A striking personality is often an important contributor to an individual’s success in all walks of life. Personality is essentially a collection of behaviours, traits, and attitudes that define a person. It is believed that a majority of personality development happens in one’s childhood and that’s how an individual’s characteristics are shaped. So, it becomes very important that your child invests in themself, their qualities, and growth.

The social development of a child is also important along with their personality as the way they behave with others and understand their concerns can shape their emotional quotient.

Factors Affecting Personality Development of Children

Personality development for kids depends on various internal factors such as heredity and hormone levels which could affect the physical and emotional characteristics of an individual. The factors that can be controlled though are external factors, so we are going to look at them in detail.

1. Parental Influence

A child’s personality development depends on how their parents behave with them, the allowances they give the child, the atmosphere that they create at home, and even the way they behave with others. Children often mimic their parents' mannerisms, so it is very critical that parents behave well with and around their kids and become good role models for them.

2. Home Environment

A home with a peaceful and loving environment is the backbone of a child’s mental health and stability. The child should feel relaxed and free to express themself at home. Over discipline and overprotection can make your child either rebellious or dependent. Therefore, to foster good personality development of your child, ensure that you create a friendly environment at home where the child feels adored and encouraged.

3. School Environment

Children spend most of their time in school, hence parents need to understand how the school environment is affecting their personality development. An ideal school must not burden the kids with a lengthy syllabus and curriculum, rather it should have a good mix of extracurricular activities like sports, dramatics, dance, hiking trips, and soft skills development.

Pay attention to the kind of friends your child has and do so without being too intrusive. You can also ask the teachers to help in grooming your child well.

4. Culture

The social behaviour and norms of the society that you and your child live in have a major effect on your child's knowledge, beliefs, thoughts, and habits. A child subconsciously absorbs the values of the culture they grow up in. For example, if a child grows up in a community that is very religious and devoted to praying; that is a habit the child might adopt as well. Or if a child belongs to a country where art and other intellectual things are pursued heavily, their interests will be influenced by that kind of culture.

5. Family Treatment

Some personality traits are based on the position of the kid in the family, but they can be modified if needed. For example, an only child is overprotected by the family, hence they might pick up some negative traits like selfishness. Also, they might not be able to mingle well in a group. So, it becomes vital to ensure that such children participate in various group games and activities and are taught how to share and care.

6. Mass Media and Social Media

It’s the 21st century – the era of entertainment platforms like YouTube, television, movies, Instagram, etc. where even kids are not isolated from watching celebrity and influencer stories. They try to imitate their favourite stars by following related news and social media accounts. While it is nice to acquire some good qualities through media, we need to be careful about not developing any bad traits. Therefore, as a parent, make sure that the media is influencing your child’s behaviour in a positive way only.

A child goes through various phases in life from toddlerhood to school age. Each phase comes with different challenges, experiences, and learnings. It is important to help your child make the most of these years to develop themself into a well-rounded individual.

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