Adult Temperament and Childbearing over the Life Course

Adult Temperament and Childbearing over the Life Course
Markus Jokela et al.; 2010


Abstract

Emerging evidence suggests that temperament may predict childbearing. We examined the association between four temperament traits (novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence and persistence of the Temperament and Character Inventory) and child-bearing over the life course in the population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study (n 1⁄4 1535; 985 women, 550 men). Temperament was assessed when the participants were aged 20–35 and fertility history from adolescence to adulthood was reported by the participants at age 30–45. Discrete-time survival analysis modelling indicated that high childbearing probability was predicted by low novelty seeking (standardized OR 1⁄4 0.92; 95% confidence interval 0.88–0.97), low harm avoidance (OR 1⁄4 0.90; 0.85–0.95), high reward dependence (OR 1⁄4 1.09; 1.03–1.15) and low persistence (OR 1⁄4 0.91; 0.87–0.96) with no sex differences or quadratic effects. These associations grew stronger with increase in numbers of children. The findings were substantially the same in a completely  prospective analysis. Adjusting for education did not influence the associations. Despite its negative association with overall childbearing, high novelty seeking increased the probability of having children in participants who were not living with a partner  (OR 1⁄4 1.29; 1.12–1.49). These data provide novel evidence for the role of temperament in influencing childbearing, and suggest possible weak natural selection of temperament traits in contemporary humans.

Approach and Avoidance Temperament as Basic Dimensions of Personality:

Approach and Avoidance Temperament as Basic Dimensions of Personality
E J Elliot and T M Trash, 2010

http://www.psych.rochester.edu/research/apav/publications/documents/ElliotThrashAppandAvoidanceBasicDimensions.pdf

"A central premise of our work on approach and avoidance temperament is that these constructs not only represent basic elements of personality, but that they represent the core dispositions on which other dispositions rest. The premise was supported by our Study 4 results showing that approach and avoidance temperament could account for the shared variance among the other popular basic constructs, but that the other popular basic constructs could not serve this same role. These data are promising, but we hasten to ad that more research is needed, using additional methodical approaches (e.g., Markon, Krueger, & Watson, 2005), participants from different cultures (e.g., Tsai, Levenson, & McCoy, 2006), and additional dimensional candidates (e.g., Zuckerman, 1991) before any empathetic statements on this issue are warranted."