Parenting Styles and Family Relationship Quality and Their Associations with Personality Traits and Cultural Values in a Multi-Country Arab Sample

Abstract

We examined the role of personality traits and cultural values in parenting styles and family relationship quality in a multi-country Arab sample. The data analyzed in this study were drawn from the newly developed Arab Psychology Index (API) and included 2,571 individual parents (1,205 mothers and 1,366 fathers) from six countries in the Middle East and North Africa. A series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that, after controlling for macro-contextual and sociodemographic variables, authoritative parenting and family relationship quality were positively associated with agreeableness and conscientiousness. In contrast, neuroticism had a negative association with both, but was positively linked to authoritarian parenting. Notably, collectivistic cultural values emerged as the strongest predictor of authoritative parenting and family relationship quality, surpassing all facets of personality traits. Collectivistic values appear to remain a fundamental cornerstone of Arab societies, continuing to shape parenting practices and family relationships, even as modernization and socio-cultural changes introduce new dynamics in intergenerational relationships. Understanding these dynamics is important for developing parenting programs that can help families.

Keywords

authoritative parenting authoritarian parenting family relationship quality personality traits cultural values.

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