Character : Temper

In psychology, temperament is the innate aspect of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion.
Temperament is defined as that part of the personality which is genetically based. Along with character, and those aspects acquired through learning, the two together are said to constitute personality.

The specific behaviors are: activity level, regularity of sleeping and eating patterns, initial reaction, adaptability, intensity of emotion, mood, distractibility, persistence and attention span, and sensory sensitivity.

Nine Temperament Characteristics

Activity

Activity refers to the amount of physical energy in the child. Does the child have to be constantly moving or do they have a relaxing approach? A child who has high energy may have difficulty sitting still in class, where a child with low energy can handle a very structured environment. The former may use his or her gross motor skills more frequently, such as running and jumping. Conversely, a child has a lower activity level may rely more on fine motor skills, such as drawing and putting puzzles together. This trait can also refer to mental activity, such as deep thinking or reading, activities which become more significant as the person matures.

Regularity

Regularity, also known as Rhythmicity refers to the level of predictability in a child’s biological functions such as waking, becoming tired, hunger and bowel movements. Does the child have a routine in their eating and sleeping habits or do they just seem to happen whenever? A child who is predictable will need to eat at 2pm everyday whereas a child who is less predictable will eat at sporadic times throughout the day.

Initial reaction

Initial reaction is also known as Approach or Withdrawal. This refers to how the child responds to new people or environments either positive or negative. Does the child check out people or things in their environment without hesitation or do they shy away? A child who is bold will tend to approach things quickly as if without thinking. Where as a child who is cautious typically prefers to watch for a while before engaging in new experiences.

Adaptability

Adaptability refers to how long it takes the child to adjust to change. This is different from what was mentioned above because adaptability refers to the long term adjustment made after the child’s first reaction to the new situation. Does the child adjust to the changes in their environment easily or are they resistant to what is happening around them? For a child who adjusts easily they may be quick or it may take no time at all to settle into a new routine. Whereas a child who is resistant may take a long time to adjust to the situation.

Intensity

Intensity refers to the energy level of a positive or negative response. Does the child react intensely to a situation or do they respond in a calm and quiet manner? A child who leans more on the intense side may jump up and down screaming with excitement. Whereas a child who is mild mannered may just smile or show no emotion what-so-ever.

Mood

Mood refers to the child’s general tendency towards a happy or unhappy demeanor. All children have a variety of emotions and reactions that are opposite of each other such as cheerful and stormy, happy and unhappy. Each child biologically tends have generally a positive or negative mood. Does the child express a positive or negative outlook? A baby who may smile and coo all the time could be considered a cheerful baby. Whereas a baby who cries or is fussy all the time may be considered a stormy baby.

Distractibility

Distractibility refers to the child’s tendency to be sidetracked by other things going on around them. Does the child get easily distracted by what is happening in the environment around them or can they concentrate despite the interruptions? A child that is easily distracted notices everything going on around them and has a hard time returning back to the task at hand. Whereas a child that is rarely distracted has the ability to stay focused and completes the task at hand.

Persistence & attention span

Persistence and attention span refer to the child’s ability to stay with a task through frustrations and length of time on the task. Can the child stay with an activity for a long period of time or do they just give up when they become frustrated? A child who is persistent can sit and pull on their sock until the task is complete. Where a child who tends to have a short attention span will just give up when they become frustrated or distracted.

Sensitivity

Sensitivity refers to how easily a child is disturbed by changes in their environment. It is also referred to as Sensory Threshold or threshold of responsiveness. Does the child get bothered by external stimuli in their environment such as noises, textures, lights, etc. or do they just seem not to be bothered by them at all and simply ignore them? A child who is sensitive may be distracted by a door slamming and will not be able to maintain focus. Whereas a child who tends to not be sensitive to external noises; they are able to maintain their focus.


Family life

Influences

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 and/or siblings are among a number of factors that can lead to stress and friction within the family life.

Parents can also differ in temperament. 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 it could mean big conflict. This can be useful to parents for figuring 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 are written here, 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, these characteristics continue to influence behavior and adjustment throughout the life-span.

Compassion

Compassion is a profound human emotion prompted by the pain of others., the feeling commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering. It’s different than empathy because empathy is merely feeling concerned with one’s pain, compassion being doing an action to remove pain.

Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others. - The Buddha.

The Dalai Lama has said, "If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion."

The noted American monk Bhikkhu Bodhi states that compassion "supplies the complement to loving-kindness: whereas loving-kindness has the characteristic of wishing for the happiness and welfare of others, compassion has the characteristic of wishing that others be free from suffering, a wish to be extended without limits to all living beings. compassion arises by entering into the subjectivity of others, by sharing their interiority in a deep and total way. It springs up by considering that all beings, like ourselves, wish to be free from suffering, yet despite their wishes continue to be harassed by pain, fear, sorrow, and other forms of dukkha. (Truth of suffering)"

The Jain tradition

Compassion for all life, human and non-human, is central to the Jain tradition. Though all life is considered sacred, human life is deemed the highest form of earthly existence. To kill any person, no matter their crime, is considered unimaginably abhorrent. It is the only substantial religious tradition that requires both monks and laity to be vegetarian. It is suggested that certain strains of the Hindu tradition became vegetarian due to strong Jain influences. The Jain tradition's stance on nonviolence, however, goes far beyond vegetarianism. Jains refuse food obtained with unnecessary cruelty.

The Hindu traditions

In the various Hindu traditions, compassion is called daya, and, along with charity and self-control, is one of the three central virtues.

The importance of compassion in the Hindu traditions reaches as far back as the Vedas, sacred texts composed over a period prior to 1500 B.C. While the early Vedas sometimes glorify war and the worship of the war god, Indra, the later Vedas demonstrate a greater sensitivity to the values of compassion. The central concept particularly relevant to compassion in Hindu spirituality is that of ahimsa. The exact definition of ahimsa varies from one tradition to another. Ahimsa is a Sanscrit word which can be translated most directly as "refraining from harmfulness." It is a derivation of himsa which means harmful, or having the intent to cause harm. [5]

The Jewish tradition

In the Jewish tradition, God is the Compassionate and is invoked as the Father of Compassion: Sorrow and pity for one in distress, creating a desire to relieve, is a feeling ascribed alike to man and God:
Asked for a summary of the Jewish religion in the most concise terms, Hillel replied (reputedly while standing on one leg): "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah. The rest is the explanation; go and learn."

The Christian tradition

Christ's example challenges Christians to forsake their own desires and to act compassionately towards others, particularly those in need or distress. Jesus assures his listeners in the Sermon on the Mount that, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

Islam

Each of the 114 chapters of the Quran, with one exception, begins with the verse, "In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate". The Muslim scriptures urge compassion towards captives as well as to widows, orphans and the poor. Traditionally, Zakat, a toll tax to help the poor and needy, was obligatory upon all muslims (9:60). One of the practical purposes of fasting or sawm during the month of Ramadan is to help one empathize with the hunger pangs of those less fortunate, to enhance sensitivity to the suffering of others and develop compassion for the poor and destitute