies toward arousal and stimulation as well as by experiences with adults and contexts. In other words, every infant displays a particular temperament style.