Is personality really set for life by age 5?

I came across an article that says personality is set for life by 1st grade, or roughly age 5 or 6. I've heard that many times before, and it makes some sense, but...is it because of what happens from birth until that age, or is it simply a combination of our Nature (which we're born with) and our Nurture, which is instilled in us from birth until that age (and all our lives, really)?

I think some of their observations are astute, some are obvious, and some are plain wrong.

Here's the link to the yahoo! story, and below are some statements I lifted from the article to comment on:

First, how they did the study is skewed (emphasis mine): "Using data from a 1960s study of approximately 2,400
ethnically diverse schoolchildren (grades 1 - 6) in Hawaii, researchers
compared teacher personality ratings of the students with videotaped interviews
of 144 of those individuals 40 years later."

Ok, so the first problem is that they're going off what the teachers thought of these kids. I'm not sure what the teachers were like 40 years ago, but I know the general trend is that _NF_ brain types teach the elementary grades, _S_J types kill the kids in high school, and _NT_ types are generally profs in college. Yes, that's VERY generalized (well, but not so much - you will likely find high 90% of elementary teachers are _NF_ just by the nature of the job).

So while NF types can be good judges of personality and character, they're also going to be very biased based on any number of factors.

The study should have gone off of video from both ages. Alas, a minor complaint.

My comments in red:

"Among the findings:

Talkative youngsters tended to show interest in intellectual
matters, speak fluently, try to control situations, and exhibit a high degree
of intelligence as adults. Children who rated low in verbal fluency were
observed as adults to seek advice, give up when faced with obstacles, and
exhibit an awkward interpersonal style.

So, Extraverts grew up to be intelligent, and introverts grew up to be awkward quitters? That's a bit harsh, and while in terms of % it's probably generally true, how much of that is based on the Nurture that those I's grew up with?

E's are going to boldly push their way through life regardless of Nurture, but for I's, especially the I's who were Feelers, their Nurture plays a bigger role in whether they grow up to be quitters or grow up to actually do something with their lives.

Children rated as highly adaptable tended, as middle-age
adults, to behave cheerfully, speak fluently and show interest in intellectual
matters. Those who rated low in adaptability as children were observed as
adults to say negative things about themselves, seek advice and exhibit an
awkward interpersonal style.

Ok, this one has to be defined. What did those teachers mean 40 years ago by "adaptable"? Because if it's in a similar vein as our P vs J, wow, huh? P's grow up to be happy old folks and J's grow up to hate themselves? I think that's a bit over-generalized.

Students rated as impulsive were inclined to speak loudly,
display a wide range of interests and be talkative as adults. Less impulsive
kids tended to be fearful
or timid, kept others at a distance and expressed
insecurity as adults.

This one is kind of "duh". Impulsive kids (E_ _P) grow up to be loud and well-rounded and still talkative. Probably so, yeah. The less impulsive kids (_S_J, or kids with really strict and / or anal parents) grow up to still be afraid to take risks and not really have any confidence in themselves.

Again, I'm not sure what their definition of "impulsive" is, but this one makes a good deal of sense.

Children characterized as self-minimizing were likely to
express guilt, seek reassurance, say negative things about themselves and
express insecurity as adults. Those who were ranked low on a self-minimizing scale
tended to speak loudly, show interest in intellectual matters and exhibit
condescending behavior as adults."

This one is all Nurture. Kids who are self-minimizing learn to do so because of getting put-down by parents and siblings. We're not born as self-loathing creatures - quite the opposite!

So the kids who dislike themselves (because of Nurture) grow up with that repeating in their heads, and are the same as adults. Kids who don't display self-hatred probably have stronger, more positive Nurture, and thus grow up to have confidence (aka to the rest of the world "exhibiting condescending behavior") and be intellectuals. Shocking, that one.

Overall I think it's interesting, but the studies are too skewed to really learn much.

I'm curious what you think though - how big a role does NURTURE in those early years play in who we eventually become as adults?