You will research and read one academic article for each annotated bibliography, preferably on a topic that will go beyond the content you have learned s

Journal of Behavioural Sciences, Vol. 26, No. 2, 2016

Are Siblings Different as ‘Day and Night’? Parents’ Perceptions of

Nature vs. Nurture

*Fatima Kamran, PhD

Institute of Applied Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore,

Pakistan

The qualitative study explored parents perceptions and attributions

of personality differences among their children. Twelve parents

were interviewed using Interpretative Phenomenological

Approach. The analysis revealed that the parents attributed the

siblings‟ personality differences to a combination of biological vs.

psychosocial factors. It revealed meaningful insights as reflected

by the themes that revolved around nature vs. nurture,

psychosocial influences, parental identification and role modeling,

gender, birth order and role expectations. Interestingly, despite

sharing the same genetics, living in similar environmental

conditions, children tend to display diversity in their behaviors and

overall personality. Parents sometimes describe their children as

opposite as „day and night‟ which raises a question to investigate

the factors that cause such extreme diversity in their personalities.

There is a need to further explore parental expectations and criteria

for an ideal child as well as knowing about the relative

contribution of nature vs. nurture factors in determining

personality differences.

Keywords. Perception of parents, attributions, children‟s

personality, siblings

Parent child relationship has been explored involving a variety of

dimensions. There is considerable research, analysing the meaning of

parents‟ perceptions of child characteristics, particularly in the area of

temperament. This study aimed to qualitatively explore parent‟s

understandings of perceived differences in their children‟s personalities

with reference to sibling comparisons. The parent-child relationship

consists of a combination of behaviors, feelings, and expectations that are

unique to a particular parent and a particular child (Willson, Shuey,

Elder, & Wickrama, 2006). The relationship involves the full extent of a

*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Fatima Kamran, PhD, Assistant

Professor, Institute of Applied psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.

Email: [email protected]

KAMRAN

child's development. The quality of the parent-child relationship is

influenced by a multitude of factors, including; parent's age, experience,

education, self-confidence, stability of the parents' marriage, beliefs and

perceptions that determine their parenting styles as well as the unique

characteristics of the child compared with those of the parent (Plomin &

Daniels, 2011). Therefore, it is important to understand the dynamics

underlying parental perceptions of their children‟s personality, the level

of understanding and insight into their interests, abilities and behavior

patterns (Birditt, Miller, Fingerman, & Lefkowitz, 2009).

Parents are well aware of the behavioral differences between their

children. This is particularly true for dimensions of temperament. When

asked about their children's temperaments, parents frequently remark

about extreme personality differences in their children as they come from

different families. It suggests that commonly siblings show no

resemblance in their temperaments. However, behavioral genetic research

consistently reveals that temperament is genetically influenced (Siegler,

DeLoache, & Eisenberg, 2011). Therefore, genetically related siblings

should show some similarity in temperament. Could parents be

exaggerating the behavioral differences between their children? If so, do

the observed relations between sibling differences in temperament and

child outcome reflect parental expectations rather than actual child

behavior? Qualitative studies can add rich meaningful insights to explore

such dynamics.

Parental perceptions of their children‟s personalities and

behaviors are also a reflection of the family processes that influence

children‟s psychological well-being and subsequent development, but

this impact is rarely studied (Shek, 2007). Drawing on family systems

theories show how between- family, within-family, and within-individual

differences emerge from family interactions that ultimately influence

parental perceptions of the individual differences in their children‟s

personalities (Solmeyer, Feinberg, Sakuma, Hostetler, & McHale, 2010).

Understanding a child's temperament and personality traits

provides a framework for judging their behavior in a variety of settings

over time and facilitates understanding of personality development.

Parents can provide first hand information about the influence of various

factors in causing personality differences among siblings. This

knowledge of the extent of biological and psychosocial influences

contributes towards explaining commonalities and differences found

among siblings as perceived by parents (Pandey & Kumar, 2009).

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PARENTS‟ PERCEPTIONS

Emmelkamp (2006) investigated parent-child interaction by

studying how the parents categorize their child‟s behavior. It was found

that the behavior emanating from the child is received as a series of

impressions by the parent and then perceived as relevant or meaningful

according to the cognitive organization or schemas of the parent. It

means that a qualitative analysis of parents‟ attributions, understandings

and beliefs depending on their schemas, can provide rich information

instantly, but on the other hand, schemas can contribute to stereotypes

and make it difficult to retain new information that does not conform to

one‟s established schemas. It may cause the parents to identify and

describe their children according to their preexisting concepts or

apperceptions, past experiences and backgrounds that may or may not be

the actual case (Whiteman, McHale, & Soli, 2011).

