Sam bursts through the door after school, throws his book bag on the ground, and heads toward his room. Mom is in the kitchen making a cup of tea when she hears Sam get home. She hollers, “Hey kid….how was school? What is your plan for tonight?” Sam says, “I don’t know” while heading up the stairs. Clearly Sam was upset about something. Mom wonders…what should I do? Do I try to talk to him, wait for him to come to me, or just let it go for now. As she stirs the honey in her tea, her thoughts drift to how her day had gone. She had actually had a pretty rough day herself. In fact, things at work had been going down hill for about a month. She feels emotionally exhausted, but knows that she needs to reach out to her son.
Mom begins to walk upstairs. How many different ways could this conversation go and why? Both are coming to the conversation with their own personality, thoughts, feelings, and experiences. For years, psychologists have tried to understand what contributes to effective parenting and strong parent-child relationships. And for years, researchers have said that this is cultivated by things like knowing what’s going on in your teens life: with whom are they spending time, what are they doing, where are they going, when will they be home, and how they’re doing. Another component is finding the right balance of being responsiveness to them and having a structured and predictable environment. This sounds easy enough, right? The Goodness of Fit Model suggests that the teen’s temperament, the parent’s temperament, and the demands and expectations of the environment are important contributors to how easy it really is.
The Goodness of Fit Model Model suggests that a teen’s development is not based on a specific personality trait, but rather on the the way in which their temperament, other people’s temperament, and their environment interact. A person’s temperament is their natural style of interacting with people, places and things, whereas the environment is inclusive of all the different contexts in which people interact with one another. These contexts include things like family, school, work, and peer groups. A good fit is established by finding, or creating, a match in these areas: 1) the parent and the child’s temperament, (2) the parent and his/her environment, and (3) the teen and his/her environment. When this happens, parent-teen relationships are healthier and teens are happier with themselves and the world around them. Teens have a higher self-esteem when they feel like they can successfully navigate their relationships and activities. As you would expect, a poor match can have the opposite impact.
You have more options for how you respond to situations when you enter into them with an understanding of both you and your teen’s perspective. Giving up being right doesn’t mean you have to be wrong. It may be that you and your teen simply approach things differently. When you are present to who your teen is and why they react the way they do, you can avoid some of the recurring battles in your household. Doing this goes a long way in building trust between you and your teen, while making parenting more enjoyable!
The Goodness of Fit Model looks at two component: The behavior fit and the emotional fit. The behavioral fit refers to the fit between the person and the environment, while the emotional fit refers to the fit between individuals. Using the example above, let’s look at behavioral fit. Maybe Sam likes to keep to himself, but he shares a bedroom with his teenage brother. This can leave Sam frustrated when he wants space and his room is occupied by his brother. When you think about emotional fit, consider whether your teen has a compatible or incompatible temperament in relation to some the people in his/her life….including yourself! Looking at our example again, maybe the mom is really introverted and is internally processing her bad day at work, while Sam wants to talk about what he is feeling. It is normal for it to be more challenging for you to understand a teen who has a very different temperament than you. You may even find yourself having less patience to deal with certain things because of your teen’s temperament.
Whether your temperament clashes or is compatible with your teen, you can have a big impact on the interactions you have with one another, and your level of satisfaction! Start by recognizing the similarities and differences, and consider when you can make adjustments in your parenting to better meet the needs of your teen. You can also help your teen learn how to interact with people who approach situations in different ways than themselves. Below are some additional strategies for understanding and managing “fit”:
- Have discussions that acknowledge, but do not judge the other person’s way of interacting in the world. This will increase trust and understanding in your relationship.
- Approach your teen with empathy and work through differences in a way that acknowledges both reactions. Giving up being right, doesn’t mean you have to be wrong.
- Teach teens to recognize the “other” person’s perspective. This is also important because it is during this time that teens tend to be heavily focused on themselves.
- Help your teen recognize and engage in environments that fit their personal temperament.
- Anticipate what your teen may need in order to handle a person or an environment that is not a good fit. For example, prepare a shy teen for overcrowded events. Teens do better when they know what to expect.
- Have realistic expectations of teens. Try to avoid putting them in situations that are counter to their temperament. This can make them feel bad about themselves and can ultimately decrease their self-esteem.
- Acknowledge teens who have a challenging temperament. By doing this, you can recognize that teen behavior is not always a result of “bad” parenting. You alone are not fully responsible for the way your teen is or is not.
- Engage your teen in activities that match their temperament. It can be helpful to put active teens in sports, emotionally expressive teens in music, funny teens in drama, and academic teens in math or chess club.
- Find chores that match their temperament. Consider having active teens mow the lawn, less active kids fold the laundry, and emotionally expressive teens walk the dogs.
When teens learn to put themselves in situations that “fit” their temperament, they are able to feel successful in their interactions with others and the world around them!
Happy Parenting,
Shelly D Mahon, Ph.D. 