Temperament Scale

1. Abstract

The Temperament Scale, developed in 1963 by comparative psychologist E. J. Capaldi and personality psychologist Donn Byrne at the University of Texas, is an empirical self-report psychometric instrument designed to quantify major temperament dimensions and their nexus with the psychodynamic personality trait of orality. Grounded in the somatotype and constitutional psychology formulated by William H. Sheldon, the scale operationalizes three primary temperamental archetypes—viscerotonia (characterized by sociability, general relaxation, and an orientation toward food and affection), somatotonia (marked by physical assertiveness, muscular activity, and dominance), and cerebrotonia (defined by attentional restraint, introversion, and hyper-reactivity)—alongside indicators of oral behavioral tendencies. Comprising 60 self-rating items arranged in a randomized configuration, the instrument asks respondents to record behavioral frequency on a 5-point Likert-style scale ranging from Almost Never to Usually. Psychometric testing among adult samples (predominantly collegiate populations) has revealed split-half reliability coefficients spanning .20 to .76 for males and .56 to .86 for females across subcomponents, alongside robust six-week test-retest reliability estimates of .86 for males and .82 for females. Construct validity is demonstrated through significant associations between temperamental scores and empirical measures of food attitudes, ingestive behaviors, and visceral preferences, wherein viscerotonic profiles positively correspond with food valuation, whereas cerebrotonic orientations correlate negatively. The scale occupies a noteworthy historical position at the intersection of constitutional typology, psychoanalytic personality theory, and mid-twentieth-century behavioral measurement.

2. Keywords

Temperament Scale, Viscerotonia, Somatotonia, Cerebrotonia, William Sheldon, Constitutional Psychology, Orality, Food Attitudes, Psychometrics, E. J. Capaldi, Donn Byrne, Behavioral Rating

3. Authors

The Temperament Scale was conceptualized, constructed, and empirically evaluated by two influential American psychologists based at the Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin:

• E. J. Capaldi, Ph.D. (Edward J. Capaldi): Renowned for his seminal contributions to animal cognition, appetitive instrumental conditioning, sequential theory, and reward-schedule effects. Capaldi brought to this instrument an empirical interest in appetitive motivation, hunger mechanics, and ingestive behavioral drives.
• Donn Byrne, Ph.D.: Celebrated personality and social psychologist best known for his pioneering research on interpersonal attraction, the attraction paradigm, the Repression-Sensitization Scale, and the systematic measurement of human affect, attitudes, and sexual behavior.

Institutional historical correspondence regarding the scale was routed through the University of Texas, Austin, Texas, United States.

4. Purpose

During the mid-twentieth century, personality psychology faced a profound fragmentation between biological-typological models (such as constitutional somatotyping) and psychodynamic formulations (such as Freudian psychosexual development). The principal purpose of the Temperament Scale was to bridge this theoretical divide by establishing an objective, standardized metric capable of simultaneously assessing Sheldon’s three core temperamental domains—viscerotonia, somatotonia, and cerebrotonia—and evaluating their operational relationship to the psychological construct of orality, particularly within empirical investigations of food attitudes, culinary responsiveness, and dietary preferences.

Prior to Capaldi and Byrne’s work, Sheldon’s somatotypic assessments relied heavily on somatotype photography, anthropometric ratios, and lengthy, subjective clinical interviews that were susceptible to experimenter bias and lacked standardization. Conversely, psychoanalytic assertions regarding the “oral character”—individuals characterized by dependent, passive-receptive, or ingestive preoccupations originating in early infantile nursing stages—often lacked replicable psychometric operationalization. Capaldi and Byrne sought to overcome these limitations by translating qualitative descriptions of constitutional temperament into a 60-item psychometric self-report tool.

