Interrelationships of the Rothbart's temperament model constructs with revised-reinforcement sensitivity theory constructs

•Relationships between Rothbart's temperament and revised-RST models were examined.•Negative affectivity was associated with BIS and FFFS.•Extraversion/surgency was associated with BAS reward responsiveness.•Effortful control showed no association with RST constructs.•Orienting sensitivity was associated with BAS-FS.

Relationships between the constructs in Rothbart's temperament model and the revised-reinforcement sensitivity theory (r-RST) were examined. A group of 329 adults from the general population completed the Adult Temperament Questionnaire and the Behavioural Inhibition System/Behavioural Activation System Scales. Correlation analyses showed that temperament negative affectivity was relatively highly associated with the RST constructs of the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and fight–flight–freeze system (FFFS) and temperament extraversion/surgency was relatively highly associated with the behavioral approach system (BAS) construct of reward responsiveness. Temperament effortful control showed no association with the RST constructs. The overlap between the constructs in Rothbart's temperament and r-RST models is discussed.