Baumrind's Parenting Styles

Diana Baumrind

• Diana Baumrind was a developmental child psychologist, looked at parenting approach and dynamics, not just individual actions
• Went from “do’s and don’ts” to overarching effects of parental approach
• Influenced and responded to Milgram’s study on authority and corporal punishment
• One of first to include fathers
• Examined dimensions that had recurred in research on parenting and combined them to describe different parenting styles.
  • Do parents show lots of affection, or remain aloof?
  • Do they expect blind obedience, or encourage children to ask questions?
  • Do they enforce limits, or let kids do as they please?
• Looked at 2 main dimensions: acceptance/responsiveness (warmth); demandingness/control (expectations)
• Derived 3 main parenting styles, with a fourth added later on by researchers.

4 Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian (low warmth & high control): parent is typically marked by emphasis on obedience to parental authority.
• Authoritative (high warmth & high control): parent expresses warmth and connection while also enforcing limits for the child and setting healthy boundaries.
• Permissive (high warmth & low control): marked by high warmth but few rules or demands.
• Dismissive/Neglectful (low both in warmth & control): this style was added later by researchers; children left to their own devices; parents may appear indifferent.

Authoritative Parenting as the Gold Standard

• When preschool children experience authoritative parenting, they are more likely to become highly competent and well-adjusted adolescents
• More socially skilled and exhibit fewer internalizing behaviors such as anxiety and fewer externalizing behaviors such as aggression, impulsivity.
• They also have a lower likelihood of using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco or being involved with a gang.

Cultural Variations in Parenting Styles

• Many studies have examined parenting styles using Baumrind’s work across varying countries and cultural contexts.

• Recent research has found similar results in families from other cultures and ethnic backgrounds in regard to effects of authoritative parenting.

  • In both the original and the current longitudinal research, children raised

  with an authoritative style have been found to be more self-reliant, self-
  controlled, explorative, and content.

• Other research suggests differences across cultural, racial, and ethnic minorities, and questions the impact of authoritarian style across contexts

  • Authoritarian parenting is more widespread in non-Western cultures, and among lower socioeconomic status (SES) and ethnic/racial minority parents in the United States
  • Some aspects of the authoritarian style can have positive, protective factors, for psychosocial development and for academic achievement, in particular
  • Effects of authoritarian style in Middle Eastern parents varied considerably based on the individual dimensions assessed; low levels of harsh and punitive parenting vs. high parental involvement and behavioral control

• Permissive parenting has at times shown greater emotional health than even authoritative styles, especially in certain European region

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