Are implicit personality theories associated with parental reactions to child transgressions?

Implicit personality theories (IPTs) represent the beliefs people hold about the extent to which personality is malleable (i.e., incremental beliefs) versus fixed (i.e., entity beliefs). IPTs influence how individuals process, understand, and respond during social interactions. The research described herein examined (a) whether parents who view personality as fixed (i.e., high-entity belief parents) are more likely (relative to low-entity belief parents) to respond to vignettes describing child transgressions with negative affect, hostile attributions, and harsh parenting tactics; and (b) whether the IPT beliefs of high-entity belief parents can be altered through a brief intervention. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1, 187 parents (58.3% mothers) reported IPT beliefs and reactions to vignettes describing child transgressions. As expected, high-entity belief parents (compared to low-entity belief parents) were more likely to: 1) attribute cause for transgressions to children's personalities, 2) ascribe negative traits, 3) make hostile attributions, 4) and select harsh parenting strategies. Building on these results, Study 2 demonstrated that a modified IPT intervention significantly reduced entity beliefs in a sample of high-entity belief parents (n = 63; 71.4% mothers). Collectively, findings suggest that IPTs may serve as a novel target for interventions designed to reduce harsh parenting practices.