Do you really know how happy your kids actually are? Well the answer that most parents would give back is that yes their kids are very happy. But this isn’t something I have asked for or want parents to look at. Instead, what I want is that parents need to look at their kids’ happiness from the kids’ perspective. Take a look at what a new research has to say about it.
The research was conducted in effort to better understand the emotions and feelings of the kids. The results seem to show that parents really overestimate the happiness of their kids. This holds true for the parents of kids between 10 and 11 years. And for the older offspring between 15 and 16, contrary holds true.
The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology on July 30th. The researchers asked the sample children to self-assess their happiness. They did the same with the parents but were asked to rate not only their own but also of their kids’ sense of happiness.
The results were pretty shocking for the parents as there was a lot of discrepancy amongst the self-reported happiness of kids and what their parents rated for them. This was true for both sample groups.
Well, this is something new—parents have a record of looking at their kids from their own perspective and rose-colored glasses. However, researchers have given some serious conclusion that such an attitude of the parents can severe the parent-kid relationship, which can put kids’ health at the altar of jeopardy. It time that parents let go-off their egocentric bias!
Reasons for Discrepancy
Fran Walfish, Beverley Hills Psychotherapist explains that kids who are 10-11 years old are in their latency stage and for that reason their emotions and expressions stay underground. He added that parents don’t want that their kids to experience any depression or anxiety so they presume them as happier that they really are.
For the teens, she explained that kids between ages 15 and 16 prefer seclusion and alienation from their parents and they use rebellious behavior to achieve that. Parents see this attitude as defiance. However, the reality is that many kids may be perfectly happy but their happiness comes under the cloche of their anger and emotions.
Parenting is one heck of a job. Therefore, experts’ advice and opinion helps a lot. Stay tuned to our TMF blog for parenting tips and hacks.
Comments are closed.