Some factors may influence behavior towards children. These

may include; „Relationship-driven effects‟. These effects refer to the

matching of parent-child characteristics. For example, perhaps the child's

temperament does not match the parent's preferences or expectations

(Feinberg, Solmeyer, & McHale, 2012). Another aspect may involve

„Parent-driven effects‟ which means that parents might treat their

children differently for reasons of their own. A parent might have a

particular reason for favoring or rejecting a particular child: for example,

because the child was unwanted-its conception was unplanned (Eriksen

& Jensen, 2009) Sometimes a child might be treated in a particular way

by a parent, not because of that child's own characteristics, but because of

the characteristics of his or her sibling. If parents find the first born to be

„difficult; they may have a tendency to consider their next child

comparatively easy and vice versa and as a result, they would have a

different attitude towards each child and consequently lead to increase

preexisting differences between siblings (McHale, Updegraff, &

Whiteman, 2012).

Rationale/ Significance of the Study

Phenomenological theories of personality focus on an individual‟s

subjective experience of their world, that is, their phenomenological

experience (Killoren, Thayer, & Updegraff, 2008). Particularly people‟s

subjective experience, or their self-concept, is seen as the core of

individuals‟ personalities. Since parents are generally the major source of

influence in the early years of child development, the way parents deal

with their children and provide a certain type of home environment

influences their personality development (Kennedy & Kramer, 2008).

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Parental influence is studied extensively, however, their attributions to

these personality differences needs to be explored across different

cultures. In Pakistan, the parent-child relationship involves parents in a

more authority role, with prolonged parental responsibilities to cater for

their children‟s needs, even when children become adults, which

consequently develops reciprocal strong emotional bonding/ dependency

and expectations. It is worth exploring how these expected roles of their

children develop and how do most parents perceive and describe

individual differences of children‟s personalities since an early stage.

Objective of the Study

The study aimed to focus on why and how parents tend to develop

their perceptions about the personality, abilities and interests of their

children to understand the Attributional styles that lead to comparisons

and individual differences as perceived by the parents.

Method

A qualitative research approach was used for this study. The theoretical

perspective most often associated with qualitative researchers has been

phenomenology (Bogdan & Biklen, 2004). The phenomenological

approach, was used to understand the factors attributed by the parents to

individual differences in siblings personalities. Further, the context is

important to the interpretation of data. This approach requires that the

researcher "centers on the attempt to achieve a sense of the meaning that

others give to their own situations" (Smith, 2007, p. 12).

The data collected in a qualitative study includes more than words;

attitudes, feelings, vocal and facial expressions, and other behaviors are

also involved. The data in the present study consist of interview

transcripts. Three processes are blended throughout the study: collection,

coding, and analysis of data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). This approach

encourages the kind of flexibility so important to the qualitative researcher

who can change a line of inquiry and move in new directions, as more

information and a better understanding of what are relevant data are

acquired (Brotman et al., 2005).

The study involved in-depth interview transcripts obtained from

twelve parents (both parents of one family) that constituted the data for

Interpretative Phenomenological Approach. A detailed analysis of the

reported perceptions was carried out.

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Sample

It comprised of twelve transcripts from a small scale qualitative

project undertaken by the researcher. The inclusion criteria was to recruit

parents with at least two children between the ages 2-12 years, with a

maximum five year of age difference, in order to get a relatively

homogenous sample to increase the likelihood of making comparisons

among the siblings. The aim was to discern commonalities of view point

and reported experience. A convenience sampling strategy was used;

parents were recruited through the researchers‟ social networks. The

participants were informed about the nature of research through discussion

with the researcher and information sheets were given before they agreed

to take part so that their decision to participate could be deemed

„informed‟. The participants agreed to provide their data for non

commercial research purposes with a condition to maintain anonymity.

Both parents living together as married were included in the study, thus,

excluding the single parents.