The instrument was designed to serve several distinct research and diagnostic aims:

• Empirical Investigation of Ingestive Behavior: To test hypotheses regarding whether specific temperamental constellations (chiefly viscerotonia) systematically predict hedonic, social, and emotional attitudes toward eating, cooking, and sensory food consumption.
• Methodological Standardization: To replace cumbersome observational and photographic somatotyping techniques with an efficient, quantifiable self-assessment that could be administered in group settings within research laboratories and university environments.
• Validation of Constitutional Hypotheses: To determine whether Sheldon’s temperamental constructs possessed empirical independence, internal consistency, and predictive power when subjected to rigorous statistical scrutiny in relation to behavioral validation criteria.
• Cross-Disciplinary Inquiry: To provide personality, clinical, and experimental psychologists with an empirical index to explore how baseline biological dispositions interface with conditioned appetitive drives and psychosocial adjustment.

5. Psychological Construct

The psychological construct evaluated by the Temperament Scale is multifaceted, resting on the intersection of Sheldon’s constitutional typology and psychoanalytic theories of oral characterology. The instrument assesses how innate somatic dispositions manifest in cognitive, emotional, social, and ingestive behavioral patterns. The 60 items target three primary temperamental components and an integrated dimension of oral behavior:

Viscerotonia

Viscerotonia is conceptually tied to the endomorphic somatotype (characterized by digestive viscera predominance and rounded physique). Viscerotonic individuals exhibit a behavioral pattern defined by comfort, sociability, open emotional expression, and an orientation toward food. Key facets include:

• Love of Physical Comfort: A pronounced desire for physical ease, luxurious rest, warmth, and comfortable surroundings.
• Pleasure in Ingestion: Deep psychological satisfaction derived from eating, drinking, and culinary rituals; eating functions not merely as physiological sustenance but as a central source of hedonic delight and social bonding.
• Affectionate Sociability: A need for interpersonal closeness, approval, warm camaraderie, and communal celebrations.
• Emotional Evenness: A relaxed posture, slow physical reactions, and an absence of tense defensive inhibition.

Somatotonia

Somatotonia is theorized to correspond with the mesomorphic somatotype (muscular, dense, athletic physical structure). This dimension encompasses behavioral tendencies oriented toward action, power, and physical exertion:

• Assertiveness and Dominance: A direct, competitive interpersonal style characterized by the drive to lead, control, and assert authority over external situations.
• Love of Physical Adventure: An attraction to vigorous physical activity, muscular exertion, athletic competition, and calculated risk-taking.
• Energy and Low Restlessness Threshold: High motor output, loud vocal projection, unrestrained posture, and a propensity to resolve tension through active movement.
• Psychological Insensitivity: A pragmatic, direct approach to problems, sometimes accompanied by lower empathy for subjective, delicate emotional nuances in others.

Cerebrotonia

Cerebrotonia aligns with the ectomorphic somatotype (linear, fragile physique characterized by high surface-area-to-mass ratio and central nervous system dominance). Cerebrotonic functioning is marked by inhibitory processes, restraint, and mental preoccupation:

• Attentional Restraint and Tightness: Inhibited physical postures, hyperactive sensory responsiveness, and an overarching vigilance toward external stimuli.
• Socio-Emotional Introversion: A distinct aversion to large crowds, social clamor, and public exposure; social encounters often generate somatic fatigue or self-consciousness.
• Inhibition of Affect and Ingestion: Restrained expressive behavior, suppressed emotional displays, and a functional, utilitarian, or hurried attitude toward eating, often accompanied by digestive sensitivity under psychological distress.
• Introspective Orientation: A rich, solitary internal cognitive life, acute self-observation, and preference for quiet, mentally engaging pursuits over physical action or noisy social interactions.

The Trait of Orality

Intertwined with the viscerotonic items, the trait of orality evaluates patterns hypothesized by psychodynamic theorists to reflect fixations or developmental arrests at the oral phase of psychosexual development. In this inventory, orality is operationalized through behavioral manifestations: appetitive dependence, strong sensory involvement with eating and tasting, a propensity toward oral habits (such as smoking, drinking, or chewing), and the utilization of food as an anxiety-reduction mechanism. Viscerotonia and orality share conceptual overlap, yet orality explicitly incorporates the dynamic, reactive, and symbolic functions of mouth-centered behaviors in coping and emotional regulation.

