A Penguin Is Not a Giraffe: Categorizing Preschool Children According to Temperament
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| Title: | A Penguin Is Not a Giraffe: Categorizing Preschool Children According to Temperament |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Jana Maine, Timothy J. Huelsman, Sandra Glover Gagnon (ORCID |
| Source: | Early Childhood Education Journal. 2025 53(5):1807-1821. |
| Availability: | Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 15 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Preschool Children, Classification, Personality Traits, Grouping (Instructional Purposes), Multivariate Analysis |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10643-024-01696-8 |
| ISSN: | 1082-3301 1573-1707 |
| Abstract: | Temperament is a widely researched trait that significantly influences children's lives. Still, theorists differ in their perspectives on the construct. With their nine dimensions of temperament and three "categories" of children--"easy," "difficult," or "slow to warm up"--Thomas and colleagues (1968) laid the foundation for future temperament research. Subsequent researchers have identified temperament profiles that are similar to but not completely consistent with Thomas and colleagues' model. Still, most conceptualizations exist primarily for researchers and may be challenging to translate for educators who work directly with children and their caregivers. Therefore, this study had two aims. First, we used cluster analysis to corroborate and extend research that categorized children into temperament groups. We identified four groups that converge and one group that diverges from previous findings. Our second, more important purpose was to strengthen the link between research and practice by conceptualizing our results in a way that is understandable to educators and caregivers. The challenging task of capturing the nature of each cluster in one or even a few words led us to adopt a zoomorphic approach in which we assigned nonhuman animal names to each group: koalas, penguins, dogs, bobcats, and giraffes. Our findings support previous groupings of children by temperament and provide a consumer-friendly model that facilitates communication between caregivers and educators. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2025 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1470659 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | Temperament is a widely researched trait that significantly influences children's lives. Still, theorists differ in their perspectives on the construct. With their nine dimensions of temperament and three "categories" of children--"easy," "difficult," or "slow to warm up"--Thomas and colleagues (1968) laid the foundation for future temperament research. Subsequent researchers have identified temperament profiles that are similar to but not completely consistent with Thomas and colleagues' model. Still, most conceptualizations exist primarily for researchers and may be challenging to translate for educators who work directly with children and their caregivers. Therefore, this study had two aims. First, we used cluster analysis to corroborate and extend research that categorized children into temperament groups. We identified four groups that converge and one group that diverges from previous findings. Our second, more important purpose was to strengthen the link between research and practice by conceptualizing our results in a way that is understandable to educators and caregivers. The challenging task of capturing the nature of each cluster in one or even a few words led us to adopt a zoomorphic approach in which we assigned nonhuman animal names to each group: koalas, penguins, dogs, bobcats, and giraffes. Our findings support previous groupings of children by temperament and provide a consumer-friendly model that facilitates communication between caregivers and educators. |
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| ISSN: | 1082-3301 1573-1707 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10643-024-01696-8 |
