Relations between adolescent ratings of Rothbart's temperament questionnaire and the HEXACO personality inventory

Abstract

Conventionally, individual differences have been assessed using temperament measures for infants and children, and personality measures for adults. We chose to explore both temperament and personality to see whether a convergence exists specifically during adolescence. A sample of 225 adolescents completed Rothbart's Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R), a 4-factor temperament scale, and the HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised (HEXACO PI-R), a 6-factor personality scale. As hypothesized, we found significant relations between the 2 measures. However, there were some important differences between the 2 measures regarding Honesty-Humility, Openness, and Frustration that highlight the unique contributions of both instruments to understanding and measuring adolescent individual differences. As there is a relatively scant history of measuring temperament or personality in adolescence, it is sometimes difficult for researchers to decide which instrument is most appropriate. The results reported here suggest that either the EATQ-R or the HEXACO PI-R could be appropriate, depending on the specific research questions being asked.