6. Theoretical Framework

The theoretical architecture of the Temperament Scale synthesizes two foundational twentieth-century paradigms: William Sheldon’s constitutional psychology and the psychoanalytic characterology developed by Sigmund Freud and later extended by Karl Abraham and Otto Fenichel.

Sheldon’s Constitutional Psychology

During the 1940s and 1950s, William H. Sheldon posited that human morphology could be categorized along three continuously distributed primary components of physical structure derived from the embryonic germ layers: endomorphy (inner layer: digestive viscera), mesomorphy (middle layer: bone, muscle, circulatory tissue), and ectomorphy (outer layer: epidermis, neural system). Sheldon asserted that these biological structures directly parallel three fundamental components of temperament: viscerotonia, somatotonia, and cerebrotonia. Sheldon maintained that each physical somatotype exerted a genetic and neurobiological canalization on behavioral predispositions.

However, Sheldon’s methodology was criticized by mainstream experimental psychologists for its methodological circularity: Sheldon personally conducted somatotyping assessments and clinical temperament ratings on the same individuals, inflating observed correlations (often reporting coefficients exceeding .80 between somatotype and temperament). Capaldi and Byrne established their scale to separate the measurement of temperament from subjective observational contamination, enabling independent, psychometric evaluations of Sheldon’s hypotheses.

Psychoanalytic Oral Characterology

Complementing Sheldon’s typology, the psychodynamic framework of psychosexual development posits that the oral stage (infancy) constitutes the earliest organization of the libido, wherein nourishment, pleasure, and reality contact occur primarily via the oral cavity. Classical psychoanalysis proposed that severe frustration or excessive gratification during this stage yields an “oral-receptive” or “oral-aggressive” character structure. Adults with an oral character exhibit prominent dependency needs, continuous seeking of comfort and sustenance, high sensitivity to social acceptance, and deep hedonic investment in ingestion.

Behavioral and Appetitive Integration

Capaldi and Byrne merged these frameworks within an early behavioral personality research design. Rather than relying on unconscious symbolism or subjective somatic profiling, they converted theoretical descriptions into observable, everyday behavioral occurrences (e.g., preference for comfortable seating, reaction to unexpected visitors, attitudes toward rich meals, voice modulation during excitement). By evaluating these behaviors along standardized frequency ratings, Capaldi and Byrne sought to test whether constitutional and psychoanalytic personality typologies held predictive validity in laboratory studies of food valuation, dietary choice, and consumer behavior.

7. Validity

Empirical validation of the Temperament Scale was documented through concurrent, construct, and criterion-oriented methodologies, primarily centering on behavioral validation against independent food attitude scales and physiological criteria.

Construct and Criterion-Related Validity

In their initial validation investigations involving university undergraduate cohorts, Capaldi and Byrne (1963) correlated scores across the Temperament Scale’s subscales with dedicated psychometric measures assessing food attitudes, appetitive preferences, and culinary interests. The empirical findings conformed closely to theoretical predictions:

• Viscerotonia and Food Orientation: Total viscerotonia scores yielded statistically significant positive correlations with scales measuring enthusiasm for diverse foods, enjoyment of eating rituals, and hedonic reactions to gustatory stimuli. This supported the hypothesis that viscerotonic individuals treat food as a central locus of reinforcement and social enjoyment.
• Cerebrotonia and Dietary Restraint: Cerebrotonia scores demonstrated statistically significant negative correlations with food enthusiasm measures. Cerebrotonic individuals scored lower on food enjoyment indices, exhibited more restrictive or indifferent dietary preferences, and reported diminished interest in culinary exploration.
• Somatotonia Neutrality: Somatotonia scores exhibited largely nonsignificant or low correlations with food attitude metrics, aligning with theoretical assumptions that somatotonic drives are channelled toward physical movement, dominance, and motor competition rather than oral gratification.

