Brummelman Eddie, Thomaes Sander, Nelemans Stefanie A, Orobio de Castro Bram, Bushman Brad J
Department of Psychology, Utrecht University.
Center for Research on Self and Identity, School of Psychology, University of Southampton.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2015 Apr;108(4):665-79. doi: 10.1037/pspp0000012. Epub 2014 Nov 3.
Although it is natural for parents to value their children, some parents "overvalue" them, believing that their own children are more special and more entitled than other children are. This research introduces this concept of parental overvaluation. We developed a concise self-report scale to measure individual differences in parental overvaluation, the Parental Overvaluation Scale (POS; Study 1). The POS has high test-retest stability over 6, 12, and 18 months (Study 2). As demonstrated in a representative sample of Dutch parents (Study 3) and a diverse sample of American parents (Study 4), the POS has an internally consistent single-factor structure; strong measurement invariance across sexes; as well as good convergent, discriminant, and criterion validity. Overvaluation is especially high in narcissistic parents (Studies 3, 4, 6). When parents overvalue their child, they overclaim their child's knowledge (Study 4), perceive their child as more gifted than actual IQ scores justify (Study 5), want their child to stand out from others, and frequently praise their child in real-life settings (Study 6). By contrast, overvaluation is not consistently related to parents' basic parenting dimensions (i.e., warmth and control) or Big Five personality traits (Studies 3, 4, 6). Importantly, overvalued children are not more intelligent or better performing than other children (Studies 5-6). These findings support the validity of the POS and show that parental overvaluation has important and unique implications for parents' beliefs and practices. Research on overvaluation might shed light on the determinants of parenting practices and the socialization of children's self-views, including narcissism.
尽管父母重视自己的孩子是很自然的事，但有些父母“过度重视”他们，认为自己的孩子比其他孩子更特别、更有特权。本研究引入了父母过度重视这一概念。我们开发了一个简洁的自我报告量表来测量父母过度重视方面的个体差异，即父母过度重视量表（POS；研究1）。POS在6个月、12个月和18个月的时间跨度内具有较高的重测稳定性（研究2）。正如在荷兰父母的代表性样本（研究3）和美国父母的多样化样本（研究4）中所表明的那样，POS具有内部一致的单因素结构；在性别上具有很强的测量不变性；以及良好的聚合效度、区分效度和效标效度。自恋的父母过度重视程度尤其高（研究3、4、6）。当父母过度重视他们的孩子时，他们会夸大孩子的知识（研究4），认为自己的孩子比实际智商分数所表明得更有天赋（研究5），希望自己的孩子脱颖而出，并在现实生活中频繁表扬他们的孩子（研究6）。相比之下，过度重视与父母的基本养育维度（即温暖和控制）或大五人格特质没有始终如一的关联（研究3、4、6）。重要的是，被过度重视的孩子并不比其他孩子更聪明或表现更好（研究5 - 6）。这些发现支持了POS的效度，并表明父母过度重视对父母的信念和行为具有重要且独特的影响。关于过度重视的研究可能会揭示养育行为的决定因素以及儿童自我观念的社会化，包括自恋。
