Abstract
The paper is a report of a study to determine whether knowledge of Personality Types influences Parenting Style and increases Self-Efficacy. Authoritarian and Permissive Parenting Styles and low levels of Parental Self-Efficacy can have detrimental effects for both parent and child. There is a need for an intervention focused on non-problematic children and fully functioning parents. A secondary aim was to explore the relationships between Parenting Styles, Parenting Self-Efficacy, and MBTI. The study employed a quantitative intervention longitudinal experimental design model. A total of 38 parents took part in the study over 12 weeks. Parents completed the PSDQ and TOPSE tools as pre and post measures of Parenting Styles and Parental Self-Efficacy over a 12 week period. The Experimental Condition also completed MBTI adult and child assessments and received a ‘Personality and Parenting report’ tailored to their children’s Type. Parenting Self-Efficacy increased after 12 weeks overall, and for seven of the eight scales. Authoritarian scores were also significantly reduced. No relationships were found between MBTI and Parenting Styles or Parental Self-Efficacy. This approach can be used as an alternative method for increasing Parental Self-Efficacy and reducing Authoritarian parenting behaviours. Author keywords: Personality and parenting, parental self-efficacy
