4.Temperament or personality as a major internal factor governing
the subset of experiences actually available to us. People differ greatly
in their inclination to exploit the cultural pathways that are, in fact,
available to them. All children are required to engage in certain
common activities, such as attending school, but many activities
and experiences in life are discretionary, so many individuals never
sample them. Relatively few are spread before us, buffetlike, to pick
and choose among. Conversely, relatively few are forced upon us,
like the peas, spinach, or piano lessons we tried to avoid as children.
Rather, as we enter and leave childhood, it is increasingly left up to
us to scan the horizon for possible activities and reference groups,
to explore and experiment with the unfamiliar, and to discover
what might activate or resonate with our genetic proclivities.
Initiative may open doors, but stepping through can be difficult.
If nothing else, moving toward a more compatible niche means
movingawayfrom a birth niche. Rejecting and shedding key ele-
ments of one’s life to that point, whether they be activities, daily
rhythms, ways of thinking, or friends, can be difficult no matter
what the potential benefits may be. Moving away from poor-fitting
birth niches may be all the more difficult to contemplate if indi-
viduals have worked hard to adjust to them, perhaps by suppressing
or twisting themselves to fit in.
However, some temperaments facilitate this niche-shifting, self-
development process more than others. Individuals who are more
active, imaginative, self-confident, or “open to experience” (one of
the big five personality dimensions) tend to sample more of the pos-
sible experiences that a culture provides. Individuals who are chron-
ically passive, pessimistic, or fearful or who for other reasons have
less taste for exploring, experimenting, and deviating from the
crowd will end up sampling less of what life offers and of what they
could be. They will learn less about themselves, develop fewer in-
terests, recognize fewer talents, less often challenge inappropriate
expectations and guidance, and venture less far from their birth
niches toward more congruent ones. Failing to exploit their envi-
ronments, they remain underdeveloped and risk unnecessary cir-
cumscription and compromise.
GOTTFREDSON’S THEORY OF CIRCUMSCRIPTION, COMPROMISE, AND SELF-CREATION 127