特质推理对趋近和抑制气质类型儿童社会适应发展的影响

From a theory of approach and inhibition motivation, infants vary on the temperaments of exuberance and behavioral inhibition. Exuberance is a temperament trait characterized in infancy and early childhood by a predisposition to approach novel stimuli and people. The trait is marked by high positive affect, approach reactivity, and sociability. In contrast, behavioral inhibition is a temperament trait characterized by high reactivity and negative affect to novel and challenging situations. These temperamental types play important roles in the development of social adaptation in early childhood. Previous studies including ours suggested that exuberant children displayed higher social competence, more prosocial behaviors, as well as more risk taking behaviors than other children, while behaviorally inhibited children demonstrated more withdrawal behaviors than other children. The diversity of social adaptation in exuberant and inhibited children might be due to their trait inference about other people to explain their thoughts and behaviors. There might be individual differences of temperamental types in children’s trait inference, that is, after told about an actor engaging positive or negative behaviors toward several recipients, exuberant children are more likely to make positive behavioral prediction and trait inference about the actor, while inhibited children show less positive even more negative bias. Actually, these key hypotheses have already been supported by our pilot study. These individual differences in trait inference might lead children to develop different social behaviors. Specifically, the positive bias of trait inference will guide exuberant children to be more prosocial, more social, and trust others unselectively compared to other children; while the negative bias of trait inference will guild inhibited children to be more withdrawal than other children. Nevertheless, very few studies insofar have ever compared the characteristics of trait inference between exuberant and inhibited children and examined the effects of trait inference bias on social adaptation for these children. .Utilizing a longitudinal design, the current project expands on our previous research on temperament and behavioral adaptatioin by focusing on the effect of trait inference on social adaptation for children with different temperamental types. Children are recruited at age 3 and invited to the laboratory again at age 4 and age 5. There are three main research aims: first, based on the assessment of temperament and trait inference in children, the current project aims to examine the mediating effect of trait inference on the development of socially adaptive behaviors (prosocial behaviors and social competence) and maladaptive behaviors (unselective trust and withdrawal behaviors) for exuberant and inhibited children, using the mixed methods of lab observation and parents or teachers’ report, and the techniques of EEG. Second, the current project aims to reveal the direct effect of trait inference on social adaptation in exuberant and inhibited children by priming of positive or negative trait. Besides the short-term mechanism, the third aim is to explore the long-term mechanism by behavioral training based on trait inference to improve the maladaptive behaviors in exuberant and inhibited children. The current exploration will greatly improve our understanding about the influences of temperament on trait inference and social adaption, and give useful suggestions for the education of social adaptability in differently temperamental children.

基于趋利避害的动机理论，婴幼儿已表现出趋近、抑制等不同气质类型。气质对儿童早期社会适应产生重要作用。我们前期的研究发现，趋近儿童社交能力强，亲社会行为多，但冒险行为也较多；抑制儿童则较易退缩。他们在社会交往中表现出的趋利避害的个体差异，可能与其对他人积极和消极的特质推理有关。然而目前尚未见系统比较趋近和抑制儿童的特质推理倾向，及其对不同气质类型儿童的社会行为发展的影响研究。本项目拟基于一项对趋近和抑制儿童从三岁开始的三年追踪（交叉滞后设计），采用行为观察等方法和脑电等技术，考察气质与特质推理和社会行为发展（亲社会、社交等适应行为，轻信他人、退缩等不适应行为）之间的关系及生理基础；采用启动实验探讨特质推理对不同气质类型儿童产生的社会行为的直接影响；采用特质推理训练对上述追踪中的适应不良儿童进行干预。该研究有助于加深理解气质对特质推理和社会适应的影响，为针对不同气质类型儿童的因材施教提供指导。

基于趋利避害的动机理论，婴幼儿已表现出趋近、抑制等不同气质类型。气质对儿童早期社会适应产生重要作用。我们前期的研究发现，趋近儿童社交能力强，亲社会行为多，但冒险行为也较多；抑制儿童则较易退缩。他们在社会交往中表现出的趋利避害的个体差异，可能与其对他人积极和消极的特质推理有关。然而目前尚未见系统比较趋近和抑制儿童的特质推理倾向，及其对不同气质类型儿童的社会行为发展的影响研究。本项目结合横向实验设计和纵向追踪研究，考察抑制气质儿童的特质推理的特点，并探究特质推理在抑制气质儿童的社会适应中的作用。整个研究由三部分六个子研究组成。第一部分研究通过横向设计（研究1.1）和纵向设计（研究1.2）的两个子研究，探索抑制气质与儿童特质推理的关系。第二部分研究通过对不同气质儿童的纵向追踪，探讨特质推理在早期气质与后期社会适应（研究2.1：内化情绪问题；研究2.2人际信任）中的作用。第三部分研究通过实验考察抑制气质儿童是否愿意与具有积极或消极行为线索的交互对象进行交往（研究3.1：社交行为）和是否愿意相信具有积极或消极行为线索的他人（研究3.2：信任倾向）。横向研究和纵向追踪研究均表明，相较于非抑制气质儿童，抑制气质儿童的特质推理更为消极。在纵向追踪中，特质推理对抑制气质儿童的社会适应有中介和调节作用：中介分析发现，早期抑制气质可以预期后期更消极的特质推理，从而进一步导致儿童产生更多的内化情绪问题；调节分析发现，消极的特质推理会强化抑制气质儿童的内化情绪问题，并导致其对他人产生更多的不信任。实验研究结果发现，特质推理不仅能直接操纵抑制气质儿童的社交或信任行为，并且这种影响相较于非抑制气质儿童效应更强、持续更久。综上所述，抑制气质儿童具有更加消极的特质推理倾向，这种倾向会影响其社交行为，从而使其更易产生社交障碍和内化情绪问题。该结论支持了社会信息加工理论，并对基于儿童气质特点的因材施教具有指导意义。