Parental Personality and Parenting Style: A Ghanaian Perspective

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between parental personality and parenting style among Ghanaian parents within the Accra-Metropolis. One hundred and twenty (120) respondents were sampled using purposive and snowball sampling technique and administered the Ten-Item Personality Questionnaire and the Parenting Style Questionnaire. Four hypotheses were tested using both One Way and Two Way Analysis of Variance and the‘t’ test for independent samples. Analysis of data revealed that Parents with agreeable personality are not more permissive than those with the other personality traits. Conscientious parents were significantly higher than extraversion, and agreeableness but not from neuroticism and openness on authoritative parenting. Male parents were more authoritarian than their female counterparts. No significant difference existed between parents with single child and those with two or more children on permissive parenting in the Ghanaian setting. From the results it is advised that parents must be aware that their personality and parenting style affect the way they raise their children.

Keywords: Parental Personality, Agreeableness, Conscientious, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Openness, Parenting Style, Ghanaian Parents, Accra-Metropolis