The transaction between parents' perceptions of their children's shyness and their parenting styles

In recent years, researchers have examined factors that "determine" parenti ng beliefs, styles, and behaviours. One potential determinant of parenting is the child him/herself. Child characteristics, such as temperament, have been cited as evocative influences on parenting beliefs and behaviours. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal relation s between children's social wariness/inhibition and parents' beliefs about how to best socialise their children. Questionnaire data on child temperame nt and parenting practices were collected from the parents (mothers and fat hers) of sixty 2-year-olds; identical data were collected 2 years later. Ob servations of inhibited behaviour were taken at two years. Results indicate d that few differences existed between mothers' and fathers' expressed pare nting styles at ages 2 and 4 years. Second, parental perceptions of child s hyness at age 2 were: (a) stable to age 4; and (b) predicted a lack of enco uragement of independence at age 4. Third, parents' expressed lack of encou ragement of independence, although stable from 2 to 4 years, failed to pred ict child shyness at age 4. The findings support the conjecture that young children's dispositional characteristics predict subsequent maternal and pa ternal behaviour.