Life Span Development II: School age and Adolescence 3 (2+1)
Lesson 19 : Emotional Maturity and adjustment during Adolescence
Individual differences in Emotional Responding
Individuals seem to be different from one another. Some are quiet and shy; others are more sociable and outgoing. Such differences reflect temperament- constitutional ways of responding to emotional events and novel stimulation, as well as ways of regulating impulses. Many aspects of temperament, such as cheerfulness, outgoingness, moodiness and anxiety probably have a genetic basis. Temperament is a predisposition to behave in a certain way. This is molded and modified by experience. Parents, teachers and peers may intentionally cultivate certain ways of responding called socialization. It is a systematic effort by other people and by institutions to prepare the youngsters to act in ways deemed by society to be appropriate and responsible.
Research on temperamental characteristics suggests some stability over time, so to some extent we can predict children’s later personality characteristics and social behaviours from their earlier ones. Ex. Children who are inhibited and fearful as toddler and preschoolers also tend to become fairly anxious adolescents and adults. Children who freely show Irritability, fussiness, frequent anger in early years are more likely to show depression, anxiety, aggression in later in life. This could be due to both genetic factors and to ongoing, persistent characteristics in children’s social environments.
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