CH 6

1. CH 6 CULTURE AND TEMPERAMENT

2. TEMPERAMENT • Qualities of responsiveness to the environment that exist from birth and evoke different reactions from people in the baby’s world. Temperament is generally considered to be a biologically based style of interacting with the world

3. 3 Major categories of Temperament (Notice the value judgments implied in these labels!) • Easy: adaptive, positive and responsive • Difficult: intense, irregular, withdrawing, generally marked by negative moods • Slow-to-warm-up: need time to make transitions in activity and experiences • How might we better label these differential temperaments less judgmentally and more descriptively?

4. Cross-Cultural Studies of Temperament • Differences in temperament and in environmental responses may evoke differential responses in the learning and social experiences of children, which in turn may impact the child’s worldview as they grow older • Difficult pregnancy (particularly high blood pressure) may produce an irritable infant • How else can we see temperament, environment affecting a child’s experience/interpretation of the world?

5. Cross-Cultural Studies & NBAS • Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale • Assesses newborn behaviors in first 30 days • High altitude babies less attentive, less responsive, less active, had more difficulty self-soothing • Nepalese infants, undernourished by US standards, were more alert, had better motor performance than US infants. • Daily massage • Rituals • Differences across cultures must be considered in light of cultural caregiving practices, cultural goals & expectations of infants, and general environmental conditions

6. “Goodness of Fit” • The interaction of a child’s temperament with the temperaments of their primary caregivers, which may also affect subsequent attachment

7. Culture, Temperament & Goodness of Fit • In the US, “difficult” temperament may be associated with greater likelihood of later behavior problems. • In a harsher climate that temperament (fussy infant who may demand more attention and caregiving) may be associated with increased likelihood of survival. ******