360 III. DEvELOPMENT
antecedents and consequences of personality 
traits change at different points in the life -
span (Wrzus, 2019); however, to date, there 
have been no studies examining whether the 
influence of parenting on offspring person -
ality changes over time. In other words, will 
the influence of Mrs. McCallister’s parent -
ing behavior on Kevin’s personality change 
as Kevin grows up? Most previous work has 
examined the effects of parenting in child -
hood, which is logical, because the family is 
the first, and arguably, the most foundation -
al source of socialization throughout devel -
opment (Maccoby, 2007). Not only are there 
fewer sources of socialization in childhood, 
but children also spend the majority of their 
time in the home, so parents have the great -
est number of opportunities to influence the 
child (Kuczynski & Grusec, 1997). Person -
ality traits are also the most plastic in child -
hood relative to other developmental peri -
ods (Roberts & DelVecchio, 2000), which 
implies that parents’ capacity to influence 
trait development during childhood may be 
larger than the capacity to do so in emerging 
adulthood (when traits become increasingly 
stable). Additionally, the reciprocal influ -
ence of the offspring’s personality on par -
enting practices (i.e., path B in Figure 16.1) 
may be weaker in childhood than it is in ad -
olescence and adulthood (Kuczynski, 2003). 
Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that 
the effects of parenting on personality devel -
opment may be strongest and most pervasive 
in childhood relative to later developmental 
stages.
As children transition into adolescence, 
they not only continue to encounter addi -
tional socializing agents that influence trait 
development, including peers and teachers, 
but there is also a gradual decline in the 
amount of time the parent and the adoles -
cent spend together (Collins & Madsen, 
2003). However, most importantly, the 
adolescent becomes an increasingly proac -
tive agent in the parent–  child relationship, 
which may have the largest influence on 
developmental shifts in parents’ impact on 
personality traits. As adolescents develop 
complex cognitive, emotional, and behav -
ioral skills, they become an “active perceiver 
and agent” in the parent–  child relationship, 
with growing expectations and goals of 
how interactions should be (Lundell, Gru -sec, McShane, & Davidson, 2005). This 
increase in adolescent agency can weaken 
the effects of parenting practices on person -
ality development (path C in Figure 16.1), 
in part because of the increasingly strong 
reciprocal effects of adolescent personality 
on parenting behaviors (path B in Figure 
16.1; Kuczynski & Parkin, 2007). As dem -
onstrated by the dialectical  model of bidi -
rectionality, reciprocal influences are rooted 
in how parents and offspring interpret each 
other’s behaviors, construct meanings from 
their interactions, and anticipate or accom -
modate each other’s perspectives and goals 
(Grusec, Goodnow, & Kuczynski, 2000; 
Kuczynski, 2003). For example, adolescents 
can facilitate or thwart parents’ attempts to 
monitor them effectively by communicating 
with the parent about their activities (Kerr 
& Stattin, 2000). Adolescents have the abil -
ity to understand complex rationales for 
parenting behavior but, at the same time, 
privately reject those behaviors (Grusec & 
Goodnow, 1994). Moreover, adolescents’ 
perceptions of what honors or infringes on 
their rights as autonomous individuals differ 
from their childhood perceptions, when they 
were more likely to perceive parents’ efforts 
to direct their behavior as warranted (Siegal 
& Cowen, 1984; Smetana, 1988). Similarly, 
parents also recognize this newfound agency 
and are more likely to view their offspring’s 
misdeeds as intentional, then respond ac -
cordingly (Dix, Ruble, Grusec, & Nixon, 
1986). Thus, the influence of parenting be -
havior on offspring personality development 
may become weaker, because the adolescent, 
who is newly equipped with intentional and 
goal-  directed actions (Kuczynski & Parkin, 
2007), has stronger reciprocal influences on 
parenting behavior.
As adolescents transition into adulthood, 
the typical assumption is that parents no 
longer matter in influencing personality de -
velopment. After all, by this point, offspring 
should possess the basic skills necessary to 
function as part of society, eliminating the 
need for parental socialization. There is no 
research that directly addresses the influ -
ence of parenting on personality develop -
ment during adulthood, but we have reason 
to suspect there may be effects (albeit small) 
given that some research indicates that par -
ents continue to influence their offspring’s 