________________________________________
Personality develops through the interaction of hereditary dispositions and environmental influences. Temperament refers to the biologic processes of sensation, association, and motivation that underlie the integration of skills and habits based on emotion. Genetic differences account for about 50% of the variances in temperament traits.
The four temperament traits are harm avoidance, nov¬elty seeking, reward dependence, and persistence. Each of these four genetically influenced traits affects a person’s automatic responses to certain situations. These response patterns are ingrained by 2 to 3 years of age (Svrakic & Cloninger, 2005).