Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Adolescents’ Temperament and Character: A Longitudinal Study on Happiness

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Happiness Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Personality is considered a major determinant of adults and adolescents Subjective Well-Being (SWB); mainly due to its relation to emotional reactivity, emotional intensity, and to the duration of emotional reactions. However, personality as presented above involves almost only differences in automatic emotional reactions and habits (i.e., temperament). Nevertheless, temperament together with learning experiences from different life events is responsible for what people make of themselves intentionally (i.e., character). The present study examines the relation between temperament and character to SWB at two points in time over a year in an adolescent sample (N = 109). Adolescents reported personality (The Temperament and Character Inventory; TCI) and SWB at the beginning of the school year (T1). Subjective Well-Being was then again measured at the end of the school year (T2). Temperament (Harm Avoidance and Novelty Seeking) and character (Self-Directedness) predicted SWB at T1. However, only Self-Directedness predicted SWB at T2 and also small but significant changes in SWB at the end of the school year. The inclusion of character in SWB research is discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ali, M., & Ali, H. Y. (2005). The soul of a butterfly—Reflections on life’s journey. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allport, G. W. (1955). Becoming: Basic considerations for a psychology of personality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer, T., Adrianson, L., Plancak, A., & Karlsson, E. (2007). Influence of affective personality on cognitive-mediated emotional processing: Need for empowerment. European Journal of Psychiatry, 21, 21–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asch, M., Cortese, S., Perez Diaz, F., Pelissolo, A., Aubron, V., Orejarena, S., et al. (2009). Psychometric properties of a French version of the junior temperament and character inventory. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 18, 144–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ash, C., & Huebner, E. S. (2001). Environmental events and life satisfaction reports of adolescents: A test of cognitive mediation. School Psychology International, 22, 320–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentler, P. M., & Bonnet, D. C. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance. Structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brändström, S., Richter, J., & Nylander, P.-O. (2003). Further development of the temperament and character inventory. Psychological Reports, 93, 995–1002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brändström, S., Richter, J., & Przybeck, T. (2001). Distributions by age and sex of the dimensions of temperament and character inventory in a cross-cultural perspective among Sweden, Germany, and the USA. Psychological Reports, 89, 747–758.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brändström, S., Schlette, P., Przybeck, T. R., Lundberg, M., Forsgren, T., Sigvardsson, S., et al. (1998). Swedish normative data on personality using the temperament and character inventory. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 39, 122–128.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brändström, S., Sigvardsson, S., Nylander, P.-O., & Richter, J. (2008). The Swedish version of the temperament and character inventory (TCI)—A cross-validation of age and gender influences. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 1, 14–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloninger, C. R. (2004). Feeling good: The science of well-being. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloninger, C. R. (2006). Fostering spirituality and well-being in clinical practice. Psychiatric Annals, 36, 1–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloninger, C. R., Przybeck, T. R., Svrakic, D. M., & Wetzel, R. D. (1994). The temperament and character inventory (TCI): A guide to its development and use. St. Louis: Washington University Center for Psychobiology of Personality.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloninger, C. R., Svrakic, D. M., & Przybeck, T. R. (1993). A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 975–989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T. Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). NEO PI-R professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Fruyt, F., Van De Wiele, L., & Van Heeringen, C. (2000). Cloninger’s psychobiological model of temperament and the five-factor model of personality. Personality and Individual Difference, 29, 441–452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeNeve, K. M., & Cooper, H. (1998). A happy personality: A meta-analysis of 137 personality traits and subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 197–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. (1994). Assessing subjective well-being: Progress and opportunities. Social Indicators Research, 31, 103–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 81–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duckworth, A. L., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16, 939–944.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fogle, L. M., Huebner, E. S., & Laughlin, J. E. (2002). The relationship between temperament and life satisfaction in early adolescence: Cognitive and behavioral mediation models. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3, 373–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, D. (2011a). Two models of personality and well-being among adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 1208–1212. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.02.009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, D. (2011b). Happy today, happy tomorrow: The (non-)effect of temporal distance on life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 1048–1051. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.031.

