The suggestion that unwanted children (refused abortions) in the Czechoslovak study, for instance, are inferior on many scales may also support this lack of correlation, unless prenatal rejection can be demonstrated in some other study.
This is interesting, and I would wonder if there weren't a great difference in prenatal self-care in these cases-- Wanted pregnancies are considered "real babies" almost immediately by the mothers, and nurtured accordingly (no smoking, no drinking, vitamins, exercise, even communication)where an unwanted pregnancy might be ignored or denied or resented and thus not given the best prenatal care.
My observation of children suggests there is seldom a close correlation between infant temperament and adult temperament
I have nothing to go on but my own observation and that of my friends, but we have often remarked on how, in general, our young men and women have turned out remarkably similar to the babies they were. I know my two have!!!
This to me is different from the UK study results about talking and nurturing at birth. It has been known for a long time what terrible damage is done to babies without adequate touching and communication. Temperament can certainly be influenced and twisted and changed, but as you yourself point out, the larger categories of introvert, extravert are evident early on.
Does this just get us back to the nature/nurture debate? |