How is a baby's personality determined? How should I interact with mom and dad?
Babies are also full of individuality, such as those who cry at night and those who don't, those who are often fussy, and those who are always in a good mood and don't need much attention. Is it because of personality, and when and how is personality determined? Let's dig deeper into your baby's personality.
When will a baby's personality be determined?
In conclusion, it is said that a child's personality is generally determined by the age of three. There's a saying that says, "The souls of triplets can live up to 100," and that's exactly what it says.
Babies spend most of their time sleeping and engage in fewer types of activities, so there are not many opportunities for personality differences to emerge. Even so, you may notice differences in their personalities, such as being calm and gentle, or prone to tantrums and seeming to be difficult.
It comes from the ``temperament'' that each individual is born with.
What is the difference between personality and temperament?
Temperament is a quality that we are born with. It represents behavioral characteristics, such as how one reacts when receiving a stimulus. It is the basis of character.
So what is personality?
In the words of one psychology researcher, it is "a distinctive set of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional patterns that evolve from biological and environmental factors."
In other words, ``personality'' refers to the characteristics of how a person acts (reacts to stimuli), how he or she understands and judges things, and what emotions he or she expresses at any given time, and this changes under the influence of genetics and environment.
How is personality determined?
As explained earlier, personality is determined by biological factors such as genetics and environmental factors. You could say that it is being formed. Based on the temperament you are born with, your personality gradually develops while being influenced by your living environment and how you interact with the people around you. Since inborn traits cannot be changed, how you spend your time and interact with your child until they are around 2 or 3 years old holds the key to determining their personality.
Personality is something that cannot be seen with the naked eye, so it is difficult to judge what kind of personality a child is developing. On the other hand, "behavior" that reveals one's personality can be viewed objectively, so it can serve as a guide to understanding one's personality. Paradoxically, you might say that controlling your behavior can change your personality.
What does it mean to control behavior?
Behavior analysis, developed by American psychologist B.F. Skinner, is based on the idea that external stimuli cause behavior, and the results of that behavior become the stimulus for the next behavior.
You can apply that idea to increase or decrease certain behaviors by intentionally changing the outcome.
Let's take a dog's ``hand'' as an easy-to-understand example.
After the owner says "hand" (stimulus), the dog makes a hand motion (behavior) and receives a treat or praise (result). If the dog repeats this experience, it will learn to use the hand.
This technique can also be applied to people.
For example, if you make sure that when your child shows you a message from school (stimulus) (action) and smile and say "thank you" (result), your child will be willing to show you the message every time. You often hear that if you thank or praise your husband for doing things like washing the dishes, he will do the housework more often. It's the same logic.
If you repeat the process of giving good results when a desired behavior occurs and not giving a positive result when an undesirable behavior occurs, the desired behavior will increase.
These ``reward'' results have the effect of changing behavior, regardless of whether the other person recognizes that he or she has ``received a reward.'' This means that it can also be applied to babies who do not yet have the concept of rewards.
How should moms and dads interact with their babies?
Crying is an important means of communication for babies. Babies will also let you know by crying or fussing when they're hungry or when their diapers are dirty and uncomfortable.
Changing diapers and breastfeeding will relieve discomfort and make your baby happy. This is a diagram in which mom and dad take action due to the stimulus of a baby crying, and as a result, the discomfort is removed. By repeating this over and over again, your baby will learn that crying relieves discomfort.
On the other hand, moms and dads can also get a ``reward'' when their baby is in a good mood, smiling, flapping their arms and legs, and showing off their adorable behavior by changing diapers and breastfeeding. Of course, you will still take care of them even if you don't have that, but it will bring you not only a sense of duty but also the joy and happiness of caring for them.
In addition, when you interact with your baby with a gentle smile and voice while caring for your baby, this in itself becomes a "reward" for the baby, and your smile and voice will become a trigger (stimulus) to make the baby happy. This happy chain of events builds a relationship of trust between mom, dad and baby, and nurtures the baby's rich emotional well-being. It is thought that this will have an impact on later personality formation, so it is very important to be aware of what your baby wants and to treat them with a smile and kindness.
“Holding” is the first step in communicating with your baby
Enjoy a comfortable cuddle life with the BELK-S first set that can be used from birth.♪
