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Parents who always try to put on a happy face for the sake of the children may be doing more harm than good, a new study finds.
Hiding negative emotions and exaggerating positive emotions can actually damage parents’ well-being, the psychologists found.
Parents who tried to be ‘perfect’ for their children reported lower authenticity, worse relationship quality and were less responsive to their children.
Dr. Emily Impett, one of the study’s co-authors, said:
“For the average parent the findings suggest when they attempt to hide their negative emotion expression and overexpress their positive emotions with their children, it actually comes at a cost: doing so may lead parents to feel worse themselves.”
Category(s):Child and/or Adolescent Issues, Child Development, Parenting
Source material from journal Personality and Social Psychology
