A differentiated conceptualization of the concept of goodness-of-fit is presented, with a focus on how parents can actively create a goodness-of-fit and how in turn children can perceive a fit between what their own parents do and their own personality characteristics and functioning. On the basis of research examining interactions between parenting and children's personality, it is often concluded that parenting has to be attuned to the child's personality in order to create a good fit between the environment and the child's characteristics, as suggested in the goodness-of-fit model (Thomas, Chess, & Birch, 1968). In several studies that investigated interactions between parenting and child characteristics, it is argued that every interaction obtained represents evidence for the goodness-of-fit model (e.g. Van Leeuwen, Mervielde, Braet, and Bosmans, 2004). From this perspective goodness-of-fit is conceptualized as the objective degree of match between a certain parenting style and certain personality features in the child. Herein we propose a different view on the concept of goodness-of-fit, thereby focusing on the active role played by parents in creating a "good fit". Specifically, we address the question what parents can do to attune their parenting behavior to the child. We also argue that the ultimate criterion to evaluate whether parents manage to create a goodness-of-fit situation is the extent to which the child perceives the parent as being attuned to the child's personality. Because the perspective of the child is important, we focused on the child's subjective perception of a fit between his/her personality and the parent's behavior. On the basis of Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), we hypothesized that autonomy-supportive parenting would lead to positive developmental outcomes through the perception of a fit between the personality of the child and the parenting practices. Autonomy-supportive socialization figures take the child's frame of reference, provide choice whenever possible, encourage initiative and personal exploration, and provide a meaningful rationale when choice is constrained. Given that autonomy-supportive parenting entails an empathic stance towards the child's perspective, it can be argued that autonomy-supportive parents are more likely to create a fit to the child's personality (Assor, Kanat-Maymon, Keren-Pariente, & Katz, in press). In a study with 198 Belgian adolescents (M age = 14.90 years, SD = 0.88, range 13-17, 51% female) it was investigated whether the association between autonomy-supportive parenting and several outcomes could be partially accounted for by adolescents' subjective perceptions of goodness-of-fit. In order to measure this perceived fit, six items were formulated. Three of them refer to the extent to which the adolescent has the feeling that his mother knows his/her personality (e.g. 'I feel that my mother really knows and understands my personality'). The other three items refer to the extent to which the adolescent has the feeling that his mother takes into account the personality in here parenting practices (e.g. 'My mother let me do things that really do not fit my personality', reverse scored). Autonomy-supportive parenting was positively related to perceived fit, which was in turn associated with several developmental outcomes. The indirect effect was significant. Overall, the findings suggest that the concept of goodness-of-fit in terms of a subjective sense of fit is an important additional conceptualization next to goodness-of-fit in terms of an objective match between certain parental practices and certain child personality features. -- Met vriendelijke groeten Elien Mabbe Doctoraatsbursaal Vakgroep Ontwikkelings-, Persoonlijkheids-, en Sociale Psychologie Universiteit Gent, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B-9000 Gent (bureau 150.058)