Table 1

Demographic Characteristics of Participants

Case

No. Parent Age Education Occupation

Monthly

Family

Income

No. of

Children

1 Father 39 Masters Banking Rs1,95,000 2

2 Mother 32 Graduation Housewife NA 2

3 Father 37 Masters Chartered Accountant Rs.1,75,000 3

4 Mother 31 Graduation Govt. officer Rs. 65,000 3

5 Father 40 Graduation Businessman Rs.1,86,000 3

6 Mother 35 Masters Education Rs.45,000 3

7 Father 40 Masters Business Rs.1,00000 2

8 Father 36 Masters Business Rs.2,00000 2

9 Mother 29 Graduation Housewife NA 2

10 Father 44 Graduation Govt. Officer Rs.1,00000 3

11 Mother 42 Masters Education Rs50,000 3

12 Mother 39 Graduation Housewife NA 2

Research Design and Procedure

Data were generated through one-to-one interviews, with each

participant being interviewed separately. A semi-structured but open

ended interview schedule was developed on the basis of the research aims

and existing relevant research literature. It began with broad questions

regarding perceived differences between participant‟s children and

progressed towards questions around explanations for these differences

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and perceived importance of birth order. This was piloted with one person

who met the inclusion criteria as no amendments to the schedule were

identified as necessary; the data from this interview were used in the

study. The interviews took place in the participants‟ home and lasted

around 30-40 minutes, with each participant interviewed by the researcher.

Each interview was digitally recorded and then transcribed. Original

names and identities were removed for the purpose of confidentiality. All

interviews were tape-recorded and, based on four pilot interviews already

conducted. The interviews were informal and open-ended, and carried out

in a conversational style.

Analytic Procedure. Transcripts were analysed using

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, 2007; Smith &

Eatough, 2012). IPA was particularly used because it provides a

systematic way of analyzing qualitative data that aims to explore

participants‟ experiences, cognitions and meaning making. At the same

time in IPA, there is a recognition that the outcome of any qualitative

analysis represents an interaction between participants‟ accounts and the

researchers‟ interpretative frameworks. Hence, the analytic process used

here is both phenomenological and interpretative as the focus of this study

is examining factors influencing personality development which is While

it is not claimed that the thoughts of an individual are transparent within

verbal reports, analysis is undertaken with the assumption that meaningful

interpretations can be made about that thinking (Smith, 2007).

The analysis involved reading all the transcripts thoroughly and

making comments on the left margin. After analyzing the comments in

detail, on the basis of commonalities and concepts emerging from the

narratives, these descriptions were given theme titles as reflected in the

comments. Initially a number of themes emerged which were gradually

merged and categorized on the basis of similarities and common issues to

constitute super ordinate themes to be discussed as main attributes of

perceived personality differences. The researcher‟s interpretations and

subjective accounts were described in main themes.

Analysis

The analysis revealed three major themes that emerged from the

data: (1) Common Experience Attributions; (2) Demographic Factors as

Determinants; (3) Parental Influences. (See Flow Chart 1)

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Flow Chart 1. Reflecting Super Ordinate Themes

The subordinate themes are outlined below;

 Nature vs. Nurture

 Birth Order & Role Expectations

 Psychosocial Influences

 Parental identification and Role Modeling

Common Experience Attributions encompasses a combined

contribution of genetics, and gender specific behaviors. The narratives

reflected that the parents had some common experience attributions of

their children‟s personality differences. It appeared to be a combination of

biological vs. psychosocial factors. Interplay among the influences of;

Genetics and demographics such as Gender, Birth order and Age stage

interacting with environment was found. It can be said that in addition to

predetermined factors, the children‟s personality differences were

attributed to psychosocial and environmental influences causing

idiosyncratic personality traits among siblings. It is not possible to

categorize age, birth order and gender as purely biological, although these

are predetermined, but they cause individual differences by their interplay

and overlapping influences during the nurturing process. Parents‟

perceptions and parenting styles seem to be influenced by the child‟s

genetics and social roles.

However, parents manifested a tendency to give a positive

description of their children‟s habits and behaviors, reasoning the

disruptive or negative behaviors with their age stage, gender and genetic

influence. It appears like a parent stereotype behavior.

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It appeared that the parents did not want to discuss the undesirable

behaviors/traits of their children with strangers and manifested a defensive

behavior. This trend was clearly reflected when a father spontaneously

started off with a negative description but immediately modified on

realization, into positive,

“A whole heap of trouble…that‟s how I‟d describe them…well

they are good kids in their own way”.

