The minute your baby is born, you begin to wonder what they will be like when they grow up? What kind of personality will they have? Will you be able to influence how they turn out?

Psychiatrists have defined 4 main categories of personality types using a clinically recognized system of character evaluation.

These 4 types are:

• A novelty seeking personality is characterized by impulsive actions.
• A harm avoidance personality is characterized by pessimism and shyness.
• A reward dependence personality is prone to addiction.
• A persistence type personality tends to be hard-working and a perfectionist.

There’s a question on personality that’s been keeping scientists busy for years now. Is personality due to nature or nurture? Well, these researchers from the US, UK and Italy seem to think they have found proof that it’s the former rather than the latter. They report that different personality types have different brain structures. For example, novelty-seeking types had a structurally bigger area of the brain known as the inferior part of the frontal lobe, whereas harm-avoidance types had significantly smaller volumes of tissue in the orbitofrontal area and the posterior occipital region.

It seems that personality depends on the anatomical structure of the brain, structure that you were born with. In other words, your personality was already determined at birth. This report can either give us comfort or despair about our own personality.

• Comfort – because it’s not something that we do but something that we are.
• Despair – because it’s something that we are and therefore cannot be changed.

But what about the personality of our children? Can we still do something about it? What about our baby having a brain scan to determine his or her future personality? The researchers think this isn’t actually such a bad idea because once you know what to expect, you can alter the environment to minimize the risk.

I personally find it a bit scary. What if I find out that  my baby is predisposed to become a pessimistic introvert, a compulsive workaholic or worse a drug addict? How would affect the mother-child relationship?

On the other hand, I still believe strongly in the power of nurture, e.g. the family environment. I also believe that these so-called personality types are rather artificial categorizations. Most people I know, including myself, exhibit some characteristics from each of the 4 types. No, I’d rather see my children’s personalities unfold as they grow. I’d rather that they grow without expectations, preconceptions and predispositions. Surprise me, my darlings.

So what do you think? Want to look into your baby’s brain?

It’s fun to speculate what your little one will be, isn’t it?

My son is either going to be a TV show fashion critic, or a member of the Mafia.

OK, perhaps I should explain further.

I’ve nicknamed him Carson after Carson Kresley, the fashion expert on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and How To Look Good Naked. He’s blond, funny, cute, and has strong opinions about my fashion sense. Why, only yesterday, he insisted I took off the shirt that I picked, and he chose another one for me. It was red, and I was wearing a pink skirt, so we have different ideas of what colors go together. Or perhaps I just don’t understand his haute couture fashion style.

Now, how did I come up with the notion that he’d join the Mafia? We don’t have any Italian roots. It’s really more to do with his current love of concrete mixer trucks. He has about six, presents from grandparents and aunts and ones from the 99¢ bins at Target as a bribe for sitting in the cart while I shop. He’s fond of putting little plastic toy animals in the mixer. Just joking one day, after watching the Godfather on DVD the night before, I asked him if he was going to send the zebra to sleep with the fishes. Well, of course, he thought that was a marvelous idea (yes, I know it was a stupid thing to say) so ever since he’s been mixing up a whole zoo and singing about sleeping with fishes in a manner in which Vito Corleone would be proud.

So, in a entirely non-serious way, based on their personality, what do you think your baby or toddler might be when they grow up?

Revealing Personality in Photos
Capturing the personality and spirit of your bright and bouncy baby in photographs is one of the more difficult things you can attempt if you don’t bring your imagination along for the ride. Photographs are rather two-dimensional. They do not allow consideration for personality, sound, and emotion that are always present when you are with your baby. However taking pictures of babies can be done in a manner that allows your baby’s personality to shine through if you are willing to let nature take its course during your ‘photo shoot’ rather than trying to control the situation.

How to ‘Set the Stage’

The first thing you want to keep in mind is that you want a stage upon which your baby can act not a setting for cameras and camera angles. You will want to include toys that are sure to delight your baby, make sure there is plenty of natural lighting (outdoor settings are great for a project such as this) and that your baby is well rested and in a good temper. If you choose a natural setting you should keep in mind that nature is its own stage to some degree. Capture your baby doing the things he or she loves to do and take plenty of photographs in the moments. Even if your baby is simply throwing sand in the air and running through it you will be amazed at how much his or her personality shines through those moments of glee when captured on film.

As a matter of fact, these moments are the stuff that baby photo contests are made of. When setting a stage upon which to take those perfect baby pictures you will want to make sure that the background doesn’t distract from the object of your affection. The less elaborate the background the better. You want your baby and her personality to shine in these photos. You should also make sure that she is interested in the process and having fun. Her personality will be the star if she is truly having fun.

Interaction and attention are great motivators when it comes to taking pictures of babies. If you want them to react to you and not the camera capture their interest and if at all possible keep the camera away from your face. This allows her to babble and play with you while doing it for the camera. Play with her toys in order to get her to begin playing with them. Once she’s engaged in the activity or the ‘play’ you can snap photos as fast as your fingers and your camera will allow in order to have plenty of selection while showing the most possible personality.