Editing Temperament (section)

===Family life===

====Influences====
Most experts agree that temperament has a [[genetics|genetic]] and [[biology|biological]] basis, although environmental factors and maturation modify the ways a child's personality is expressed.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEU-az-NzTc Development of Temperament Symposium (2008)]. Philoctetes Center, New York; with panelists Sue Carter, Francis Champagne, [[Susan Coates]], Ed Nercessian, Donald Pfaff, [[Daniel Schechter]], Nadia Bruschweiler Stern</ref> The term "goodness of fit" refers to the match or mismatch between temperament and other personal characteristics and the specific features of the environment. Differences of temperament or behavior styles between individuals are important in family life. They affect the interactions among family members. While some children can adapt quickly and easily to family routines and get along with siblings, others who are more active or intense may have a difficult time adjusting. The interactions between these children and their parents or siblings are among a number of factors that can lead to stress and friction within the family.

The temperament mix between parents and children also affects family life.  For example, a slow-paced parent may be irritated by a highly active child; or if both parent and child are highly active and intense, conflict could result. This knowledge can help parents figure out how temperaments affect family relationships. What may appear to be a behavioral problem may actually be a mismatch between the parent's temperament and their child's. By taking a closer look at the nine traits that Thomas and Chess revealed from their study, parents can gain a better understanding of their child's temperament and their own. Parents may also notice that situational factors cause a child's temperament to seem problematic; for example, a child with low rhythmicity can cause difficulties for a family with a highly scheduled life, and a child with a high activity level may be difficult to cope with if the family lives in a crowded apartment upstairs from sensitive neighbors.

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 easier to handle. More recently infants and children with temperament issues have been called "spirited" to avoid negative connotations of "''difficult''" and "''slow to warm up''". Numerous books have been written advising parents how to raise their spirited youngsters.

====Understanding for improvement====
Understanding a child's temperament can help reframe how parents interpret children's behavior and the way parents think about the reasons for behaviors. By parents having access to this knowledge now helps them to guide their child in ways that respect the child's individual differences. By understanding children's temperaments and our own helps adults to work with them rather than try to change them. It is an opportunity to anticipate and understand a child's reaction. It is also important to know that temperament does not excuse a child's unacceptable behavior, but it does provide direction to how parents can respond to it. Making small and reasonable accommodations to routines can reduce tension. For example, a child who is slow-paced in the mornings may need an extra half-hour to get ready. Knowing who or what may affect the child's behavior can help to alleviate potential problems. Although children obtain their temperament behaviors innately, a large part that helps determine a child's ability to develop and act in certain ways is determined by the parents. When a parent takes the time to identify and more importantly respond to the temperaments they are faced with in a positive way it will help them guide their child in trying to figure out the world.

Recognizing the child's temperament and helping them to understand how it impacts his/her life as well as others is important. It is just as important for parents to recognize their own temperaments. Recognizing each individual's temperament, will help to prevent and manage problems that may arise from the differences among family members.

Temperament continues into adulthood, and later studies by Chess and Thomas have shown that these characteristics continue to influence behavior and adjustment throughout the life-span.

In addition to the initial clinical studies, academic psychologists have developed an interest in the field and researchers such as Bates, Buss & Plomin, [[Jerome Kagan|Kagan]], [[Vladimir Rusalov|Rusalov]], [[Robert Cloninger|Cloninger]], Trofimova and Rothbart have generated large bodies of research in the areas of [[personality psychology|personality]], [[neuroscience]], and [[behavioural genetics|behavioral genetics]].