Temperament has been defined as “individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation assumed to have a constitutional basis” (Rothbart, Ahadi, & Evans, 2000a, p. 123), and early temperament is thought to provide the substrate of subsequently emerging personality (Caspi, 1998; Eisenberg, Fabes, Guthrie, & Reiser, 2000). The dimensions identified by temperament researchers are thought to provide a basis, presumably in interaction with the environment, for the development of specific personality traits.
