Running head: AUTHORITATIVE PARENTING STYLE

Authoritative Parenting Style

Caitlin Canale
The University of Memphis

AUTHROTATIVE PARENTING STYLE

Parents play a major role in the way a child develops. Parents can have a positive or
negative effect towards their children based upon their parenting style. The parental style
preference ultimately depends on the parents choice. It is important to know and understand the
different parenting styles and the effects it may have on children. In 1967, Diana Baumrid
introduced three different parenting styles. It was not until 1983 when Maccoby and Martin
introduced a fourth parenting style. These parenting styles are based on a parents degree of
responsiveness and demandingness. The degree of responsiveness is how much a parent responds
to their childs needs. These parents are seen as a support system as they respond to the childs
physical and emotional needs. The degree of demandingness is how much a parent expects their
child to have a behavior they see appropriate along with having responsibility. Throughout this
paper the four different parenting styles will be examined by the parents and child characteristics
as well as supporting evidence as to why Authoritative parenting is seen as the best parenting
style.
The first parenting style to be examined is the Authoritative style. According to Timpano,
Carbonella, Keough, Abramowitz &Schmidt, authoritative parenting has been associated with
the most positive outcomes, including happiness, lower neuroticism, positive self-worth,
assertiveness, advanced moral reasoning, autonomy and a range of other advantageous effects
(2015). This type of parenting style is categorized as highly responsive and highly demanding,
but also provides the necessary support for the child to succeed in life. These parents have a
special relationship with their child, where everyone has a mutual respect for one another. When
a child has done wrong these parents take into account the childs intentions when deciding upon
discipline. The children of Authoritative parents are less likely to be effected by psychological

AUTHROTATIVE PARENTING STYLE

and behavioral dysfunctions. These children have very good verbal skills because they have an
open relationship with their parents. This allows them to express themselves without fear and
excel in school. An example of this relationship would be the Authoritative parents giving their
twelve year old child a curfew. The child abides by this curfew by coming home at the set time
and the parents have trust in the child to come home at the set time. As mentioned earlier
children of Authoritative parents have the best possible outcome when it comes to succeeding in
life.
The next parenting style to be examined is the Authoritarian style. This type of parenting
style is considered to have low responsiveness and high demandingness. Authoritarian parents
often set very high expectations on the child while not providing the necessary support towards
the child achieving those expectations. These parents are also very egocentric in their actions and
often the focus is on themselves rather than the child. An example of this would be a parent
saying something along the lines as youre not allowed to talk to me like that. When a child
has done wrong the parents jump to the conclusion rather than looking over the childs intention
and rely on corporal punishment as their discipline. These children often grow up to have poorer
verbal skills than others because of the parents egocentric ways. They often have low self
esteem and anxiety issues as well as perform negatively in the academic setting. An example of
this relationship would be the Authoritarian parent having harsh outcomes towards punishment
that the child feels they cannot participate like other children in the school setting in fear they
will get into more trouble. As pointed out in the beginning this is not always a negative
relationship there are some positive sides of having such a relationship. There are children who
sometimes need harsh strict rules when growing up in an underprivileged setting. These rules
may help them make better choices in life such as to not join a gang.

AUTHROTATIVE PARENTING STYLE

Aside from Authoritative and Authoritarian parenting styles the focus of the child
changes greatly with the Permissive parenting style. This type of parenting style is often referred
to as the indulgent style; parents are highly responsive and low on demandingness. Winsor,
Murrell & Magun-Jackson (2015) state that the permissive parent is highly involved with the
child, but places few controls and demands on her or him (p.11). In other words these parents
often act like a friend towards the child rather than a parent. These parents are often involved in
the childs life but they place very few demands on the child. An example of this would be in
divorce situations. The parent may not always be present due to custody arrangements, but they
are still actively involved in their life. These children often have difficulties with adjusting in a
school setting or towards their peers. These children have a higher risk of becoming dependents
on substances and trouble with the law. An example of this type of relationship would be the
Permissive parents are both separated and living in different houses. The child has every other
week with his mother and his father. The father may have another romantically relationship
going on his life that he does not give enough of his time towards his child. The child may act
out in school in desperate need of attention that he is no longer getting from his father.
The final parenting style to be examined is the Neglectful style. This type of parenting
style is often referred as the uninvolved style; parents present both low responsiveness and low
demandingness. These parents offer no direction towards the child by not physically being there
for them. An example of this would be a child living with another family member because he
absence of their parents. These children receive no guidance from their parents an often suffer in
return because of it. These children act out more and misbehave in school in hopes to get
someones attention. These children are at risk for higher levels of psychological and
dysfunctional behaviors. An example of this type of relationship would be the Neglectful parents

AUTHROTATIVE PARENTING STYLE

are substance abusers who are often not around to take care of their child. The child wants to act
out as much as they can for someone to notice that theyre alone and want out of this
environment.
In conclusion these parenting styles have positive and negative effect on children, some
more than others. There is not exactly a correct form of parenting style however; the studies have
made it clear that with the Authoritative parenting style children are more likely to succeed. As
researched by Piko and Balazs (2012) the lack of emotional warmth and less open
communication may lead to developing problem behaviors, supports the argument why
authoritative parenting is the optimum parenting style. These children who are not offered both
responsive and demanding parents are more prone to behavioral issues. In the end it is important
to keep a balance with both the parents and the child relationship, so both parties have the best
possible outcome in life.

AUTHROTATIVE PARENTING STYLE

References
Windsor, D. L, Murrell, V. S, & Magun-Jackson, S. (2015). Lifespan development: An
educational psychology perspective. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions
Timpano, K. R., Carbonella, J. Y., Keough, M. E., Abramowitz, J., & Schmidt, N. B. (2015).
Anxiety sensitivity: an examination of the relationship with authoritarian, authoritative,
and permissive parental styles. Journal Of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 29(2), 95-105 11p.
doi:10.1891/0889-8391.29.2.95
Piko, B., & Balzs, M. (2012). Control or involvement? relationship between authoritative
parenting style and adolescent depressive symptomatology. European Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry, 21(3), 149-155 7p. doi:10.1007/s00787-012-0246-0