An investigation of maternal personality, parenting styles, and subjective well-being

The goal of the present study was to explore how parental BIS/BAS relates to parenting styles, and to investigate if subjective well-being (SWB) moderates these associations. Mothers (n = 95) were asked to complete measures of personality, parenting styles, and life satisfaction (SWB). Results revealed that mothers who reported high BAS were significantly more likely to report being nurturing and were either more likely to be authoritative (high nurture and high control) or neglectful (low nurture and low control). Subsequent analyses revealed that mothers high in both BAS and SWB were significantly more likely to be authoritative, whereas mothers high in BAS and low in SWB were significantly more likely to be neglectful. Results suggest the value of considering personality in parenting research.