Tamis-LeMonda-05-14-2021-7

262  CHAPTER 7

Surgency is a measure of an infant’s activity level and intensity of pleasure. Infants who score high in surgency show a lot of happiness through smiling and laughter, energetically approach new situations, and are low on shyness. Negative reactivity indexes infant fear, frustration, sadness, and low soothability. Infants who are high on negative reactivity are distressed by unfa- miliar events or frustrating situations and have difficulties regulating their emo- tions. For example, 5-month-olds differ in how upset they get at having their arms restrained, a sign of high negative reactivity, and how quickly they recover from distress, a sign of low emotional regulation. Some infants don’t cry at all when restrained; others cry but calm down; and others display intense, sus- tained crying that forces the experiment to end early (Porter et al., 2009). Orienting regulation refers to an infant’s ability to regulate attention toward goals and away from distressing situations. Infants high on orienting are able to regulate their emotions well (Rothbart, Posner, & Boylan, 1990). For example, infants who were more attentive during a block task were less likely to become frustrated during arm restraint and toy removal tasks than were infants with low attention (Calkins et al., 2002). And 9-month-old infants who were better able to attend to a picture without being distracted showed greater positive affect and less social withdrawal from peers than infants who had difficulty maintaining attention (Pérez-Edgar & Fox, 2000). CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING 7.10 1. What are the six dimensions of temperament identified by Mary Rothbart and Jack Bates? 2. How do these six dimensions relate to the temperament components of surgency, negative reactivity, and orienting regulation? Whereas emotions are fleeting, temperament can be stable from infancy through toddlerhood, childhood, and even adulthood (Caspi et al., 2003; Kochanska & Knaack, 2003; Rothbart & Bates, 2006). Thomas and Chess found that “slow-to- warm-up” babies were excessively fearful and cautious in new situations in the preschool and school years (Chess & Thomas, 1984). And infant temperament helps explain sociability, negative reactivity, attention, and effortful control in childhood and adulthood. For example, Mary Rothbart (2007) found similarities between infant and toddler temperaments and adulthood traits of personality as represented in the “Big five of personality”:  ● Openness —the degree of intellectual curiosity and openness to new experiences  ● Conscientiousness —the tendency to be organized and self-disciplined  ● Extraversion —energy, surgency, outgoingness, and the tendency to seek stimulation through social interactions  ● Neuroticism —vulnerability to quickly experiencing unpleasant emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression  ● Agreeableness —the tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than antagonistic toward others In particular, the temperament component of negative reactivity predicted adult neuroticism; the temperament component of orienting regulation pre- dicted openness; the temperament component of effortful control predicted conscientiousness; and the temperament component of surgency predicted extraversion ( FIGURE 7.14 ). ✓ Stability in Temperament LEARNING OBJECTIVE 7.11  State evidence for the stability of temperament.

surgency  An infant’s activity level and intensity of pleasure; infants with high surgency show a lot of happi- ness by smiling and laughing negative reactivity  An infant’s high arousal in response to sensory stimuli; infants with high negative reactivity display fear, frustration, sadness, and low soothability

orienting regulation  An infant’s ability to regulate attention toward goals and away from distressing situations

PROPERTY OF OXFORD

UNIVERSITY PRESS