Theoretical paper

Temperament – environment or gene?

Author: Florentina Ionela Lincă
Doctoral School, University of Bucharest, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Bucharest, Romania
Email: linca.florentina@gmail.com

In this paper we aimed to discuss about a controversial topic. To achieve this objective, we formulated arguments and counter-arguments in favor or against things found in literature. It is important to understand that temperament is influenced both by the environment and the gene, and a separation of the two is purely didactic. Temperament is defined as dynamic-energy, reactive and regulatory side of personality. We believe that there is a strong relationship between temperament and environment and between temperament and genes; each of these relationships can be seen in the context of moderation or mediation by the other factor; the relationship temperament-gene can be moderated by the environment and temperament-environment relationship may be mediated by the gene.


Keywords: temperament, environment, gene, personality, epigenetic status