An investigation into differences between the structure of temperament and the structure of personality

2010/12/01 by IRINA TROFIMOVA, Ирина Трофимова · 29 citations
Psychology · #Alternative five model of personality #Arousal #Big Five personality traits #Big Five personality traits and culture #Confirmatory factor analysis #Developmental psychology #Eating Disorders and Behaviors #Emotionality #Personality #Personality Disorders and Psychopathology #Personality Traits and Psychology #Psychology #Social psychology #Structural equation modeling #Temperament

paper · doi:10.5406/amerjpsyc.123.4.0467

published in The American Journal of Psychology 123(4), 467-480 (University of Illinois Press)

openalex publication_date 2010/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22

Abstract

This article analyzes the differences between an activity-specific temperament model and the Big Five personality model using the Structure of Temperament Questionnaire--Compact (STQ-77). The STQ-77 has 3 emotionality scales and 9 scales assessing 3 dynamic aspects (arousal, lability, and sensory sensitivity) in 3 areas of activity (physical, verbal-social, and mental). The results of administration of the Russian STQ-77, NEO-FFI, and SSS-V to 174 Russian participants showed how components of temperament can represent the traits described in the Big Five model. The confirmatory factor analysis of the English STQ-77 and the results of a study involving a prolonged word classification task with 221 Canadian participants showed the benefits of the activity-specific approach, separating temperament traits in three areas of activity. Such specificity of temperament traits differentiates them from personality traits.

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• A Study of the Coupling of FET Temperament Traits with Major Depression. [europepmc]
• Opinion on monoaminergic contributions to traits and temperament. [europepmc]
• Functional systems theory and the activity-specific approach in psychological taxonomies. [europepmc]
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• There is more to mental illness than negative affect: comprehensive temperament profiles in depression and generalized anxiety. [europepmc]
• The complex genetics and biology of human temperament: a review of traditional concepts in relation to new molecular findings. [europepmc]
• The Continuum Between Temperament and Mental Illness as Dynamical Phases and Transitions. [europepmc]
• Functional Constructivism Approach to Multilevel Nature of Bio-Behavioral Diversity. [europepmc]
• Analytic Background in the Neuroscience of the Potential Project "Hippocrates". [europepmc]

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