Parental interpersonal perceptual style, child adjustment, and parent-child interactions

This research examined relationships between parental interpersonal perceptual style (IPS)--the extent to which they are biased in their perceptions of children's behaviors--and (a) the adjustment of their own children and (b) parent-child interactions. In two studies, groups of parents first viewed a videotape of a male or female "target" child interacting with an adult in a playroom and then completed a behavior checklist about the target child that measured their IPS. In Study 1, parents' (especially fathers') IPS was found to be related to interaction between them and their 5-to-7-year-old child; for example, the less negatively biased the father was, the more likely the child was to openly display antagonistic behavior toward his or her parents. In Study 2, fathers' (but not mothers') IPS was found to be related to the teacher- and peer-assessed level of psychosocial adjustment of their own third-grade child; fathers of "problem" children tended to be more negatively biased in their perceptions than were fathers of either "adequate" or "highly adjusted" children. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding the role that person perception processes play in family functioning and child development.