The Harkey-Jourgensen Childhood Temperament Sorter
 Form 2--Ages 9-12.

 Directions

The following questions ask you about your  child’s behaviors, feelings and preferences.  There are no right or wrong answers here.  All choices concern differences that are believed to be equally valid ways of reacting to the world, processing information, and relating to others.   

Each question has just two possible answers.  We know that you will sometimes feel that both answers are true of your child, but we ask you to choose the answer that seems to be the better fit for that child. 

Try not to spend too much time on any one question.  There are many questions for each temperament category, and over the large range of questions your choices will become clear.  For each question, please click either the A or the B response button.    There are a total of 103 questions.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  You will need to give us an email address at the end of this form, in order to receive your results.

1. When entertaining himself/herself, do you find that your child prefers activities that are

                 A.      Noisy                                                                    B.       More quiet  

2.  Can you better imagine your child growing up to be

               A.     An Engineer                                                         B.       A Professor

 3. If another child clearly does something wrong and is punished, your child would be likely to

                                        A.      Feel he/she deserved it                                      B.       Just want the child to feel better 

 4. When asking your child where a possession is (such as his/her shoes) does he/she,

                A.      Seem to know just where they are                     B.       Often have no clue 

 5. When telling a story, does your child

                A.      Tell it quietly                                                         B.       Really get into it with lots of gestures/noises

 6.  If your child could choose between 2  homework assignments, would he/she  rather  

                    A.      Make up a story                                               B.       Complete something with clear answers (math or grammar)

 7. This child  

                A.      Takes special care not to hurt others’ feelings           B.       Is sometimes too blunt and honest in what he/she says   

8.  Does your child seem

                A.      Relatively unaware of time  passing                  B.       Quite aware of the time of day  (10  AM, lunch time, school time, etc.)

9.  At a family gathering with many adults at the dinner table, this child

 A. Can’t wait to jump into the conversation             B.  Tends to watch and listen more than talk 

 10.  If a piece of clothing were a little uncomfortable (belt a little snug, or material a little scratchy, for example) would  your child      

A.   Be bothered by this                                               B.  Not pay much attention to this

 11In a disagreement with others, would your child be more likely to

                A.    Want to win the argument                                  B.       Want to find some way to patch it up  

 12.  Is it a better description to say that your child is

                  A.    A little rock of Gibraltar                                    B.    Changeable as the wind  

 13.   With respect to organizations outside of school ( Scouts/Sports/Music for example), your child

                 A.      May be interested in some activities, but need some coaxing            B.       Wants to join lots of activities              

14.   When your child tells you about something that happened, does the child tend to

                  A.      Mainly emphasize what was funny/scary/interesting           B.       Give you quite a bit of step-by-step detail about the events

 15.  Would your child be more pleased to be praised for

                  A.      Being kind                                                             B.      Being smart about something

 16.  When your child has homework, does he/she 

                    A.      Need a lot of pushing and prodding  to get at it             B.       Tend to start on it without much prompting

 17. Over the years, teachers have been more likely to describe your child as

                   A.      Quite talkative in class                                        B.       Rather quiet in class

 18.  Your child  

                  A.  Thinks details are  important                               B.  Prefers to skip over details and focus on the highlights

19. Would your child be more pleased to be praised for

                                           A.  Running the fastest race                                     B.  Being nice to another child

 20. For his/her age, this child

                   A.      Is fairly neat and orderly about possessions              B.       Is somewhat careless about his/her things

 21. With respect to this child’s friendships, would you describe your child as more

                    A.      Selective                                                               B.       Open   

22.  With good tasting foods, is your child  more likely to

                   A.      Eat heartily without saying much about it       B.       Be pretty vocal about it (mmm-this is good)

 23.  Which of the following slogans comes closer to the way your child acts: 

                    A.      From the bottom of the heart                          B.       Without fear or favor   

24. When doing a fun project, this child

                                            A.      Starts enthusiastically but may lose interest and go off to something else              B.       Tends to finish the project once it is started  

 25. Compared to most children, your child

                   A.      Freely expresses what he/she is feeling          B.       Has to be drawn out a bit to find out what he/she is feeling 

26. Does your child particularly like to talk to you about

                   A.      Things she or he has been doing                     B.       Things he/she can imagine or dream up.     

27. If you had to choose one alternative here, would you say your child is more

                    A.      Logical                                                                 B.       Tenderhearted

 28. Would you say that your child

                   A.      Often stores favorite items in a special place      B.       Has little or no preference about this

 29.  When your child arrives home from school he/she is

                   A.     A bit tired and quiet at first.                          B.       Often bubbling over with energy

 30. If you had to guess what this child might prefer doing as an adult, would he/she be more likely to

                   A.      Write a book                                                                                     B.       Manage a business

 31. If you had to choose, would you say this child is

                    A.      More concerned with feelings of others          B.       More focused on fairness

 32. If your child had plenty of time to dress for school, would your child

                                            A.      Often wait until the last moment                        B.       Dress with time to spare

33.  When playing with other children in the neighborhood, your child    

                     A.     Tends to be with many different friends          B .       Tends to stick with a few special friends

 34. Does your child

                   A.      Seem very interested in learning everyday activities well               B.       Prefer to spend time doing   something imaginative and different

