The development of temperament and character during adolescence: The processes and phases of change

AbstractWe studied the pattern of personality development in a longitudinal population-based sample of 752 American adolescents. Personality was assessed reliably with the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory at 12, 14, and 16 years of age. The rank-order stability of Junior Temperament and Character Inventory traits from age 12 to 16 was moderate (r = .35). Hierarchical linear modeling of between-group variance due to gender and within-group variance due to age indicated that harm avoidance and persistence decreased whereas self-directedness and cooperativeness increased from age 12 to 16. Novelty seeking, reward dependence, and self-transcendence increased from age 12 to 14 and then decreased. This biphasic pattern suggests that prior to age 14 teens became more emancipated from adult authorities while identifying more with the emergent norms of their peers, and after age 14 their created identity was internalized. Girls were more self-directed and cooperative than boys and maintained this advantage from age 12 to 16. Dependability of temperament at age 16 was mainly predicted by the same traits at earlier ages. In contrast, maturity of character at age 16 was predicted by both temperament and character at earlier ages. We conclude that character develops rapidly in adolescence to self-regulate temperament in accord with personally valued goals shaped by peers.</jats:p

Missouri grain sorghum performance trials, 1969

"MP 138, February, 1970""This bulletin reports on Department of Agronomy research project 351, Sorghum Testing. The statistics pertaining to sorghum production were furnished by R.S. Overton of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Columbia, Missouri. Climatological data were furnished by W.L. Decker, Professor and Chairman, Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Missouri. The following individuals assisted in making the 1969 Grain Sorghum Trials possible: Larkin Langford, Louis Meinke, Earl Page, Dr. Norman Justus, Norman Brown, and N.G. Weir."--Page 2."Locations. Grain sorghum performance trials were conducted at four locations in 1969, Fig. 1. They were located at the North Missouri Center near Spickard in Grundy County, on the Earl Page farm near Palmyra in Marion County, on the N. G. Weir farm near Columbia in Boone County, and at the Southwest Center near Mt. Vernon in Lawrence County. A fifth location was planted at the Delta Center near Portageville in Pemiscot County but was not harvested due to hail and bird damage. The test site at the Southwest Center was located on a Gerald soil. This soil is characterized by very slow permeability to water and air, nearly level topography, moderate water storage capacity, a claypan subsoil, medium inherent fertility, and a tendency to be slighty doughty during summer months. These characteristics coupled with a May 1 to September 15 rainfall deficit of 6 to 8 inches resulted in greatly reduced yields (Table 9). The variation, due to soil, at this site was accentuated by the drought. Thus relatively large difference in yield among entries were required for statistical significance. State production. In 1968, 216,000 acres of grain sorghum were harvested in Missouri with an average yield of 66 bushels per acre. The 1969 estimate of harvested grain sorghum is 214,000 acres and 91. 1 percent of the 1960-1969 average. The state-wide 1969 estimate of 64 bushels per acre is 9. 7 bushels more than the 10-year average and six bushels less than the 1969 estimated corn yield. These data are summarized in Table 1. Sorghum vs corn. Comparisons between the yield of corn and grain sorghum at three of the testing sites can be made since these tests were located either in the same field or close proximity (Table 2). These comparisons are only suggestive; planting and cultural factors were not the same for corn and sorghum. Interpretation of differences in yield. Small yield differences should not be overemphasized since there was considerable inherent variation in the soil at each test site. Special planting arrangements and use of the statistical procedure called analysis of variance, from which the L. S. D. (least significant difference) value is computed, help make valid yield comparisons. The L. S. D. value, found at the bottom of the tables, simply states how much one hybrid must differ from another in yield to be reasonably confident of superior performance."--Introduction.R.D. Horrocks, F.D. Cloninge

Hybrid corn, 1969

Cover title."The bulletin reports on Department of Agronomy Research Project 3100"--P. [2].Includes bibliographical references

Evolution of genetic networks for human creativity

The genetic basis for the emergence of creativity in modern humans remains a mystery despite sequencing the genomes of chimpanzees and Neanderthals, our closest hominid relatives. Data-driven methods allowed us to uncover networks of genes distinguishing the three major systems of modern human personality and adaptability: emotional reactivity, self-control, and self-awareness. Now we have identified which of these genes are present in chimpanzees and Neanderthals. We replicated our findings in separate analyses of three high-coverage genomes of Neanderthals. We found that Neanderthals had nearly the same genes for emotional reactivity as chimpanzees, and they were intermediate between modern humans and chimpanzees in their numbers of genes for both self-control and self-awareness. 95% of the 267 genes we found only in modern humans were not protein-coding, including many long-non-coding RNAs in the self-awareness network. These genes may have arisen by positive selection for the characteristics of human well-being and behavioral modernity, including creativity, prosocial behavior, and healthy longevity. The genes that cluster in association with those found only in modern humans are over-expressed in brain regions involved in human self-awareness and creativity, including late-myelinating and phylogenetically recent regions of neocortex for autobiographical memory in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions, as well as related components of cortico-thalamo-ponto-cerebellar-cortical and cortico-striato-cortical loops. We conclude that modern humans have more than 200 unique non-protein-coding genes regulating co-expression of many more protein-coding genes in coordinated networks that underlie their capacities for self-awareness, creativity, prosocial behavior, and healthy longevity, which are not found in chimpanzees or Neanderthals