  • Garcia, D. (2011c). The affective temperaments: Differences between adolescents in the big five model and Cloninger’s psychobiological models of personality (manuscript under evaluation).

  • Garcia, D., & Erlandsson, A. (2010). The relationship between personality and subjective well-being: Different association patterns when measuring the affective component in frequency and intensity. Journal of Happiness Studies. doi:10.1007/s10902-010-9242-6.

  • Garcia, D., Rosenberg, P., Erlandsson, A., & Siddiqui, A. (2010). On lions and adolescents: Affective temperaments and the influence of negative stimuli on memory. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11, 477–495. doi:10.1007/s10902-009-9153-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, D., Rosenberg, P., & Siddiqui, A. (2011). Tomorrow I could be in trouble…but the sun will come out next year: The effect of temporal distance on adolescents’ judgments of life satisfaction. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 751–757. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2010.08.006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, D., & Siddiqui, A. (2009a). Adolescents’ psychological well-being and memory for life events: Influences on life satisfaction with respect to temperamental dispositions. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10, 387–503. doi:10.1007/s10902-008-9096-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, D., & Siddiqui, A. (2009b). Adolescents’ affective temperaments: Life satisfaction, interpretation and memory of events. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4, 155–167. doi:10.1080/17439760802399349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gunderson, J. G., Triebwasser, J., Phillips, K. A., & Sullivan, C. N. (1999). Personality and vulnerability to affective disorders. In C. R. Cloninger (Ed.), Personality and psychopathology (pp. 3–32). New York: American Psychiatric Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haidt, J. (2006). The happiness hypothesis: Finding modern truth in ancient wisdom. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huebner, E. S. (1991a). Correlates of life satisfaction in children. School Psychology Quarterly, 6, 103–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huebner, E. S. (1991b). Initial development of the student’s life satisfaction. School Psychology International, 12, 231–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huebner, E. S., & Dew, T. (1995). Preliminary validation of the positive and negative affect schedule with adolescents. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 13, 286–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huebner, E. S., Suldo, S. M., Smith, L. C., & McKnight, C. (2004). Life satisfaction in children and youth: Empirical foundations and implications for children and youth. Psychology in the Schools, 41, 81–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, A. E., Schochet, T., & Landry, C. F. (2004). Risk taking and novelty seeking in adolescence: Introduction to part I. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1021, 27–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim-Prieto, C., Diener, E., Tamir, M., Scollon, C., & Diener, M. (2005). Integrating the diverse definitions of happiness: A time-sequential framework of subjective well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6, 261–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen, R. J., & Eid, M. (2008). Ed Diener and the science of subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 1–13). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laurent, J., Catanzaro, S. J., Joiner, T. E., Rudolph, K. D., Potter, K. I., Lambert, S., et al. (1999). A measure of positive and negative affect for children: Scale development and preliminary validation. Psychological Assessment, 11, 326–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luby, J. L., & Svrakic, D. M. (1999). The junior temperament and character inventory: Preliminary validation of a child self-report measure. Psychological Reports, 84, 1127–1138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas, R. E. (2008). Personality and subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 171–194). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K. M., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing happiness: The architecture of sustainable change. Review of General Psychology, 9, 111–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magen, Z. (1996). Commitment beyond self and adolescence: The issue of happiness. Social Indicators Research, 37, 235–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magen, Z. (1998). Exploring adolescent happiness. Commitment, purpose and fulfillment. London: Sage Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, K. M., & Huebner, E. S. (2007). Peer victimization and prosocial experiences and emotional well-being of middle school students. Psychology in the Schools, 44, 199–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAdams, D. P. (2001). The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology, 5, 100–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCullough, G., Huebner, E. S., & Laughlin, J. M. (2000). Life events, self-concept, and adolescents’ positive subjective well-being. Psychology in the Schools, 37, 281–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mounts, N. S., & Steinberg, L. (1995). An ecological analysis of peer influence on adolescent grade point average and drug use. Developmental Psychology, 31, 915–922.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palomo, T., Kostrzewa, R. M., Beninger, R. J., & Archer, T. (2007). Treatment consideration and manifest complexity in comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders. Neurotoxicity Research, 12, 43–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Proctor, C. L., Linley, P. A., & Maltby, J. (2009). Youth life satisfaction measures: A review. Journal of Positive Psychology, 5, 583–630.