The Measurement of Temperament Using Parental Ratings

SUMMARY The goal of the present study was to consider two previously unexplored issues, concerning the usefulness of parental ratings of temperament: (1) the extent in which parents project their own personality into their ratings of the temperament of their children, and (2) the extent to which mothers and fathers agree in their ratings of the temperament of their children. In a sample of 137 Families, mothers and fathers rated themselves and their spouse on an adult version of the EASI Temperament Survey and both of them rated two of their 2‐to 6 year‐old twin children on the children's version of the EASI Temperament Survey. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that parents project their own personality into their ratings of others. In terms of the second issue, parental agreement, the data were less clear‐cut. The average parental agreement for the 11 scales of the EASI Temperament Survey was O.51, corrected for unreliability.