Rational parents are the least common and, subsequently, the most mysterious. There are few stereotypes of Rational parents, except the absent-minded professor or scientist. Rationals prize intelligent thought in their offspring. When their children begin to debate, they love to debate back and find out how far the child has thought things through.

Rationals provide a home environment which encourages learning, debate, experimentation, and independent thinking. The family may have few traditions and rituals, but they will create their own memories by testing the limits of certain ideas. Rationals tend to engage in a lot of verbal humor. They like to play with words to mean several things at the same time, and they encourage their children to reciprocate. A person fortunate enough to brought up in a mature Rational's home generally has had their ideas refined and honed, is able to work independently on large projects which interest them, and knows how to think logically.

Some of the potential problems for Rational parents include excessive autonomy and a failure to connect sufficiently at the emotional level. Rationals don't like anyone to tell them what to do, and they don't want to have to tell their children what to do if they don't have to. They may not recognize when a child needs more structure or they may have difficulty in consistently carrying out that structure. Since Rationals tend to express few unpleasant emotions, they are likely to want their children to be the same. But with certain types, the more you try to push them to be calm, the more excitable they become.

Here are some tips on how to communicate effectively with your Rational parent. Whenever possible, seek out their information and opinions in their areas of expertise, and act on it. This shows that you respect what matters to them. Probably they have some beliefs which you see as being dead wrong. Remember that they have been around a lot longer than you have and probably have good reasons for those beliefs. Find out what those reasons are before trying to debate them.

Whatever your issue is, approach it with your parent as a problem which can be logically solved. Avoid crying, excessive anger, and any other emotional outbursts. Rational parents want you to be in control of yourself and your emotions. Discuss why what you are wanting is logical. Use your parent's beliefs to show what the problem is and then ask them for a solution. They may come up with an idea you hadn't thought of. If they don't come up with a solution which satisfies you, now you have an idea of how to argue the next time you bring up the topic.