A study has found that mums who have open personalities help boost their children’s creativity.
The study was conducted by several universities in Poland, who found that there are certain characteristics in mums that make them encourage their kid’s creativity.
The study was led by Joanna Martin Kwaśniewska, whose aim was to study the intentional actions taken by parents to develop and support children’s creativity.
The aim of the study was to figure out what personality traits are helpful in creating a creative climate for children.
The team of researchers looked at the personalities of more than 3,000 mums in Poland.
They studied five personality traits from those involved in the study. The five traits consisted of openness, extraversion, conscientiousness, neuroticism and agreeableness.
The team solely asked mums to participate in the study because they are often the main caregiver in Poland.
The women who took part had varying numbers of children, “Most respondents had one or two children. Only 10 percent had three children, while only two percent of participants had four or more children.”
As part of the study, the mums were asked to complete a questionnaire which asked about how they raise their children and if they thought this environment would help boost creativity.
The team discovered that there are four main personality traits which promote creativity- however, openness played the biggest role.
Their results showed them that mums who are open-minded create a better creative climate for their kids, “Openness to experience is of particular importance, as it is associated with each dimension of climate supporting the child's creative potential.”
“Our findings show that openness to experience is the key positive predictor of mothers’ activities that shape the climate for creativity in her relationship with the child,” the researchers wrote.
They shared that mums who aren’t as open-minded are less likely to encourage creativity, “Highly conscientious mothers are not willing to encourage the child to question or break existing rules or oppose norms.”
As well as openness, the experts believe that traits such as agreeableness and emotional stability helped encourage children’s creative sides at home.
As a parent, you have the power to inspire and support your children. Being more open-minded, more honest and more accepting will help your children thrive.