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigby, B. T., & Huebner, E. S. (2005). Do causal attributions mediate the relationship between personality characteristics and life satisfaction in adolescence? Psychology in the Schools, 42, 91–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, C. R. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships, as developed in the client-centered framework. In S. Koch (Ed.), Psychology: A study of a science (Vol. 3, pp. 184–256). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2001). On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudemonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schimmack, U. (2008). The structure of subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 97–123). New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmeck, K., Goth, K., Poustka, F., & Cloninger, R. C. (2001). Reliability and validity of the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 10, 172–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfilment. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, K. M., Abad, N., Ferguson, Y., Gunz, A., Houser-Marko, L., Nichols, C. P., et al. (2010). Persistent pursuit of need-satisfying goals leads to increased happiness: A 6-month experimental longitudinal study. Motivation and Emotion, 34, 39–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 482–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, K. M., & Kasser, T. (1998). Pursuing personal goals: Skills enable progress, but not all progress is beneficial. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 1319–1331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, K. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). How to increase and sustain positive emotion: The effects of expressing gratitude and visualizing best possible selves. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 73–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shweder, R. A., Much, N. C., Mahapatra, M., & Park, L. (1997). The ‘Big Three’ of morality (autonomy, community, divinity) and the ‘Big Three’ explanations of suffering. In M. Brandt & Paul Rozin (Eds.), Morality and health (pp. 119–172). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001). Adolescent development. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 83–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, M. E., Ebmeier, K. P., & Deary, I. J. (2005). Personality correlates of happiness and sadness: EPQ-R and TPQ compared. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1085–1096.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suldo, S. M., & Huebner, E. S. (2006). Is extremely high life satisfaction during adolescence advantageous? Social Indicators Research, 78, 179–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urberg, K. A., Değirmencioğlu, S. M., Tolson, J. M., & Halliday-Scher, K. (1995). The structure of adolescent peer networks. Developmental Psychology, 31, 540–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urberg, K. A., Lou, Q., Pilgrim, C., & Değirmencioğlu, S. M. (2003). A two-stage model of peer influence in adolescent substance use: Individual and relationship-specific differences in susceptibility to influence. Addictive Behaviors, 28, 1243–1256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vittersø, J. (2001). Personality traits and subjective well-being: Emotional stability, not extraversion, is probably the important predictor. Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 903–914.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scale. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wentzel, K. R., & Caldwell, K. (1997). Friendships, peer acceptance, and group membership: Relations to academic achievement in middle school. Child Development, 68, 1198–1209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, A. M., Linley, P. A., Maltby, J., Baliousis, M., & Joseph, S. (2008). The authentic personality: A theoretical and empirical conceptualization and the development of the authentic scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 55, 385–399.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

As the first author I would like to convey my gratitude to the Adlerbert Research Foundation for supporting the writing of the present article. I would also like to thank Professor Robert Cloninger at Washington University in St. Louis, Sören Sigvardsson at Umeå University, Sven Brändström, Anver Siddiqui, and Professor Trevor Archer at University of Gothenburg for their most valued help with the Temperament and Character Inventory and comments on this paper. Last but not least I would like to direct my appreciation to Kristiina Möller at Linnaeus University for her important comments and helpful suggestions on the first draft of the present article. Both authors would like to thank the participants who made the study possible, the reviewers who helped to improve the original manuscript, and to Dr. Antonella Delle Fave for her encouraging words and open-mindedness.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Forensic Psychiatry, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Lillhagsparken 3, 422 05, Hisings Backa, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Danilo Garcia

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Saleh Moradi

Authors
  1. Danilo Garcia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Saleh Moradi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Danilo Garcia.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Garcia, D., Moradi, S. Adolescents’ Temperament and Character: A Longitudinal Study on Happiness. J Happiness Stud 13, 931–946 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9300-8

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-011-9300-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation