Genetics partly determine our way of being and behaving, but the family environment and the personality characteristics of the parents can greatly influence children and have a key long-term impact and shape their lives for better or worse. as revealed by a new investigation in which the data of 9,395 children and adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17 have been analyzed, who answered, together with their parents, a German survey that was carried out since 1984.
The study authors took into account the “big five” characteristics that psychologists use to describe personality in broad terms: extroversion, agreeableness, openness to new experiences, responsibility and neuroticism, and in the survey they also asked about factors in the lives of minors, including their health, their academic results, the time they spent on leisure activities other than watching television or surfing the Internet, the consumption of alcohol or tobacco, and the frequency with which arguments occurred in the family environment.
The research has been led by Joshua Jackson, associate professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, who has published his findings in Infant and Child Development and explained the effects that the personality of parents –extroverted or reserved, cheerful or moody, worried or carefree– can have on their children and positively or negatively influence their way of life.
Children do especially well in life if their parents are outgoing, personable, responsible, and open-minded, without being neurotic.
Jackson began by explaining what the five great personality traits that they have analyzed are like and said that extroversion defines people who are sociable and easy to relate to, kindness to those who are pleasant to others, openness to new experiences is related to imagination and creativity, diligent individuals are careful and organized, and neurotics often display anxiety, nervousness, and excessive worry.
Regarding the findings, the researcher highlights that they have found that the parents’ personality has a significant impact on the life of their child, even after taking the child’s personality into account. They found that children whose parents were extroverts tended to have lower grades, while those with neurotic parents scored relatively low on measures such as academic grades, general health, BMI (body mass index), and time spent living. engaged in leisure activities. The children were also more likely to be healthier if their parents scored higher on agreeableness or openness to new experiences, and to have active hobbies when their parents were more responsible.
Personality does not change, but behavior can be improved
Jackson says that children do especially well in life if their parents are outgoing, personable, responsible, and open-minded without being neurotic. This could be the most suitable combination for minors, but it also has some disadvantages, such as the one mentioned, that is, the children of extroverted people tend to have worse academic results.
When they focused on how the boy or girl’s own personality affected their life, they observed that it also made a difference and that, for example, those who were extroverted, pleasant, open and responsible tended to get better grades, and that the grades worsened if they were neurotics. As for bad habits, extroverted children were more likely to smoke or drink, while being open, responsible, or friendly had the opposite effect.
Unsurprisingly, a good parent-child personality match is highly beneficial, evident in the case of family arguments that were less common when everyone scored high on agreeableness. When neither family member was neurotic, the children also scored better, however, an example of negative synergy was observed: neurotic children of neurotic parents tended to have the highest BMIs.
The researcher concludes that all this does not mean that children absorb the personality of their parents and become a new version of them and that this is something easy to verify when there are several siblings, with very different characters; in fact, he points out, it’s not unusual for extroverted parents to have introverted children, and vice versa. However, he assures that although we cannot change our way of being, it is possible to change some behaviors, especially if we realize their negative consequences.
“We found that children are likely to be healthier if their parents are responsible. That is most likely because responsible parents encourage exercise and healthy eating.” “It’s a good lesson for everyone. Personalities are largely set, but behaviors can change.”
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