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The Glass Is Half Empty
Does Being Around Negativity Affect a Toddler?
By Keath Castelloe Low
"Children who are exposed to negative emotion in the family tend to display more negative emotion themselves, and negative emotionality tends to be related, in general, to low social competence," says Dr. Nancy Eisenberg, Regents' Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University and author of several books in the field of child development, including Handbook of Child Psychology: Social, Emotional and Personality Development (Wiley, 2006).
Exposing children to some negative emotion, especially if it is not hostile emotion directed at the child, may help children learn about others feelings, Dr. Eisenberg says. "Moreover, although there are probably a number of ways in which negative parents foster negativity in their children (e.g. modeling, inducing a pessimistic or negative perspective in the child, etc.), part of the correspondence in negativity between parents and children is likely due to the hereditary bases of temperament/personality, which is passed from parent to child," she says.
"Children learn through observation and imitation," says Dr. Rosalind Charlesworth, Professor Emeritus at Weber State University and author of several reference books, including Understanding Child Development
