Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of the family in the psychological development of an individual. As family contributes genes and the immediate environment into which a child is born and reared into adulthood, it's influence on the individual’s psychology cannot be denied. While certain characteristic of psychology in the context of the family are flexible to change, few characteristics are inflexible. An open minded approach is undertaken to explore the influence of family, and to present different perspectives that can be applied for a better understanding of the topic. The context of family and its influence on development is synthesized through information gained from the scientific literature. The paper also identifies the gap in existing knowledge and suggests priorities themes that can be considered for future research. Understanding the influence of family will help developmental and social scientists to plan the intervention that will enable acceptable psychological development.
A person’s psychological well-being are governed by his genes and his environment. Family not only contributes to the genotype but also offers the environment in which children are raised and grow to become themselves (Wachs, 1995). The pattern of thoughts the child begins to develop right from conception to the end of life span, happen in a family environment. As the family is likely to be the most immediate and dominant environment that the child is exposed from the early stages of life, its influence on the psychological development cannot be ignored. Family can influence the psychological development and the individual responsiveness to a stimulus. Variations in genes and environment contribute to the difference in the social, intellectual and personality development of individuals in the population (Wachs, 1995). Even within a culture, children differ widely in the opportunity and emotional support provided by the family (O'Connell, Boat, & Warner, 2009). This could be the reason for differences in psychological development among children. The paper examines the influence of family in the context of social, intellectual and personality development.
Family and Psychological Development
Family as a system
The family is often identified as a system formed by members who are related to each other (Pinsof & Lebow, 2005). Change in one part of the system can cause changes in the other parts. Ideally, a family has boundaries and specific patterns in which its members interact with each other (Pinsof & Lebow, 2005). Members of the family, adopt strategies that help them overcome disruptive events that happen in the family (Pinsof & Lebow, 2005). Nevertheless, in the long run, these adaptive changes often become ineffective (Pinsof & Lebow, 2005). While in some families, members are encouraged to think and act autonomously, in others, members are restricted from thinking and acting in an autonomous way. In families where members are restricted from thinking and acting autonomously, there is less differentiation between the members (Smith, 1994). The family has rules that assign roles to its members. When members fail to fulfill their role, the family becomes chaotic (Smith, 1994). Studies suggest that chronic mishandling of problems that occur in the family, rather than normal difficulties, are the major contributors to family dysfunction (Smith, 1994).
Family and Personality
In many families, parents tend to have a clear belief in the kind of characteristic they want to see in their child. Children tend to define their self, in understanding with these characteristics. Such strong expectation from families can prevent children from knowing who they are, rather the child emphasis more on what they like to be. The child relies on the information provided by the family and friends to know who they are. Thus parental demand and interaction pattern can affect the concept of self. (Rohany, Zainah Ahm, Rozainee, & Shahrazad, 2011)
The type of parenting and involvement of parents can influence the personality of a child. Children learn through direct observation of their parent’s behavior. The parenting pattern can determine their ability to grow into independent, self-reliant and responsible adults. In general, children of confident parents tend to grow into self-reliant, independent adults, when compared children of authoritarian and permissive parents. Children bearing practices, parental involvement, and neglect, can influence the child concept of self. Over protective and indulgent parents can be as harmful, so are parents who neglect their child. Parental attitude can have a pervasive effect of the concept of self and other aspects of psychological development. (Feinberg, Solmeyer, & McHale, 2011)
Nakao et al., studied the influence of family environment on behavioral and personality traits. Thirteen behavior traits like activity, talkativeness, sociability, social skills, rule-keeping, will, aggression, emotional control, imagination, anxiety, maturity, intelligence, and neuroticism and three personality traits like extraversion, maturity, and intellect were studied in 150 children, 13.2 ± 2.4 years of age. The family environment in the study was defined by traits like maternal and paternal involvement in childbearing, parenting or child rearing style, relation with the sibling, parental relation, birth order, the number of siblings and socio-economic status. The finding of this study suggests the importance of socio-economic status, the involvement of parents and parenting style in influence maturity development in children. High maternal influence, overprotective parenting was associated with high level of extraversion in the child. (Nakao et al., 2000)
Family and Social Behavior
All of the behavior that an individual exhibit towards others is called social behavior. Positive involvement with the society is a part of a healthy personality (Cheshire & Pilgrim, 2004). All behaviors are defined in the social context. Human beings need to engage in a reciprocal relationship with others in order to survive. The interest in the society is innate, and family nurtures these innate quality (Cheshire & Pilgrim, 2004). Trust and cooperation are fundamental to healthy social behavior. Individuals often learn these values from the family. In a multicultural society with non-heterogeneous family groups, children may exhibit a difference in social behavior, based on the cultural and history of the family (Chen & Kovacs, 2013). Children learn to express their behavior from their parents (Chen & Kovacs, 2013). They imitate their parents and learn to express anger, friendliness or sadness (Chen & Kovacs, 2013). The first social relationship a child develops is often with the family. The family provides the child with the first experience of being treated as a person in society. Ideally, children growing up with siblings must be thought to share their resources and act considering the welfare of everybody in the family. Social activities like talking, cleanliness, conflict resolution, problem-solving, choice of dress, etc., begin with the family. The support of the family is required to face the challenges of the society in which the child grows.
Family and Intellect
There are not many studies that have explored the association of family on intelligence in a conclusive manner. The intellect of the person is defined by his thought process and mental process that are required to organize and understand information and communicate it to others (Smidt, 2006). The process of cognition, explains the ways in which people think and behave in a certain way. It defines the methods a person uses to solve his problems. Problem solving requires that a person thinks about the solution and coordinates his activity to achieve the solution (Smidt, 2006). Unlike artificial intelligence, human thoughts are flexible and have the ability to learn through experience(Smidt, 2006). Certain genetic traits inherited from the family can affect the intelligence of the child. The influence of family environment on intelligence is less explored through scientific studies.
Conclusion
The role of the family in psychosocial development is well known. However, there is still a dearth of knowledge on the influence of family environment on intellect. Parents can influence their children through ways that are quite obvious, as well as in ways that are not quite evident to an outside observer. Everyday events in the family, the pattern of interactions with children, level of emotional and social support provided, parental relationship, relationship with the sibling, socio-economic status, and other macro and micro factors in the family can influence the child’s overall psychological development.
References
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