The Global Temperament Project: Parent-Reported Temperament in Infants, Toddlers and Children from 59 Nations

Data from 83,847 parent reports of temperament (Surgency, Negative Affectivity and Regulatory Capacity) in infants, toddlers and children from 341 samples gathered in 59 countries were used to investigate the relation between culture, gender and temperament. Effects of culture on temperament were larger than those obtained in similar studies of adult personality, and most pronounced for Negative Affectivity. Cultural patterns of Negative Affectivity were consistent across infancy, toddlerhood and childhood; and patterns of Regulatory Capacity were consistent between infancy and toddlerhood. Nations who previously reported high Extraversion, high Conscientiousness and low Neuroticism in adults were found to rate infants and children high in Surgency; and countries reporting low adult Openness reported high temperamental Negative Affectivity. In comparison to northern areas of Europe and Asia, youth in southern Europe and Asia were high in Surgency. Negative Affectivity was consistently high in south and southeast Asia and South America, and low in northern and western Europe. Countries in which children were high in Surgency were characterized by philosophies of Short-Term Orientation as well as low personal income; and countries whose children were rated as high in Negative Affectivity had cultural orientations reflecting Collectivism, high Power Distance, Short-Term Orientation, in addition to low GNI. Gender differences in temperament were largely consistent in direction with prior studies, revealing higher Negative Affectivity and Regulatory Capacity in females and higher Surgency in males; with these differences becoming more pronounced at later ages, and the magnitude of gender differences varying considerably across nations.