As parents, we perform various roles ranging from caregivers, nurturers, and, most importantly, molding our children’s personalities. Every parent dream of their children growing up to be able to live their life gracefully with ease. So what role does a parent have to play and how can parents support positive “personality development” in their children? What methods can be followed to help bring out the best in children?
These are questions most parents constantly worry about, coupled with the constant change in our society. This article hopes to ease us into the ways of parenting and discover the effects we have in our children’s personalities.
We will unravel the methods to breeding traits like empathy, self- confidence, and adaptability, all while enjoying the precious moments of growth and discovery that parenthood brings.
So, sit back while we go through this incredible journey of understanding and supporting positive personality development in children.
What Is The Role of Parents In Child Personality Development?
The role of parents in molding a child’s personality is similar to a gardener nurturing a delicate sapling. Therefore, as parents, we are expected to pay great attention to our words, actions, and interactions as this helps to boost a child’s personality. It is an unavoidable responsibility that supersedes the basic care we provide.
We are the first educators for our children. Through proper guidance, we are able to administer the right values, beliefs, ability to handle challenges and sense of judgement.
The love a child receives from their parents helps build their self-esteem and self- worth. Parents serve as pillars for their children. By providing emotional support, comfort when needed, love, care and a conducive environment, children can grow, explore and discover themselves.
This helps to build confidence in them so they can face the world.
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What Method Can Support Positive Personality Development In Children?
Furthermore, there are different methods a parent can employ to promote positive personality development in their children. Imagine parenting as a box filled with tools, ranging from various structures and methods, fit to help your child grow emotionally and socially.
It is not a monotonous process but rather a series of routes for a parent to pick from to suit their children individual difference. A successful parenting is akin to effective communication. Providing a conducive ambience while having conversations with your children helps build trust with them and strengthens the parent – child bond.
As a parent, we are expected to provide our children with an organized system by establishing rules and guidelines as this is vital for them to understand how the world works. This should be supported with encouragement and praises to boost their confidence.
You should also create room for your children to be involved in making some decisions in order to develop their decision making skills and sense of responsibility.
Encourage your children to make decisions for themselves and learn from the outcome of their choices, this helps to teach them self dependency. Children should not be caged from society. Instead, they should be allowed to experience different cultures, places and people under a parent guidance.
This pushes them outside their comfort zone as they get to experience life outside their own reality. You can also stimulate their cognitive domain by inculcating creative activities into their daily routine.
In view of this, parents should be role models to their children. Always demonstrate positive traits around them as they would walk in your footsteps.
What are the Four Major Approaches of Personality Development?
There are four major methods to personality development. Try to visualize personality development as a complex puzzle, and these methods as different pathways to the destination.
1. The Psychoanalytic Approach
The Psychoanalytic Approach, founded by Sigmund Freud, focuses on the subconscious. Moreover, this suggests that that our personalities are molded by unconscious desires and conflicts. This method involves uncovering hidden motives and early childhood experiences that influence our behaviors.
2. The Trait Approach
Trait Approach sees personality as a collection of lasting characters. We can assume these traits to be the colors on an artist’s palette. They mix uniquely to form a picture of who we are. Thus, this method helps us to identify and understand key traits in an individual’s personality.
3. Social Learning Approach
Social Learning Approach views our personality as end results of our interaction with our environment and other people. Similarly, this can be described as watching a certain action and mimicking it. In this approach, role models, social norms, and the after effects of our actions are said to play a role in molding our personality.
4. Humanistic Approach
Humanistic Approach is based on our natural capability for growth and self-actualization. It sees personality development as planting a seed and growing it into a beautiful plant. This approach focuses on self-awareness, personal choice, and also achieving one’s unique potential.
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What are the Four Processes That Promote Personality Development?
1. Socialization
This is the process where children learn societal values, norms and beliefs. The home is the starting point of socialization in a child’s life. As children become older, they are influenced by their peers, teachers and the media. Hence, these interactions plays a role in their personality.
2. Self-Concept Development
Allowing children to grow and thrive in a positive and conducive environment helps in building their self esteem. A child’s self concept is like a canvas for painting. This refers to how children see themselves, their capabilities. Constant praises and support can after all enhance their ability to embrace challenges and hitches in life.
3. Emotional Regulation
This has to do with awareness, understanding and management of emotions in children. Parents are responsible for guiding children through healthy ways to accept and demonstrate their feelings. Subsequently, emotional strength and resilience can be imbibed in a child through systemic conversations and show of love and affection.
4. Moral Development
Children acquire the right sense of judgement through proper supervision and guidance. They can grow morally if you have conversations with them, tell stories, and show empathy and fairness. Eventually, all these can help strengthen ethics and morality in a child.
How Can Parents Support Positive Personality Development In Children?
What are the roles parents can actively play to support positive personality development in children.
1. Create a Love filled Environment
Love is fundamental in molding the personality of a child. Furthermore, love should be expressed as often as possible. Constant show of love and affection provides an emotional safety net for children personality to thrive. Love can be expressed through our words of praises and actions like hugs and kisses.
2. Spending Quality Time
Sometimes we become consumed with the activities in our daily life and in the process neglect some areas of out life. This should not apply to our children as spending quality time with them helps grow their personality. Parents should try to actively engage in activities with their children. Also, children grow positively with undivided attention from their parents.
Creating time to engage in activities that you and your children enjoy can provide them with experience, memories, a sense of value and connection. Thus, this goes a long way in improving their self esteem and general well being.
3. Arouse Curiosity
The thirst for knowledge is innate in every individual. Children are known to always have questions to ask on everything. As parents, our duty is to answer their endless questions, examine their interests and provide them with experience and adequate information through books and materials that satisfy their inquisitiveness.
By allowing them explore their interest, you are also building and sustaining their research skills. Seeking answers to what they are curious about becomes a valuable asset to their personality development.
4. Show Empathy
Children pay attention to the words and actions of their parents. Since children can learn by imitating the actions and behaviors of their parents, it is easier to teach them what empathy is by showing it to them. A child’s personality development is greatly influenced by empathy. This is because it deals with understanding another person’s feelings and emotions.
This is a skill needed for interacting with people and the world at large. In addition, parents can show empathy by discussing their feelings and emotions with their children and openly showing kindness. Encourage them to see things from other people’s point of view or perspective and render help or assistance.
5. Individual Difference
No two human beings are the same even identical twins. This applies to our children. Each child is unique, and as such, children should be taught to love and embrace themselves the way they are. Parents play the role of creating a suitable environments for children to thrive and understand themselves.
Furthermore, by supporting our children’s likes, interests and hobbies, they feel encouraged to develop themselves.
6. Problem-Solving skills
Children should be taught critical thinking skills to be able to maneuver life and its challenges. This is important in personality development as it provides them with the ability to navigate life.
As parents, we naturally want to protect our children from the difficult part of life, but it is best we expose them to age appropriate challenges to provide them with learning grounds necessary for growth. This builds their resilience and adaptability to life situations.
Read Also: How To Build Resilience In Children
Conclusion
A positive personality is something that is nurtured. The strategies above can help parents to nurture their children’s positive personality development. They also help support parent-child bond and push children to thrive and become strong, sensitive and resilient adults who can face life challenges.
