Written by: Alancia King and Crystal Williams, Ph.D.
Erikson (1968) describes the period of adolescence as one that is based on identity formation, with adolescents breaking away from parental and societal expectations as they explore different ideas, values, behaviors, and attitudes until they find what resonates with them. Zohar et al., (2018) note that adolescence is a period of instability, with an adolescent’s personality and identity changing substantially over time.
In adolescence, the Junior Temperament and Character Inventory (JTCI; a 108-item self-assessment tool that utilizes a true-false format) is often used to measure adolescents’ personalities (i.e., temperament and character). According to Moreira et al., (2012), temperament “refers to individual differences in behavioral conditioning of responses to basic emotional stimuli related to fear, anger, disgust, and ambition,” while “a person’s character traits are specified by their intentional goals and values” (p. 1228). There are four temperament and three character traits on the JTCI:
| Type of trait | Name of trait | Description of Trait |
| Temperament trait | Novelty Seeking | Inquisitive, impulsive, and living by their own rules |
| Harm Avoidance | Pessimistic, timid, avoids new stimulants, and easily tired | |
| Reward Dependence | Sentimental, highly sensitive to social cues, extremely dependent on social acceptance, and prioritizes close attachments | |
| Persistence | Hardworking, highly tolerant in frustrating circumstances, ambitious, and perfectionistic | |
| Character trait | Self-Directness | Responsible, goal-oriented, resourceful, and self-accepting |
| Cooperativeness | Empathic, sympathetic, accepting of others, prioritizes helping others, and is guided by prosocial values | |
| Self-Transcendence | Spiritual, takes on the perspective of others, and selfless |
Research has shown that changes in temperament and character during adolescence follow a fairly typical developmental pattern (i.e., individuals go through the same stages of development in roughly the same sequence). This can be seen when looking at personality development during adolescence (e.g., early and middle adolescence). Each stage of adolescence is characterized by specific changes in temperament and character traits; most adolescents within each stage will experience these same changes while developing their identity. Understanding these patterns can help professionals who work with adolescents and their parents understand behaviors as normative and thus move towards being responsive and sensitive caregivers during adolescence.
Next, you are introduced to an adolescent as we explore ways in which their temperament and character profile changed during early adolescence (10 to 13) through middle adolescence (14 to 17). The changes in temperament and character that characterize each stage of adolescence are parenthetically embedded in italics. It is important to note that while changes in temperament and character traits follow a normative developmental pattern, the extent to which they are exhibited can vary based on the adolescent’s characteristics, family characteristics, and the environment.
Case Study: Jessie
Before Jessie hit adolescence (age 10) she was described as someone who always followed the rules, never challenged her parents’ ideas or beliefs, and was not easily receptive to peer influence. However, during her adolescence, her temperament and character traits were constantly changing. By age 17, her seemingly “changing personality” finally stabilized.
Example 1: Age 10
A few months after turning 10, Jessie asking about dying her hair, wearing makeup, and buying designer clothing. This surprised her parents because Jessie had not previously taken an interest in any of these things. When asked why she wanted to do these things, Jessie said it was what all the kids at school were doing. She stressed that she had to do these things, or she would not be considered cool and could not hang out with the people she liked (increase in reward dependence). Jessie’s parents told her she was too young to wear makeup and dye her hair, and they could not afford designer clothing. They emphasized that true friends would accept her no matter how she looked or what she wore. Jessie attempted to reason with her parents and get them to compromise by asking if she could wear mascara and eyeliner and only dye the ends of her hair (increase in cooperativeness). When her parents agreed to let her wear mascara, but not change her hair color, Jessie rolled her eyes and left the conversation feeling upset.
Example 2: Age 12
Jessie came home from school and asked her parents if she could go to the park with friends. Her parents said she could not go since she had homework and needed to be in bed on time as it was a school night. Jessie attempted to reason and compromise with them by asking if she could go for only two hours and be home with enough time to finish her homework (increase in cooperativeness). Her parents denied the request and told her that because she lived in their house, she would follow their rules. Jessie stormed off to her room extremely upset. She did not want to miss out on the park meetup and decided to sneak out her bedroom window (increase in novelty seeking and self-directness; decrease in harm avoidance).
Example 3: Age 14
Jessie wanted to go to the movies with her boyfriend, so she asked her parents for permission to go. They told her that she had to first earn the money for the movie by doing chores around the house. Usually, this was an easy decision for Jessie because she liked earning money and knew that she could do so by completing chores. However, this time, she was not interested in doing chores because she wanted to spend time playing on her phone, going out with her friends, or hanging out with her boyfriend (decrease in persistence). She told her parents, “Never mind. I don’t need the money or your help,” (decrease in cooperativeness) and instead asked her boyfriend to go on a picnic outside (increase in self-directedness).
Example 4: Age 17
Jessie and her friends wanted to go to a concert in a month. It was in a different city that would require an overnight stay. Jessie knew that she would need her parents’ approval to attend this event, so she intentionally demonstrated her responsibility by coming home on time, doing her chores, and communicating with her family for several weeks (increase in cooperativeness, increase in self-directedness). When she asked if she could go, she acknowledged her parents’ concerns (increase in self-transcendence) and respectfully came up with solutions for each concern they shared, including that she would call to check in every 3 hours and provide the address of the friends’ relative where the group was going to stay overnight. Her parents agreed to let her go. When she was on the trip, she kept her promise to her parents by checking in regularly, and avoiding situations that she knew were not safe, such as turning down alcohol when other concert attendees offered it to her (decrease in novelty seeking, increase in harm avoidance).
Jessie’s case study is one with which many adolescents and their caregivers can relate. It highlights normative temperament and character traits, and development patterns adolescents go through as they age. While developmental patterns in adolescence can be challenging for caregivers and teachers, it is important to remember that these challenges are often normative and important periods of development towards a young person’s identity formation.
The following are resources parents and professionals can use as they seek to be responsive and sensitive to adolescents during this important period of growth.
- Parenting Practices that Facilitate Sensitive Attunement
- 6 Ways We Can Support Positive Adolescent Development in 2021
- Supporting Teenagers – Helping Parents & Professionals to Understand the Early Teenage Years
- How Parents and Caring Adults Can Support Social Development
References
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. W. W. Norton & Company.
Luby, J. L., Svrakic, D. M., McCallum, K., Przybeck, T. R., & Cloninger, C. R. (1999). The junior temperament and character inventory: Preliminary validation of a child self-report measure. Psychological Reports, 84(3), 1127–1138.
Moreira, P. A., Cloninger, C. R., Dinis, L., Sá, L., Oliveira, J. T., Dias, A., & Oliveira, J. (2014). Personality and well-being in adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1494.
Moreira, P. A., Oliveira, J. T., Cloninger, K. M., Azevedo, C., Sousa, A., Castro, J., & Cloninger, C. R. (2012). The psychometrics and validity of the junior temperament and character inventory in Portuguese adolescents. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 53(8), 1227–1236.
Zohar, A. H., Zwir, I., Wang, J., Cloninger, C. R., & Anokhin, A. P. (2018). The development of temperament and character during adolescence: The processes and phases of change. Development and Psychopathology, 31(2), 1-17.
Image Credit: Storyblocks, CC0
