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Children's Behavioral Styles at
Age 3 Are Linked to Their
Adult Personality Traits at Age 26
Author(s) -
Caspi Avshalom,
Harrington HonaLee,
Milne Barry,
Amell James W.,
Theodore Reremoana F.,
Moffitt Terrie E.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/1467-6494.7104001
Subject(s) - psychology , personality , temperament , feeling , big five personality traits , developmental psychology , personality assessment inventory , personality development , clinical psychology , social psychology
We observed 1,000 3‐year‐old children who exhibited five temperament types: Undercontrolled, Inhibited, Confident, Reserved, and Well‐adjusted. Twenty‐three years later, we reexamined 96% of the children as adults, using multiple methods of comprehensive personality assessment, including both self‐ and informant‐reports. These longitudinal data provide the longest and strongest evidence to date that children's early‐emerging behavioral styles can foretell their characteristic behaviors, thoughts, and feelings as adults, pointing to the foundations of the human personality in the early years of life.