Nature vs. Nurture. The parents perceived their children‟s unique

personalities and idiosyncratic traits as product of genetics interacting

with psychosocial influences such as parent-child, sibling-sibling, and

significant others interaction and life experiences. A mother attributed

personality differences to nature-nurture interaction, saying;

„„Nature vs. nurture thing comes into play in a big way…”

The same theme clearly emerged when another mother said;

“It‟s a combination of what they get from us in genes and also

how we and others influence them”.

Genetics were discussed to explain the common traits of parents

and children. Parents identified their children by relating to each parent

and family. A mother described her children saying that;

“Omer is more like Ali & Sara definitely takes after me”.

Genetic impact of relatives was also described to explain child‟s

behaviors when a father kept referring to his late brother having a similar

personality as that of his son;

“Omer is more like my late brother” and concluded later that”

I see some family connections”

It is evident that there is the genes rather role modeling as the

uncle is not alive and the father is able to identify his son like his brother.

Environmental factors e.g. home, school/nursery, and resources

available also contribute in personality development. Each child may

have a different way of perceiving, reacting and adapting to these

environmental stimuli. These factors were only pointed out by the mother

in the end of interview seemed to develop insight and described these as

relevant and significant.

Environmental influence is important but what is even more

important seems to be parental influence. The effect that parents have on

their children has little to do with those aspects of parenting that are

experienced similarly by two children in their family. Whatever these

parental influences might be, they differentiate rather than integrate the

children. Parenting is likely to be an important source of environmental

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variance only if parents differentiate their children (Plomeins & Daniels

2011). The most significant thing remains; how similarly or differently

do parents treat their child that ultimately develops their personalities.

Psychosocial Influences. Besides genetics, psychosocial

influences emerged as significant factor in determining personality

differences among siblings sharing the same gene pole and home

environment. The most important is the familial influence that affects

each child in a unique way. The study reflects the ways in which children

acquire traits, and learn to behave through role playing, modeling and

identification with parents, siblings and relatives. The phenomenon of

role modeling in acquiring skills, was revealed when a mother said;

“Second born following elder sibling as a role model,” younger

sister had a role model and followed her…may be she saw the

things Esha did and has learnt a great deal from that”.

This reflects that birth order contributes to learning and

developmental processes. Particularly when the impact of birth order was

described as a main factor, not for personality differences rather

acquisition of skills. The achievement of milestones e/g walking and

potty training was facilitated because of birth order.

The mother perceived birth order to be important in terms of

comparison of advantages for the second born child who enters the

family when parents become more experienced and confident in dealing

with a child. The mother said;

“Younger one has had some more positive influences because she

is the second attempt” and further clarified that;

“they learn quicker because of the influences around them….she

is learning from Esha all the time but Esha has not that

advantage”.

According to her, younger siblings are at advantage that parents

are more experienced and second born has more opportunities, role

models to follow and learn through elder‟s experiences rather

experimenting, trial and error.

Psychosocial influence also involves the environment and living

conditions that impact personality. Parents described the impact of early

childhood experiences and home settings were perceived to cause

personality differences due to different living conditions,

“…a more stable background might lead to a more stable outlook

in a child”.

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The father explained this in detail and said that despite living in

the same area/ house, it made the child more stable and

“…their different experiences when they were very young”.

Gender appears to be a key factor for differences in interests,

abilities and behaviors.

Parents tend to attribute certain traits being typical of boys or

girls. Gender accounted for differences in children‟s mental and physical

abilities. A mother attributed mental abilities to physiological differences

in genders when she said;

“…its just the male part of brain” and “Shan will be higher in

I.Q than Shiza”

This reflects that some mental abilities are characteristic of male

gender and gender differences do exist in thinking, physical & mental

abilities, coping strategies and problem solving skills. She further

elaborated that ;

“he does things in his own way…”

Roles adapted by siblings are also affected by gender stereotypes

in a society and culture, as said further;

“She does so because she is a little girlie and girls try to grow up

very quickly”, typical sort of help, I am a lost little girl”

A mother also described her children as very different, and

clarified this difference by saying that her son is very clever but in a very

different way from his big sister;

“Ayesha is verbally clever whereas my son is very clever…he is

very dextrous”.

Gender specifies typical behaviors adopted by boys and girls, e.g.

boys being more aggressive, physical and ext