Exploring the relationship between parental styles and good personality: a network analysis
摘要
Based on a network perspective, this study investigated the relationship between individuals’ retrospective parental styles and their good personality, which represents the positive facet of moral character. Network analysis was chosen as the primary method, offering a novel approach to explore the complex interrelationships between variables. Three different networks, the trait network, facet network, and item network, were constructed. A total of 1,273 participants completed surveys, including the Chinese Virtuous Personality Scale (CVPS) and the Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran for Chinese (s–EMBU–C). The results revealed that among the parenting styles, fathers’ emotional warmth had the highest bridge to expected influence centrality, followed by mothers’ emotional warmth, indicating their pivotal role in bridging parental styles with the development of good personality traits. The present research makes significant contributions by providing empirical support for the role of parenting styles as key social-contextual factors in the development of good personality, challenging the maternal-centric paradigm in moral development research. It offers critical insights for educational and psychological interventions aimed at fostering moral traits in adulthood.