title: Parents' personality and infants' temperament as contributors to their emerging relationship.
abstract: The authors examined the contributions of infant's temperament and parent's personality to their relationship. In Study 1, 102 infants, mothers, and fathers were studied when infants were 7 months; in Study 2, 112 infants and mothers were followed from 9 to 45 months. Infants' temperament (joy, fear, anger, and attention) was observed in standard temperament paradigms. Parents' personality measures encompassed the Big Five traits and Empathy in Study 1 and Mistrust, Manipulativeness, Aggression, Dependency, Entitlement, and Workaholism in Study 2. Parent-child relationship (shared positive affect and parental responsiveness in Studies 1 and 2 and parental tracking of the infant in Study 1) was observed in naturalistic contexts. In Study 1, mothers' Neuroticism, Empathy, and Conscientiousness and fathers' Agreeableness, Openness, and Extraversion related to the relationship with the infants. All measures of infant temperament also related to the emerging relationship. In Study 2, maternal Mistrust, Manipulativeness, Dependency, and Workaholism predicted the relationship with the child.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, 52242, USA. grazyna-kochanska@uiowa.edu
authors.forename: Grazyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kochanska
authors.forename: Amanda E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Friesenborg
authors.forename: Lindsey A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Michelle M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Martel
authors.forename: Grazyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kochanska
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005120:Extraversion, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality / Q000502:physiology*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013694:Temperament / Q000502:physiology*; D014743:Videotape Recording