 35.  When stopping your child from doing something wrong, would your child be more likely to

                    A.      Question your reasons                                      B.       Be angry or hurt  

 36. Are you more likely to think of your child as

                                            A.       Organized Child of the Month                        B.        Always a little short of a plan 

 37. Would you say your child prefers having

                                            A.  A few special friends                                            B.  Lots of friends

38. Would you say that your child

                    A.      Lives more in thoughts and ideas for the future           B.       Lives more in the here and now

39. If you had to choose one word, would you say that this child would rather be

                   A.      Friends                                                                  B.       Right  

40.   This child seems to 

                  A.  Enjoy various interests but soon move on        B. Invest lots of time and thought to interests or hobbies

 41. Your child seems happiest

                    A.      When the house is full of family and friends            B.       When there are fewer people and things are less chaotic 

42.  Does your child prefer to read books about

                    A.      Stories about more familiar happenings, or favorite activities           B.       Fantasies, far away in place or time

43. Is it more fun for your child to

                   A.      Win the game                                                         B.       Just enjoy playing   

44.  You have been on a family outing and your child discovers that a school assignment has been left to the very last moment.  In this crisis would your child

                  A.      Work hard but seem a bit frustrated                  B.       Attack it with surprising vigor

45. When telling a story, would you say that your child is

                  A.      Quiet and calm                                                       B.       Expressive and dramatic 

 46. Would your child’s teachers say that he/she was better at 

                  A.      Thinking up new ideas                                         B.       Remembering facts and details

47. Would your child be more pleased to be praised for

                  A.      Niceness                                                                  B.       Abilities and skills

 48 Which of these slogans is a better fit for your child 

                  A.      Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow        B.     Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today

 49. Is your child embarrassed

                  A.      Not often                                                                  B.       Easily

 50. Does your child find it more interesting to learn about

                  A.      People and events that are happening today      B.       People from other times and places

 51. When choosing people for a soccer game, would your child

                  A.      Try to choose the best players                            B.       Choose both good and bad players so no one would feel bad  

 52. Does your child sometimes seem to

                  A.      Have an agenda for the day                                   B.       Just like to do what comes to mind

 53.  When visiting a new friend, does your child seem

                  A.      A little tense                                                            B.      Relaxed                                                                                                                                                                         

54. Would you say that your child’s ideas are stronger on

                  A.      Creativity                                                               B.    Common sense   

55. Imagine that your child grows up to run for the US Senate.  Would he/she be more concerned about

                  A.      Poverty/welfare issues                                        B.    Prosperity/opportunities for  achievement

 56. If asked to clean their room, your child will probably

                  A.      Start but soon get distracted                              B.       Do it pretty efficiently  

 57. If a grandparent or other familiar adult calls and asks to speak to your child, he/she will

                A.      Be fairly talkative                                                    B.       Be rather quiet 

 58. Some children go through a phase of having imaginary friends.  For your child, would this be

                  A.      Extremely unlikely                                               B.       Possible

 59. While playing a game with a friend, your child won and the friend was upset. Would your child

                  A.      Think the friend was a sore loser                      B.     Try to make the friend feel better

60.  Over the years, have teachers been more likely to describe your child as

                      A.      Conscientious                                                   B.     Needing to be more organized

 61. When meeting a new and unfamiliar child

                                             A.      The other child is likely to be the first to speak            B.       Your child is likely to be the first to speak

62. In a picture your child has drawn, would the places be more likely to be

                  A.      Imaginary—castles, outer space, etc                 B.      Familiar—home, school, store, etc.

 63.  If your child grew up to be a lawyer, could you better imagine this child 

                                          A.      Trying to defend those accused of crimes        B.       Trying to convict those accused of crimes.

 64. When working on a school project, this child

                  A.      Often just starts anywhere                                   B.     Often seems to have a systematic approach 

 65.  Would teachers say that your child tends to

                 A.   Ask lots of questions, make lots of comments     B.       Seem attentive, but need  to be encouraged to join in  

 66. Would your child be more likely to

                                     A.       Be focused on what’s happening today         B.        Imagine what might happen tomorrow 

 67. If a friend were mean, would your child more likely

                 A.       Think poorly of the other child                          B.     Feel hurt 

 68. With a favorite possession, would your child

                                             A.       Take special care of it                                          B.        Treat it more casually 

 69. At a party does your child

                                    A.       Join the group somewhat slowly                       B.        Join the group quickly   

70.  Would you describe this child as more

                                          A.      Surprising                                                              B.       Predictable 

71.  Which is a greater strength for this child

                                          A.      Good heart                                                              B.       Good head on his/her shoulders

 72. Do you sometimes feel that this child

                 A.      Needs to be a little more serious                         B.       Needs to be a little more spontaneous

  73. When about to change to a new environment (new school, new neighborhood etc.) your child

                                          A.      Does not seem to worry much about it/may even look forward to it.       B.       Is likely to feel anxious about this at first   

74.  If you had to choose, would you see your child more as

                  A.      A builder/maker                                                      B.       An inventor 

75. Which of the following best describes this child

                                          A.  Fair                                                         B.     Generous 

 76. Do you sometimes think of your child as a little

                                            A.