Creative Child

These Parenting Styles are Best and Worst for Raising Creative Kids, According to Study

by Rebecca Eanes

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The study found that “parents can impact their child’s mood and provide his/her academic success and psychological growth through using different child-rearing practices.” Because authoritative parents imply age-appropriate demands, encourage their children to be autonomous, and allow their children to make decisions as they show readiness and make them participate in problem-solving as part of their discipline strategy, their children show more creativity.

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On the other hand, they found that the perfectionist expectations of authoritarian parents and teachers weaken creativity. Because these parents firmly control their children and expect unquestioned obedience while providing little in the way of meeting emotional needs, these

children grow up in fear and negativity, their creativity squashed having never been exercised or supported.

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The study found no significant correlation between permissive parenting and creativity.

This study is consistent with other studies, one being this study (source 2) of 66 Jamaican children which revealed that “the authoritarian style is the most salient predictor of children’s creativity, and that this relationship was negative.” Another study (source 3) of 323 honors college students at Midwestern University found that a “negative relationship between authoritarian parenting and creativity.” Again, this study (source 4) found that “parental acceptance and involvement was positively related to creativity-generating thinking styles.”

It stands to reason that if we want to nurture our child’s innate creativity, we must not inhibit it by being overly controlling. These studies consistently show a negative relationship between punitive and strict parenting and low creativity. Positive, authoritative parenting actually allows a child’s creativity to flow and grow. Through such positive parenting practices as building positive relationships with your children, responding to emotional needs, and teaching problem-solving skills, you can equip your child with a critical skill for future success.

Sources:

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042815050326

2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10400419.2013.752287

3. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0162353212459257

4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1041608014000508

 

Rebecca Eanes is the bestselling author of multiple books including Positive Parenting: An Essential Guide, The Positive Parenting Workbook, and The Gift of a Happy Mother. She is the grateful mom of two boys. 

 

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