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Parents' personality and infants' temperament as contributors to their emerging relationship

Grazyna Kochanska1, Amanda E Friesenborg, Lindsey A Lange

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, 52242, USA. grazyna-kochanska@uiowa.edu

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|May 27, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Parental personality traits and infant temperament significantly influence parent-child relationship quality. Specific traits in mothers and fathers, alongside infant temperament, predict relationship dynamics from infancy through toddlerhood.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychology
  • Family Studies

Background:

  • Understanding the interplay between infant temperament and parental personality is crucial for healthy parent-child relationship development.
  • Previous research has explored these factors independently, but a comprehensive examination of their combined influence is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how infant temperament and parental personality traits contribute to the quality of the parent-child relationship.
  • To examine these contributions across different stages of early childhood.

Main Methods:

  • Two longitudinal studies were conducted involving infants, mothers, and fathers.
  • Infant temperament was assessed using standard paradigms, while parental personality was measured using established inventories (Big Five, Empathy, Mistrust, Manipulativeness, etc.).
  • Parent-child relationship quality was observed in naturalistic settings, focusing on shared positive affect and parental responsiveness.

Main Results:

  • In Study 1 (7-month-old infants), maternal Neuroticism, Empathy, Conscientiousness, and paternal Agreeableness, Openness, and Extraversion were associated with relationship quality.
  • Infant temperament (joy, fear, anger, attention) consistently related to the developing parent-child relationship in both studies.
  • Study 2 revealed that maternal Mistrust, Manipulativeness, Dependency, and Workaholism predicted the relationship quality with the child from 9 to 45 months.

Conclusions:

  • Both infant temperament and specific parental personality traits are significant predictors of parent-child relationship quality.
  • Maternal personality, particularly traits like Mistrust and Manipulativeness, can negatively impact the relationship, while positive traits like Empathy and Conscientiousness are beneficial.
  • Understanding these influences is vital for supporting positive early parent-child interactions and development.

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