PJI-Mini Development Advice
PJI-Mini Development Guide
This Guide is designed to help parents interpret their own ratings on the PJI-M scenarios and consider development points. The PJI-M aims to support reflection on how family decisions are made, how power is used, and how children are involved in everyday family life.
How to Use This Guide
After completing PJI-M and using the self-scoring key, look at how closely your ratings matched the 'best bet' answers. Your differences are not mistakes. They are starting points for reflection.
Ask yourself:
• What drew me towards certain options?
• What made other options feel uncomfortable or inappropriate?
• Do my choices reflect habit, values, or the needs of the situation?
Understanding the Four Decision-Making Styles
Directive decision making involves the parent taking control and making the decision themselves. This style is developmentally appropriate when safety is at risk, time is short, or children do not yet have the ability or information needed to decide. If you rated Directive highly in many situations, this may reflect strengths in decisiveness and boundary setting. Developmentally, it is worth checking whether control is being used consciously and selectively, rather than by default.
Consultative decision making involves listening carefully to children’s views before the parent makes the final decision. It is particularly useful when feelings, fairness, or ongoing relationships are involved. If your ratings often favour Consultative choices, this suggests an ability to balance authority with empathy. Developmentally, consider whether there are times when children could be given more shared ownership of decisions.
Participative decision making involves parents and children working together to reach a joint decision. Power is more evenly shared, and the process supports learning, responsibility, and autonomy. If you tend to rate Participative options highly, this often reflects a strong developmental orientation. It is helpful to consider whether participation is being used where children are genuinely ready, and not in situations where adult responsibility should remain clearer.
Delegative decision making involves giving children responsibility to decide for themselves. This style supports independence and trust when children have demonstrated readiness and when risks are low. If you rated Delegative options highly, this may indicate confidence in your children’s abilities. Developmentally, it is worth checking that delegation is being offered with appropriate boundaries and safeguards.
Interpreting Differences Between Your Scores and the Key
Where your ratings differ from the 'best bet' pattern, this does not mean you are wrong. Instead, ask what those differences reveal about your assumptions:
• Do you tend to favour control or inclusion?
• Are there situations where you are reluctant to let go of responsibility?
• Are there situations where you may be equalising power too quickly?
The PJI is concerned with judgement - choosing the most fitting style for the situation - not preference alone.
Developmental Questions for Reflection
Use these questions to deepen learning:
• Which scenario felt most uncomfortable to rate, and why?
• Where did my strongest disagreements with the scoring key occur?
• How might my child experience my usual way of deciding?
• What is one situation where I could consciously try a different style?
Small, deliberate experiments with decision-making styles are often the most effective way to develop judgement.
A Final Reassurance
Good parenting judgement is flexible, thoughtful, and responsive. The aim is not to apply one style consistently, but to choose wisely in context. This Guide is intended to support awareness, confidence, and growth.
Important Note
This guide is provided for learning and reflection only. It does not offer advice, diagnosis, or direction on what should be done in specific family situations. The PJI and PJI-Mini are not assessments of parenting ability, risk, or safeguarding. The scoring key is a developmental reference point, with a set of 'best bet' answers. This resource is provided without consultancy or individual support. Responsibility for interpretation and use rests entirely with the reader.
Where concerns about safety, welfare, or significant difficulty exist, appropriate professional or statutory guidance must always take priority.