Convergent and Discriminant Validity

Evidence for discriminant validity emerged from the pattern of inter-subscale correlations. In line with Sheldon’s original premise of mutually distinct behavioral systems, viscerotonia and cerebrotonia displayed inverse associations, reflecting the tension between unrestrained social-appetitive engagement and cautious, inhibited introspection. However, somatotonia showed distinct divergent properties, operating orthogonally to the ingestive-hedonic axis.

Further construct validation in subsequent decades examined the degree to which self-reported temperamental patterns correlated with actual morphological somatotypes. Independent empirical researchers frequently noted that while the self-report temperament scales demonstrated coherent internal behavioral patterns and valid associations with personality variables (such as extraversion, neuroticism, and sensation seeking), the biological link to physical somatotypes was weaker than Sheldon’s initial photographic studies had asserted, pointing toward a predominantly psychosocial and behavioral validity profile.

8. Reliability

The psychometric evaluation of the Temperament Scale across its initial development phases revealed mixed internal consistency across subcomponents alongside high temporal stability over multi-week testing intervals.

Internal Consistency (Split-Half Reliability)

Internal consistency was calculated using the split-half method, adjusted via the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula across distinct gender subsamples. The resulting coefficients revealed marked differences by subscale and gender:

• Male Sample: Split-half reliability coefficients ranged from .20 to .76 across the subscales. The lower values were observed on specific subsets of the somatotonia and viscerotonia scales, suggesting item heterogeneity or variable item endorsement patterns among young male collegiate respondents.
• Female Sample: Split-half reliability was notably higher and more stable, ranging from .56 to .86 across the dimensions, indicating greater conceptual uniformity in how female participants interpreted and endorsed items related to social comfort, dietary enjoyment, and emotional restraint.

Temporal Stability (Test-Retest Reliability)

In contrast to the variable split-half coefficients, the instrument exhibited robust temporal stability when administered across a six-week inter-test interval:

• Males: Six-week test-retest reliability was estimated at r = .86.
• Females: Six-week test-retest reliability was estimated at r = .82.

These high test-retest coefficients demonstrate that despite measurement error or multidimensionality within individual subscale item pools, the composite scores reflect enduring, stable behavioral traits across time rather than transient, state-dependent mood fluctuations.

9. Factor Analysis

At the time of the scale’s initial construction in 1963, modern exploratory factor analysis (EFA) via high-speed digital computing and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using structural equation modeling were not yet standard practice in psychometric publications. Consequently, Capaldi and Byrne relied on rational-theoretical item selection coupled with item-total correlational filtering based on Sheldon’s descriptive typologies.

Historical Psychometric Extraction

The 60 items were assembled by operationalizing the behavioral checklists originally published in Sheldon’s The Varieties of Temperament (1942). The authors assigned 20 items to each of the three theoretical dimensions (viscerotonia, somatotonia, cerebrotonia), intermixing them in a single randomized sequence to minimize response sets and halo effects. Post-hoc item evaluations indicated that:

• Items assessing sociability, comfort, and culinary interest clustered together, establishing a discernible viscerotonic component.
• Items tapping motor vigor, competitiveness, and vocal dominance demonstrated moderate inter-item convergence, forming the somatotonic component.
• Items reflecting self-consciousness, sensory sensitivity, and preference for solitude converged into the cerebrotonic component.

