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Provisional title
Differential susceptibility to parenting: Interaction between parenting and child personality in
self-efficacy of young adults
Introduction
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is an important predictor of performance across a variety of tasks
(Bandura, 1997). Self-efficacy refers to individuals’ beliefs about their capability to
successfully carry out a particular action (Bandura, 1977). Self-efficacy is a mechanism of
human agency that describes people’s beliefs about the extent to which they can exercise
control over events that have impact on their lives (Reich, Bickman, & Hefflinger, 2004).
Expectations of self-efficacy determine the amount of effort that someone puts in and the
amount of time that effort will be sustained when obstacles are being faced. Self-efficacy
makes an important contribution to child development. For example, in a meta-analysis, self-
efficacy was the highest correlating predictor for academic performance out of 50 antecedents
(r=.59, Richardson, Abraham, & Bond, 2012).
Child personality and self-efficacy
Another factor that contributes strongly to the successful development of children is
personality. From a very young age, children respond in very different ways to certain
situations. For example, some children are calm whereas others are very hard to appease
(Markey, Markey, & Tinsley, 2004). Personality refers to people’s tendencies to think, feel
and behave in certain consistent ways (Shiner & Caspi, 2003). Personality traits are usually
, 2
described in terms of five broad factors. These factors are known as the Five Factor Model
(FFM) or the Big Five (Goldberg, 1990; Shiner & Caspi, 2003). The Five factors are: (1)
Extraversion, describing people who are talkative, sociable, and spontaneous; (2)
Agreeableness, describing people who are those who are generous, tolerant and trustworthy;
(3) Conscientiousness, indicating people who are reliable, consistent and who have high self-
discipline; (4) Emotional stability (versus Neuroticism), describes individuals who tend to be
stress-resistant; (5) Openness to experience, indicating individuals who are imaginative and
curious. Personality can largely shape child development. For example, personality traits play
a pivotal role in Moffit’s (1993) taxonomy of antisocial behaviour (Prinzie, Onghena, &
Hellinkx, 2005). In addition, Roberts, Kuncel, Shiner, Caspi and Goldberg (2007) have shown
that personality traits predict adult life events such as divorce, mortality and occupational
attainment. Some empirical studies have linked the Five Factor Model and self-efficacy.
Stajkovic, Bandura, Locke, Lee and Sergent (2017) recently studied the association between
the Five Factor Model and self-efficacy in five samples of young adults, with mean ages
ranging from 20.8 to 23 years. They found that the most consistent predictor of self-efficacy is
conscientiousness. Conscientiousness facilitates task engagement which leads to higher self-
efficacy. Neuroticism, on the other hand, was consistently and negatively linked to self-
efficacy (Stajkovic et al. 2017). Neuroticism increases anxiety which leads to lower self-
efficacy. These results have also been found in an earlier meta-analysis of Judge et al. (2007).
In this study, other factors of the Five Factor Model have been associated with self-efficacy as
well, but findings were inconclusive (Judge et al., 2007).
Parenting and self-efficacy
Ecological models emphasize the importance of factors within the individual as well
as environmental influences (Belsky, 1984; Bronfenbrenner, 1977). According to ecological
models parenting plays an important part in child development, in addition to personality. In
general, two broad parenting dimensions can be distinguished: (1) warmth versus rejection,
and (2) autonomy support versus psychological control or coercion. Both represent
dimensions with positive parenting practices at one end of the continuum and negative
parenting practices at the other end (McLeod, Wood, & Weisz, 2007). The dimension of
warmth (sometimes labelled as responsiveness) versus rejection refers to the extent to which
parents foster individuality and self-regulation by being supportive and taking into account
the needs and demands of the child (Baumrind, 1991). Warm parents show physical and
verbal affection toward their children, which induces the feeling of being accepted. Rejecting
Name: Name:
Student number: Phone number:
Specialization: Email address:
Personal information first assessor
Name:
Phone number:
Email address:
Provisional title
Differential susceptibility to parenting: Interaction between parenting and child personality in
self-efficacy of young adults
Introduction
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is an important predictor of performance across a variety of tasks
(Bandura, 1997). Self-efficacy refers to individuals’ beliefs about their capability to
successfully carry out a particular action (Bandura, 1977). Self-efficacy is a mechanism of
human agency that describes people’s beliefs about the extent to which they can exercise
control over events that have impact on their lives (Reich, Bickman, & Hefflinger, 2004).
Expectations of self-efficacy determine the amount of effort that someone puts in and the
amount of time that effort will be sustained when obstacles are being faced. Self-efficacy
makes an important contribution to child development. For example, in a meta-analysis, self-
efficacy was the highest correlating predictor for academic performance out of 50 antecedents
(r=.59, Richardson, Abraham, & Bond, 2012).
Child personality and self-efficacy
Another factor that contributes strongly to the successful development of children is
personality. From a very young age, children respond in very different ways to certain
situations. For example, some children are calm whereas others are very hard to appease
(Markey, Markey, & Tinsley, 2004). Personality refers to people’s tendencies to think, feel
and behave in certain consistent ways (Shiner & Caspi, 2003). Personality traits are usually
, 2
described in terms of five broad factors. These factors are known as the Five Factor Model
(FFM) or the Big Five (Goldberg, 1990; Shiner & Caspi, 2003). The Five factors are: (1)
Extraversion, describing people who are talkative, sociable, and spontaneous; (2)
Agreeableness, describing people who are those who are generous, tolerant and trustworthy;
(3) Conscientiousness, indicating people who are reliable, consistent and who have high self-
discipline; (4) Emotional stability (versus Neuroticism), describes individuals who tend to be
stress-resistant; (5) Openness to experience, indicating individuals who are imaginative and
curious. Personality can largely shape child development. For example, personality traits play
a pivotal role in Moffit’s (1993) taxonomy of antisocial behaviour (Prinzie, Onghena, &
Hellinkx, 2005). In addition, Roberts, Kuncel, Shiner, Caspi and Goldberg (2007) have shown
that personality traits predict adult life events such as divorce, mortality and occupational
attainment. Some empirical studies have linked the Five Factor Model and self-efficacy.
Stajkovic, Bandura, Locke, Lee and Sergent (2017) recently studied the association between
the Five Factor Model and self-efficacy in five samples of young adults, with mean ages
ranging from 20.8 to 23 years. They found that the most consistent predictor of self-efficacy is
conscientiousness. Conscientiousness facilitates task engagement which leads to higher self-
efficacy. Neuroticism, on the other hand, was consistently and negatively linked to self-
efficacy (Stajkovic et al. 2017). Neuroticism increases anxiety which leads to lower self-
efficacy. These results have also been found in an earlier meta-analysis of Judge et al. (2007).
In this study, other factors of the Five Factor Model have been associated with self-efficacy as
well, but findings were inconclusive (Judge et al., 2007).
Parenting and self-efficacy
Ecological models emphasize the importance of factors within the individual as well
as environmental influences (Belsky, 1984; Bronfenbrenner, 1977). According to ecological
models parenting plays an important part in child development, in addition to personality. In
general, two broad parenting dimensions can be distinguished: (1) warmth versus rejection,
and (2) autonomy support versus psychological control or coercion. Both represent
dimensions with positive parenting practices at one end of the continuum and negative
parenting practices at the other end (McLeod, Wood, & Weisz, 2007). The dimension of
warmth (sometimes labelled as responsiveness) versus rejection refers to the extent to which
parents foster individuality and self-regulation by being supportive and taking into account
the needs and demands of the child (Baumrind, 1991). Warm parents show physical and
verbal affection toward their children, which induces the feeling of being accepted. Rejecting
