Mother’s affection leaves lasting mark on a child

The way a parent expresses affection during the first years of their children's lives can leave a lasting mark on the child’s character, even affecting future success in areas such as their education, health, career and general well-being, the study found.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Duke University in the United States, King’s College London and the University of Otago in New Zealand examined how maternal affection during childhood – specifically between the ages of 5 and 10 – predicted what are known as the Big Five personality traits at age 18. 

Personality traits

The Big Five personality traits are defined by personality psychologists as the five basic dimensions of human personality: extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism or emotional stability.

The researchers examined data from 2,232 identical twins (51.1 per cent of whom were female) tracking them from birth through to age 18 as part of the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twins Study. 

Studying identical twins allows researchers to control for genetic and environmental factors by comparing identical twins who grew up in the same family, the researchers say. 

Affection shown

Researchers conducted home visits and recorded the twins’ mothers talking about each child. The conversations were recorded and evaluated by trained observers, who rated the degree of warmth and affection shown.

Participants whose mothers expressed more warmth toward them in childhood were rated as more open to new experiences, conscientious and agreeable as young adults, even when compared with their genetically identical twins. 

The results offer evidence that positive, affectionate mothering can affect key personality traits that are linked to success later in life, and these influences could have an impact across generations, the researchers say.

The researchers say that even modest changes in personality could lead to population-wide benefits over time, particularly in promoting conscientiousness, which is associated with success in education, work and health.

Researchers found no lasting associations between maternal affection and extraversion or neuroticism. The findings suggest that other environmental or genetic factors – such as peer relationships, life experiences, and perhaps later interventions – may be more influential for these traits in adulthood, experts say.

Researchers add that the study provides valuable evidence for the potential of parenting programmes to influence critical aspects of personality development. It also highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of how different factors, including genetics, parenting and life experiences, interact to shape who we are.

The research is published by the American Psychological Association in the American Psychologist.

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