Negative Internal Working Models as Mechanisms that Link Mothers' and Fathers' Personality with Their Parenting: A Short-term Longitudinal Study

Danming An; Lilly C Bendel-Stenzel; Grazyna Kochanska

doi:10.1111/jopy.12711

Back

Negative Internal Working Models as Mechanisms that Link Mothers' and Fathers' Personality with Their Parenting: A Short-term Longitudinal Study

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Negative Internal Working Models as Mechanisms that Link Mothers' and Fathers' Personality with Their Parenting: A Short-term Longitudinal Study

Danming An, Lilly C Bendel-Stenzel and Grazyna Kochanska

Journal of personality, Vol.90(6), pp.1004-1020

12/2022

DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12711

PMCID: PMC9402795

PMID: 35211984

Appears in UI Libraries Support Open Access

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12711View

Published (Version of record)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access

Abstract

Research on associations between parents' personality and parenting has a long history, but mechanisms that explain them remain unsettled. We examined parents' explicit and implicit negative Internal Working Models (IWMs) of the child, assessed at toddler age, as linking parental personality and parenting. Mothers and fathers from 200 community families provided personality self-reports (Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Empathy, and Anger/Hostility) when their children were infants. When children were toddlers, the explicit negative IWMs included self-reported low-mentalizing reflective functioning and resentment regarding the child. The implicit negative IWMs were coded as negative relational schemas from parental interviews. Parental positive affect, responsiveness, and power-assertive control were observed in lengthy interactions. Measures were parallel for mother- and father-child dyads. Mothers' implicit IWMs linked the association between low Empathy and more power-assertive control. Fathers' explicit IWMs linked the associations between high Neuroticism and low Agreeableness and lower responsiveness. Additionally, fathers' Agreeableness and Empathy directly predicted their parenting. Two paths (Agreeableness → implicit IWMs, and explicit IWMs → responsiveness) significantly differed between mothers and fathers. IWMs may link parental personality with parenting. The findings integrate and inform several bodies of literature in personality, social cognition, and developmental psychology.

fathers

Internal Working Models

mothers

personality

parenting

UIOWA OA Agreement

Details

Title: Subtitle: Negative Internal Working Models as Mechanisms that Link Mothers' and Fathers' Personality with Their Parenting: A Short-term Longitudinal Study
Creators: Danming An - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa
Lilly C Bendel-Stenzel - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa
Grazyna Kochanska - Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, The University of Iowa
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of personality, Vol.90(6), pp.1004-1020
DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12711
PMID: 35211984
PMCID: PMC9402795
NLM abbreviation: J Pers
eISSN: 1467-6494
Publisher: Wiley
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000071, name: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, award: R01 HD091047; DOI: 10.13039/100006108, name: National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, award: UL1TR002537
Language: English
Electronic publication date: 02/25/2022
Date published: 12/2022
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Record Identifier: 9984221630402771

Metrics

14 Record Views

10 Times Cited - Web of Science