HOW ARE CHILDREN’S SELF-ESTEEM AFFECTED BY PARENTS PERSONALITIES, AND WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE CHILD’S ACTIONS?

How are children’s self-esteem affected by parents personalities, and what are the consequences of the child’s actions?

From the instant children are born they begin to observe and gain knowledge from their environment. One of the first figures a child observes is their parents and also one of the figures that are observed the most. According to Bandura Social Learning Theory, behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning. Children observe the people around them behaving in various ways. Since children spend so much time watching their parents they learn from them. With their parents children learn how to talk, play, and move; however, that is not all they learn. The social learning theory helps explain that people learn through social context in interactions and observations. As children continue to observe how their parents talk to them and to others they develop this skill as their parents have. This also shapes personalities and therefore parents’ personalities can have a direct effect on the personality of their child.

Bandura, A. Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1991). Transmission of aggression through the imitation of aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575-582