Temperament and Happiness in Children in India

Abstract

The relation between temperament and happiness was assessed in a sample of 441 children aged 7-14 years drawn from a population in Northern India. Parents assessed their children's happiness and rated their children's temperament using the Emotionality, Activity, and Sociability Temperament Survey (EAS). Children self-reported their own happiness using a single-item measure, the Oxford Happiness Scale Short Form, and the Subjective Happiness Scale. Parents' temperament ratings conformed to the four factor structure proposed by Buss and Plomin (Temperament: early developing personality traits. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, 1984): Emotionality, Activity, Sociability, and Shyness. Temperament accounted for between 4 and 11% of the variance in children's happiness depending on the measures. Children who were more social and active, and less shy, were happier. This result parallels the well-established relation between happiness and personality in adults and is similar to recent research on happiness and temperament in children; temperament traits akin to extraversion were positively associated with happiness. However, despite that neuroticism and its temperament counterpart are strongly and consistently linked to happiness in adults, the relation between happiness and the temperament trait associated with neuroticism (i.e., Emotionality) was weak. This suggests that the relations between temperament and happiness in children may not completely generalize across cultures.

Parent–child discrepancies in the assessment of children’s and adolescents’ happiness

“…Despite the emergence of positive psychology, there are few studies on children's and adolescents' happiness, only having begun in the 1990s (Chaplin, 2009). This is extremely surprising, given that happiness is one of the first emotions recognized by children (e.g., Harter, 1983;Pollack & Sinha, 2002) and that it entails positive benefits for children's and adolescents' well-being (e.g., Holder, Coleman, & Singh, 2012).…”

“…However, there is little agreement on the assessment of happiness, leading researchers to use multiple measures (e.g., Holder et al, 2012) to better capture the distinct facets that cover this construct. For both adults and children, multiple single item measures, such as the Faces Scale (Holder et al, 2012) are regularly used, as they have been shown to be valid and reliable (Abdel-Khalek, 2006).…”

“…For both adults and children, multiple single item measures, such as the Faces Scale (Holder et al, 2012) are regularly used, as they have been shown to be valid and reliable (Abdel-Khalek, 2006). Apart from single item measures, the Oxford Happiness Questionnaireshort form (Hills & Argyle, 2002) is frequently used to assess children's and adolescents' happiness or well-being.…”

Life Satisfaction and Coping in Hindu Adolescents in India

“…Focusing primarily on the positive emotions component of Diener's (1984) definition of subjective well-being, Holder et al (2012) investigated the happiness of children and young adolescents in India. A sample of 441 youth ages 7-14 years reported their levels of happiness, and their parents also reported their observations of their children's happiness.…”

An Assessment of the Correlation between Happiness and Mizaj (Temperament) of University Students in Persian Medicine

“…For instance Mark and Holder assessed the correlation between temperament and happiness in 311 children aged 9 to 12 years old and showed that being physically and socially active, less shy, and excited are mentioned as indices that increase happiness among participants (29), which is in accordance with PM perspectives. In the viewpoint of PM, high physical and social mobility and energy indicate warmness of Mizaj (7).…”