Expectant parents who are afraid of the unknown should take solace in the notion that understanding how to care for their child will come naturally, according to a new study from Michigan State University psychologists, reports MSU Today.
The Institute of Family Studies has produced the most conclusive evidence to date that genes influence parenting.
Two Michigan State University psychologists conducted a study that contradicts the generally held belief that how people parent their young ones is heavily influenced by not only how they were parented as children but also by their genetic make up as well.
Prof. S. Alexandra Burt, an associate professor of psychology and co-author of a study conducted by doctorate candidate Ashlea M. Klahr, concluded a person's genes and environmental circumstances both matter when it comes to parenting, writes “Time Magazine”.
According to “Science Daily”, a statistical analysis of 56 research investigating the origins of parenting patterns across all countries, which included more than 200,000 families, found that genes have a significant effect in how adults nurture their children.
The study, published in Psychological Bulletin, the medical research publication of the American Psychological Association, discovered that our genetics control 23 to 40% of the positive and negative attitudes parents have towards their children.
However, the study fails to demonstrate whether genes impact parenting directly or through indirect means, such as through the parent's personality, according to “Science Daily”.
Based on the National Institute of Health's findings, the study debunks another myth: that parenting is solely a top-down activity passed down from parent to child.
In actuality, how parents moderate the behaviour of their child is influenced by a complex combination of biological and environmental variables, including but not limited to, how the behaviour of the child and development impact the parents.
Although parents appear to shape their children's behaviour, parenting influences the child's behaviour as well - in other words, parenting is both cause and effect.
“One of the most consistent and striking findings to emerge from this study was the important role that children’s characteristics play in shaping all aspects of parenting,” the authors write in the paper published in the conclusion.
Finally, parenting styles are influenced by a variety of circumstances. The study's authors arrived at the conclusion that parents have their own childhood experiences, personality, and DNA. They also respond to their child's behaviours and developmental stages.
Essentially, several effects are occurring at the same time. In summary, we must be aware that this is a two-way interaction between parent and kid that is both environmental and genetic in nature.