Parental antipathy and neglect: Relations with Big Five personality traits, cross-context trait variability and authenticity

• Ratings of parental antipathy and neglect were gained retrospectively.
• Other-report and self-report data on Big Five traits were gained.
• Poor parenting relates negatively to adult E, A, C and O, and positively to N.
• Both other-report and self-report traits relate to parental antipathy and neglect.
• Parental antipathy, but not neglect, predicts lower authenticity in adults.

A sample of adults (N = 553) aged 18–56 completed self-report measures of recalled parental antipathy/neglect in childhood, Big Five personality traits (rated across three contexts: with parents, friends and work colleagues), and authenticity. Parents, friends and work colleagues of those self-report participants (N = 895) completed other-report Big Five trait measures. Parental neglect and antipathy related negatively to self-reported and other-reported Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience, and positively to Neuroticism, particularly when self-reported for the ‘with parents’ context and other-rated by parents. Results showed that antipathy (but not neglect) predicted lower self-report authenticity and higher cross-context trait variability. A theoretical interpretation of these findings, including the link between parental antipathy and adult authenticity, is offered.