Temperament and elementary school children's actual and rated academic performance: a test of a 'goodness-of-fit' model.

To test a goodness-of-fit model of temperament, 194 Pennsylvania fourth-grade students were studied. It was predicted that children whose temperament fitted or exceeded demands or expectations of their teachers would show more positive functioning than children whose temperament fell below expectations. Children responded to the Dimensions of Temperament Survey (DOTS), which assesses 5 temperamental attributes. Teachers specified demands/expectations for their students for each of the DOTS attributes and rated students' academic ability and adjustment. Objective measures of academic achievement were also obtained. Results indicated that for 2 of the 3 temperament attributes for which directional predictions were made some support was obtained for the model.