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Temperament is defined as an individual's inherent behavioral tendencies and is shaped by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The question of whether one's temperament remains stable or undergoes changes over time can be viewed as the intersection of the nature versus nurture debate and Rothbart's parenting dimensions. Rothbart's parenting dimensions encompass warmth and responsiveness, control and demandingness, and autonomy support, shedding light on how parenting practices influence a child's temperament (Parke et al., 2019).

In my personal experience during childhood, I experienced high levels of stress and emotional detachment from my father. He consistently displayed anger, immaturity, and demeaning behavior, traits that align with what one might diagnose as Narcissistic Personality Disorder in a clinical setting (Mitra & Fluyau, 2023). During my childhood, I maintained a "good" or compliant temperament to avoid provoking an outburst, although this rarely worked. However, as I grew older, I became more aware of the futility of this approach and began to understand the impact of my father's behavior on my own temperament. Parke et al. (2019) noted that "if parents are under stress... children's difficult temperaments are more likely to develop into externalizing problems." In my case, I believe I unfortunately experienced this outcome. After taking the Big Five personality test, I realized that my neuroticism or negative reactivity trait was significantly higher than the average person's. This is likely because my innate reactions to problematic situations are to feel angry or exasperated. It has required much therapy and self-learning to fight this initial reaction as it is not healthy for myself or those around me.