Temperament styles of Indian and USA children

Abstract

Age, gender, and cross-national differences of children ages 8- through 16-years-old in India ( n = 400) and the United States of America ( n = 3,200) are examined on four bipolar temperament styles: extroversion-introversion, practical-imaginative, thinking-feeling, and organized-flexible styles. In general, Indian children prefer extroverted to introverted, practical to imaginative, feeling to thinking, and organized to flexible styles. Gender differences among Indian children are significant only on extroversion-introversion. Age differences are found on thinking-feeling and organized-flexible styles. Cross-national differences are found on only one of the four bipolar styles: practical-imaginative. In contrast to children in the United States of America, those in India are more likely to prefer practical styles. Sample limitations (e.g. non-representativeness and small size relative to the population) limit the generalization of these data.