There is great diversification in every family’s upbringing. The way your child behaves, acts, and functions depend mainly on the kind of parenting they are being brought up with, which means that your parenting style not only impacts the behavior but also the weight, height, and immunity of your child!
Have a look at these four types:
- Authoritarian
- Authoritative
- Permissive
- Uninvolved
Four types of Parenting and their effects on your Child’s Growth
The researchers have identified four parenting styles that take different approaches to raising a child and can be identified by the number of characteristics shown by each parenting style.
The modern-day parenting styles used by psychology today are identified after 100 tests conducted on preschool children in the 1960s by Diana Baumrind. Later in the 1980s Maccoby and Martin contributed to refining the model.
The psychologists identified important dimensions of parenting using naturalistic observation, parental interviews, and other research methods.
These dimensions include disciplinary strategies, warmth, nurturing, communication styles, and expectations of maturity and control. Based on these, Baumrind identified that the majority of parents display one of three different parenting styles.
Later research contributions by Maccoby and Martin added a fourth parenting style. Each of these parenting styles has different effects on children’s behavior and holistic growth.
1. Authoritarian Parenting (or the Disciplinarian)
Authoritarian parents often tend to make strict rules for their children. The children are supposed to perform well in all sorts of academics and other areas of life. Parents do not have a specific explanation for the foundations and set rules. In literal meaning, it simply means, “What I said I mean it?”.
These parents have high expectations from their kids, but they are not very responsive to their children. Such parenting is often considered as parenting with “obedience and strictness” where children are not allowed to make mistakes.
Children growing up in such an environment become obedient, but their obedience comes with a price. They end up becoming aggressive. Since authoritarian parents are often strict, children tend to become liars to avoid punishments.
2. Authoritative Parenting
“You tried and failed, it’s okay. Cheer up and try again!” Does it sound more like, “Oh! Do I behave like this?”
Authoritative Parenting does come with certain obligations and strictness, but it is more democratic. Parents in this parenting style are more open to children’s questions and are willing to listen. They do set some rules but if a child fails, they are more open to providing support, warmth, and feedback.
Such parenting style contributes to building a well-balanced child’s personality. Parents nurturing their kids in this way want them to be more responsible socially and self-regulated cooperatives.
Children growing up in authoritative parenting tend to be happy and become good decision-makers while evaluating safety risks on their own.
3. Permissive Parenting
“The world’s a stage and we are the characters. Learn from the experiences and not just books.” Do any of these lines sound familiar to you?
- You are very reluctant in setting boundaries on your child’s experiences?
- You let them play and learn rather than punish and learn.
If this sound familiar, then you are a permissive parent. A permissive parent is often a lenient parent. They do not force anything on their child, instead, help them learn through varied experiences. They act more like a friend than a parent.
Children growing up with permissive parents become good observers and learners of course. Though permissive parenting brings out an attitude of being the most chill-out parent, it does contribute to many health issues. As they don’t control their children, they might develop health issues such as obesity, and dental problems because such parents at times do not indulge in strict behavior.
4. Uninvolved Parenting
Uninvolved parenting is often characterized by meeting a child’s requirements, little or no communication, and low unresponsiveness.
Such parents tend to fulfill their child’s basic requirements such as food, shelter, and other things as per their growth, but they are highly unresponsive to the emotional support a child needs. Uninvolved parenting offers little or no help in guidance, upbringing, rules, childcare, and development.
Children growing up with unresponsive parents tend to feel left out. They are average or poor academically and often end up being low on the happiness index.
Different parents exhibit different parenting styles. It also depends on the culture, demographics, and society we live in. But good parenting is a blend of all the qualities and support a child needs while growing up because that’s what’s going to help him grow into an individual with a strong personality.
If you feel the need to change your parenting style, persistence and dedication are the keys. After all, the future is in your hands, how you mold it will define the rest.
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Happy Parenting! ❤️