| Can the environment affect your personality development? | Yes absolutely. For example, suppose someone experiences a traumatic event, such as the death of a parent or sibling, a crippling diseases like cancer, an economic disaster, or even a family move to a strange new city. Factors such as these can influence personality development (Eccles, 2009; Peterson, et al., 2014; Rothbart, 2011).
This is true for school environments as well. For instance, making new friends, being bullied, an even transition from elementary to middle school can influence our students' developing personalities (Schunk, Meece, & Pintrich, 2014; Schwerdt & West, 2011). |
| Among the many environmental influences on personality, what is the most influential? | Parenting is foremost among environmental factors that influences personality development, and a great deal of research has examined different parenting styles.
Research indicates that certain parenting styles, general patterns of interacting and disciplining children, promote more healthy development that others (Baumrind, 20015; Baumrind, Larzelete, & Owens, 2010; Gunnoe, 2013). |
| What are the factors that define parenting styles? | 1. Parent's expectations on the child.
2. Level of warmth and responsiveness.
3. The way parents interact with their children. |
| Researchers have linked parenting styles with general patterns of personality development associated with them. Describe these parenting styles. | 1. Authoritative parents. They set high expectations and are warm and responsive. They are firm, caring, and consistent. They explain reasons for rules and frequently interact with their children, who tend to be agreeable, open, conscientious, and successful in school.
2. Authoritarian parents. They have high expectations but tend to be cold and unresponsive. They expect conformity, they don't explain reasons for rules, and they don't encourage verbal give-and-take. Their children tend to be withdrawn, sometimes defiant, and often lack social skills.
3. Permissive parents. They are warm but hold few expectations for their children, who tend to be immature, compulsive, and unmotivated. Used to getting their own way, the children are sometimes disagreeable and have trouble relating to their peers.
4. Uninvolved parents. They have few expectations for their children and are cold and unresponsive. They have little interest in their children, who tend to acquire negative personality traits, lack self-control and long-term goals, and can be disobedient and easily frustrated.
To note, parenting styles describe general patterns, and exceptions will exist. We are not doomed to a life of incomplete personality development if we have 'bad' parents. |
| Parents influence personality development in 3 important ways. Describe them. | 1. Effective parents provide a safe and nurturant environment that promotes personal security (Cipriano & Stifter, 2010).
2. Parents who talk with their children and explain the reasons why rules are important, and emphasise the effects of actions on others, promotes social development in their children (Thompson & Newton, 2010).
3. Good parents model effective personality traits that provide their children with concrete examples they can emulate. |
| Culture provides additional context to one's environment. Describe the cultural differences in parenting styles using examples. | With an authoritative parenting style viewed as desirable, families in the United States and Western Europe tend to encourage independence, competition, and freedom of expression (Chen & Eisenberg, 2013; Spicer et al., 2012).
However many families with Asian, African, Middle Eastern, Native American, and Hispanic backgrounds believe in a more collectivist orientation, valuing obedience, deference to authority figures (especially parents), and the importance of the family (Leavell, Tamis-LeMonda, Ruble, Zosuls, & Cabrera, 2012; Spicer et al., 2012).
In these cultures, parents combine high demands for obedience with close, supportive parent-child relationships. In addition, many of these cultures treat female children more protectively, tend to be more demanding, and are less likely to grant autonomy to their female children (Dixon, Graber, & Brooks-Gunn, 2008; Domenech, Rodriguez, Donovick, & Crowley, 2009). |
| According to research, does the Asian "tiger parent" exist? | Contrary to popular perception, tiger parenting (strict and harsh) is not the most typical profile in Chinese American families, and where it does exist, it doesn't lead to optimal adjustment among Chinese American adolescents (Kim, Wang, Orozco-Lapray, Shen, & Murtuza, 2013).
And in a study of Korean parents, researchers found a pattern of both authoritative and authoritarian -but not harsh- parenting (Choi, Kim, Kim, & Park, 2013).
Similar patterns have been found in other cultures. For example, in a study of Pakistani parenting practices, researchers found that authoritative parenting was positively associated with emotional regulation in adolescents, whereas permissive parenting had the opposite effects (Jabeen, Anis-ul-Haque, & Riaz, 2013). |
| What do children need from their parents as they grow up? | Regardless of cultural background, children NEED parents to set high expectations on them ALONG WITH the warmth, involvement, and emotional support from parents that it takes to meet those expectations.
A long history of research suggests that children will rise to meet expectations, but they need the support necessary to do so. Meeting these high expectations will result in increased self-esteem and high levels of adjustment in adolescents. |
