Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026
07:56
Assessing the Coherence of Parents' Short Narratives Regarding their Child Using the Five-Minute Speech Sample Procedure
Published on: September 19, 2019
Ambivalent reactions in the parent and offspring relationship
Karen L Fingerman1, Pei-Chun Chen, Elizabeth Hay
1Child Development and Family Studies, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
Summary
Parental health and neuroticism increase ambivalence in aging families. Parents’ reactions to adult children’s traits and achievements highlight the enduring parent-child relationship dynamics.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Gerontology
Background:
- Adult children and aging parents often experience ambivalence due to ambiguous social norms.
- Understanding these conflicting emotions is crucial for family dynamics research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate personality and relationship factors influencing ambivalence in parent-offspring relationships.
- To examine how parents and offspring react to each other's characteristics and roles.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Adult Family Study, involving 474 individuals from 158 family triads.
- Employed multilevel modeling on data from telephone interviews, in-person interviews, and questionnaires.
Main Results:
- Poor parental health and higher neuroticism in parents and offspring correlated with increased ambivalence.
- Parents showed more ambivalence when offspring exhibited higher neuroticism or lower role investment.
- Contrary to expectations, investment in competing roles was linked to reduced ambivalence.
Conclusions:
- Parental health and neuroticism significantly contribute to parent-offspring ambivalence.
- Parents' emotional responses are influenced by adult children's personality and perceived relationship importance.
- Parents' reactions to their grown children's traits demonstrate the lasting impact of the parent-child bond.
Related Concept Videos
03:34Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood
Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships.
01:28Relationship with Parents: Attachment
Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
00:55Parental Care
Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.
01:28Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles
Attachment theory, developed initially to explain infant–caregiver bonds, has been extended to illuminate patterns of intimacy in adult romantic relationships. Psychologists Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver proposed that the attachment styles observed in infancy form a framework for how individuals approach emotional closeness and conflict in adulthood. These attachment styles—secure, avoidant, and anxious—are linked to enduring patterns of behavior and emotional regulation in adult relationships.
01:20Attachment
Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that physical...
01:27Parenting Styles
Diana Baumrind's four parenting styles — authoritarian, authoritative, neglectful, and permissive — each influence children's socio-emotional development differently.
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative Parenting
This...
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative Parenting
This...