Abstract

LEON, Carmen; OAKLAND, Thomas; WEI, Youhua  and  BERRIOS, María. Venezuelan children temperament styles and comparison with their United States peers. Interam. j. psychol. [online]. 2009, vol.43, n.1, pp. 125-133. ISSN 0034-9690.

Temperament styles of 411 Venezuelan children are described in reference to possible gender and age differences and compared with those of 2589 U.S. children in light of Jung's theory of temperament as modified by Myers and Briggs, one that highlights four bipolar qualities: extroversion-introversion, practical-imaginative, thinking-feeling and organized-flexible styles. Venezuelan children generally prefer extroverted to introverted style, practical to imaginative styles, thinking to feeling styles, and organized to flexible styles. Gender differences are seen on thinking-feeling. In contrast to males, females are more likely to prefer a feeling style. Age differences are seen only on organized-flexible styles. In contrast to U.S. children, Venezuelan children express higher preferences for extroverted, practical, thinking, and organized styles. Results are discussed in light of possible contextual differences in child development and qualities associated with temperamental styles and its practical implication for parenting and teaching. However, the biological base for temperament should not be overlooked.

Keywords : Temperamental style; Cultural diversity; Children; Age; Gender.

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