Extrovert children are at greater risk of future injury and they are also more likely to be involved in potentially dangerous situations as adults, researchers at the Czech SYRI National Institute have said.
“Extrovert children like to be exposed to new situations and engage in more physically demanding activities, which increases their likelihood of injury. Simply put, higher levels of impulsive behaviour and activity are therefore associated with a higher risk of future injury,” said Albert Ksinan of the SYRI institute.
The researchers handed out questionnaires to mothers of three-year-olds asking them to rate their children’s temperament, i.e. whether they were active, fearful or sociable, etc. They were interested in whether the assessment of temperament in such young children would have long-term validity. The researchers then divided the children into three groups according to temperament: extrovert, shy and average, whose temperament stood between these two groups. The researchers then followed the children until they were 15 years old and found that those in the extrovert group had injuries more often than the shy and average children.