How to tell a happy from an unhappy schizotype:Personality factors and mental health outcomes in individuals with psychotic experiences

Objective: It is unclear why some individuals reporting psychotic experiences have balanced lives while others go on to develop mental health problems. The objective of this study was to test if the personality traits of harm avoidance, self-directedness, and self-transcendence can be used as criteria to differentiate healthy from unhealthy schizotypal individuals. Methods: We interviewed 115 participants who reported a high frequency of psychotic experiences. The instruments used were the Temperament and Character Inventory (140), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, and the Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences. Results: Harm avoidance predicted cognitive disorganization (&#946; = 0.319; t = 2.94), while novelty seeking predicted bipolar disorder (&#946; = 0.136, Exp [&#946;] = 1.146) and impulsive non-conformity (&#946; = 0.322; t = 3.55). Self-directedness predicted an overall decrease in schizotypy, most of all in cognitive disorganization (&#946; = -0.356; t = -2.95) and in impulsive non-conformity (&#946; = -0.313; t = -2.83). Finally, self-transcendence predicted unusual experiences (&#946; = 0.256; t = 2.32). Conclusion: Personality features are important criteria to distinguish between pathology and mental health in individuals presenting high levels of anomalous experiences (AEs). While self-directedness is a protective factor, both harm avoidance and novelty seeking were predictors of negative mental health outcomes. We suggest that the impact of AEs on mental health is moderated by personality factors

The influence of COMT Val158Met genotype on the character dimension cooperativeness in healthy females

Objectives: Although the Val(158)Met catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene has been linked with the temperament dimension Novelty Seeking (NS), new insights in this polymorphism might point to a major role for character features as well. Given that individual life experiences may influence Val(158) and Met(158) allele carriers differently it has been suggested that the character trait cooperativeness could be implicated. Case report: A homogeneous group of eighty right-handed Caucasian healthy female university students were assessed with the TCI and genotyped for the COMT Val(158)Met polymorphism (rs4680). Gene determination showed that eighteen were Val(158) homozygotes, forty-four Val/Met(158) heterozygotes, and eighteen were Met(158) homozygotes. All were within the same age range and never documented to have suffered from any neuropsychiatric illness. Bonferroni corrected non-parametric analyses showed that only for the character scale cooperativeness Val(158) homozygotes displayed significant higher scores when compared to Met(158) homozygotes. No significant differences on cooperativeness scores were found between Val(158) and Val/Met(158) carriers or between Met(158) and Val/Met(158) carriers. No differences were observed for the COMT Val(158) Met polymorphism and the other temperament and character scales. Conclusions: Our findings support the assumption that the Val(158)Met single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) influences character traits and not only temperament. Our results add to the notion that Val(158) homozygotes are considered to be helpful and empathic and it suggest that these cooperativeness character traits are related to the dopaminergic system

Evolution of genetic networks for human creativity

The genetic basis for the emergence of creativity in modern humans remains a mystery despite sequencing the genomes of chimpanzees and Neanderthals, our closest hominid relatives. Data-driven methods allowed us to uncover networks of genes distinguishing the three major systems of modern human personality and adaptability: emotional reactivity, self-control, and self-awareness. Now we have identified which of these genes are present in chimpanzees and Neanderthals. We replicated our findings in separate analyses of three high-coverage genomes of Neanderthals. We found that Neanderthals had nearly the same genes for emotional reactivity as chimpanzees, and they were intermediate between modern humans and chimpanzees in their numbers of genes for both self-control and self-awareness. 95% of the 267 genes we found only in modern humans were not protein-coding, including many long-non-coding RNAs in the self-awareness network. These genes may have arisen by positive selection for the characteristics of human well-being and behavioral modernity, including creativity, prosocial behavior, and healthy longevity. The genes that cluster in association with those found only in modern humans are over-expressed in brain regions involved in human self-awareness and creativity, including late-myelinating and phylogenetically recent regions of neocortex for autobiographical memory in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions, as well as related components of cortico-thalamo-ponto-cerebellar-cortical and cortico-striato-cortical loops. We conclude that modern humans have more than 200 unique non-protein-coding genes regulating co-expression of many more protein-coding genes in coordinated networks that underlie their capacities for self-awareness, creativity, prosocial behavior, and healthy longevity, which are not found in chimpanzees or Neanderthals.Peer reviewe