Research on the Temperament of 5 - to 8 - Month - Old Infants
Young Hee Choi
Abstract
Prior studies on child development have focused mainly on environmental variables including mother variations. However, several studies proved that child variables, especially inherited temperament, influence or change the environment. The current study investigates the temperament of 5 - to 8 - month - old infants. One hundred and forty-three mothers of the infants responded to the RITQ that was devised by Carey and McDevitt (1978). The RITQ examined 9 temperamental categories. Based on the score, the subjects were divided into five subgroups-Difficult, Slow-to-Warm-Up, Intermediate High, Intermediate-Low, and Easy. The important findings are as following: 1) There were significant sex differences. Females appeared to have significantly more representation in the slow-to-warm-up, intermediate-high, and intermediate-low groups. There were more males in the easy group. In the comparison of the two sexes as to the mean score in the nine categories males were found to be more approaching, less intensive, positive mood, and highly distractible. 2) Infants` temperament was not related to the mothers` education level and their work status. 3) The mothers` global ratings were consistent with subgroup temperament characteristics.
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