Contemporary Factor-Analytic Perspectives

Subsequent psychometric examinations of Sheldon’s tripartite model by contemporary personality researchers using modern factor-analytic techniques (such as principal component analysis with varimax and oblimin rotations) have provided critical insights into the structure of these items:

• Convergence with the Five-Factor Model: Modern factor extractions suggest that Sheldon’s three dimensions do not reflect entirely unique constitutional traits; instead, they map onto dimensions of the Big Five: Viscerotonia aligns with high Extraversion and high Agreeableness; Somatotonia maps onto high Extraversion (specifically the assertiveness/agency facet) and low Neuroticism; and Cerebrotonia correlates with high Introversion and high Neuroticism.
• Dimensional Independence: Rather than existing as three pure, orthogonal axes, factor solutions frequently reveal an overarching bipolar dimension contrasting extraverted, appetitive relaxation (viscerotonia) with introverted, socially cautious restraint (cerebrotonia), alongside an independent motor-dominance axis (somatotonia).

10. Instrument / Measurement Tool

The Temperament Scale is an objective, standardized behavioral rating inventory administered in paper-and-pencil or structured digital self-report formats. Its operational specifications are outlined below:

• Instrument Type: Self-report behavioral rating inventory.
• Target Population: Adults (18 years and older); originally standardized on undergraduate university students.
• Item Count: 60 items presented in a randomized order.
• Dimensional Structure: Three primary subscales (20 items each):
  • Viscerotonia Subscale: Quantifies love of comfort, sociability, open emotional expression, and hedonic pleasure in food.
  • Somatotonia Subscale: Evaluates physical assertiveness, muscular activity, energy level, and competitive drive.
  • Cerebrotonia Subscale: Measures social restraint, attentional vigilance, introversion, and emotional inhibition.
• Response Format: 5-point Likert-style frequency rating scale:
  • 1 = Almost Never
  • 2 = Infrequently
  • 3 = Sometimes
  • 4 = Frequently
  • 5 = Usually
• Administration Time: Approximately 15 to 25 minutes.
• Scoring Procedures: Responses within each subscale are summed (after reversing negatively keyed items) to generate separate continuous dimensional scores for Viscerotonia, Somatotonia, and Cerebrotonia. Higher raw scores indicate stronger manifestations of the respective temperamental disposition. Composite profiles can be mapped to assess the relative dominance of one temperamental component over the others.

11. Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1963.

Historical and Copyright Status: The Temperament Scale was formulated as an academic research instrument and reported in scholarly literature by E. J. Capaldi and Donn Byrne at the University of Texas. The instrument was not issued as a commercial, fee-for-service clinical testing package by commercial psychological test distributors (such as Pearson or PAR, Inc.). Instead, the scale was utilized primarily for non-commercial empirical and laboratory research programs.

Permissions and Accessibility: Researchers wishing to replicate or draw upon the original 60-item instrument must consult the foundational academic publications, review archival records at the University of Texas at Austin, or obtain explicit permissions through the original authors’ estates, publishers, or institutional copyright holders where applicable. Academic use for fair research purposes has historically followed standard scientific citation practices without commercial licensing fees.

12. References

• Byrne, D. (1961). The Repression-Sensitization Scale: Rationale, reliability, and validity. Journal of Personality, 29(3), 334–349. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1961.tb01666.x
• Byrne, D. (1964). Assessing personality variables and their relevance to consumer behavior. In Proceedings of the American Psychological Association, 12(2), 145–158.
• Capaldi, E. J., & Byrne, D. (1963). Temperament Scale. University of Texas, Austin, United States.
• Capaldi, E. D., & Capaldi, E. J. (1970). Taste preferences and conditioning in ingestive behavior. Psychonomic Science, 19(4), 211–213. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03328784
• Freud, S. (1905). Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. Standard Edition (Vol. 7, pp. 123–243). London: Hogarth Press.
• Sheldon, W. H. (with the collaboration of S. S. Stevens). (1942). The Varieties of Temperament: A Psychology of Constitutional Differences. New York: Harper & Brothers.
• Sheldon, W. H., Stevens, S. S., & Tucker, W. B. (1940). The Varieties of Human Physique: An Introduction to Constitutional Psychology. New York: Harper & Brothers.

13. Items of the Scale