Types of Parenting Styles by Psychologists & Their Examples: How a child grows up and behaves depends on parents. The way a child behaves, talks, and act can result from the environment they grew up in and how their parents have brought them up. The first few years of a child’s life isn’t just for building communication and language skills. It’s also crucial for building their personality. In this scenario, there are 4 types of parenting styles, each having different effects on how a child grows up to be.
Parenting style has a real effect on your child, influencing their environment. Meeting your child’s needs, making them feel loved, spending time with them, and nurturing them with activities can enhance your child’s emotional well-being, personality, temperament, ability to cope with stress, and reach greater potential.
If you’re struggling with how to raise your child successfully and lead them to be a better person while growing up, you need to be aware of the 4 types of parenting styles and choose the best parenting style out of them. Learn more about the 4 parenting styles psychology and the best parenting style for you.
What is a Parenting Style?
A parenting style means that you bring up your children. There are 4 types of parenting styles as per psychologists. These 4 parenting styles psychology are namely authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and neglectful parenting styles. These styles came into existence from the works of a developmental psychologist, Diana Baumrind, at the University of California at Berkeley. Even Martin and Maccoby had contributed to refining this idea in the 1980s.
Let’s learn more about the 4 types of parenting styles and how each style affects a child’s behaviour and personality in the future.
Types of Parenting Styles With Examples
The most important thing you should know is that your parenting style can greatly affect how your child feels about themselves. Hence, you should ensure that it’s supportive and focuses on your child’s healthy growth and development.
Each style has a unique approach to raising a child, and you can identify them through certain characteristics. Check below to understand each of the 4 types of parenting styles to decide which is the best parenting style for you.
1. Authoritative Parenting
Authoritative parents set rules and demands for the children, but they are also highly responsive and consider children’s opinions. They ensure listening to what a child is feeling while also clarifying that they are in charge as adults. Such parents focus on their children by investing their energy and time to prevent behavior issues in children.
In addition, this parenting style also includes using positive discipline strategies like a reward or praise system. It helps in promoting good behavior in a child. Children with parents having an authoritative parenting style can turn out to be self-disciplined and focus on thinking for themselves. It’s one of the best parenting styles for children.
Example
Authoritative parents are understanding and emotionally in tune with the child. They are responsive and supportive. For example, imagine your child getting upset, irritated, and angry when losing a game and breaking their controller. Instead of scolding and punishing them, an authoritative parent will support the child’s feelings and explain why what they did isn’t right, and there are other ways to manage anger.
2. Authoritarian Parenting
As the word authoritarian suggests, this parenting style involves imposing authority on children while not considering the child’s opinions. When parents adopt this parenting style, children have to follow whatever the parent says. In addition, authoritarian parents may even use punishment methods to discipline the child.
Rather than focusing on how a child grows, this style focuses on making the kid feel sorry for making mistakes. Children of authoritarian parents may develop low self-esteem problems since parents don’t value their opinion.
Example
An example of an authoritarian parent can be in phrases such as “You’ve to listen to what I say” or “because I said so.” Although these sentences can be true, a child’s mind won’t be able to understand the reasoning, and they will start believing that they have to adhere to rules without any question.
3. Permissive Parenting
In the permissive parenting style, parents give more privileges to their children and only step in when the child has a severe issue. Permissive parenting includes a friendly parenting role. Such parents listen to a child’s feelings and encourage them to discuss all their issues. However, such parents don’t consider strategies to prevent children from making poor choices or showing bad behavior.
Example
Permissive parenting examples can be the moments when parents say, “I never say no to my child,” or “I always let my child do what they want.” Such parents cannot set boundaries and allow their child to make their own decisions. For example, if a child wants to play games till late at night, even during school days, a permissive parent will allow it. It can lead the child to become tired in the morning, and they may even end up skipping school.
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4. Neglectful Parenting
As the name suggests, Neglectful parenting doesn’t focus much on a child’s activities or behavior. This type of parenting has only a few rules. In addition to that, such parents don’t even provide much attention, guidance, or nurturing to their children. In neglectful parenting or also known as uninvolved parenting, parents can be neglectful to their children either intentionally or unintentionally.
Such parents don’t have enough knowledge about child development. They can simply be overwhelmed with managing their households, paying bills, work, and other such problems. Children having neglectful parents may have self-esteem problems.
Example
An example of a neglectful parent can be when a parent comes home late from work and doesn’t focus on whether their child has eaten something or not. The parent doesn’t engage with their child or ask about what they did or how their day went. They aren’t interested in what the child is doing.
What Parenting Style is the Best for You?
Now that you are aware of the 4 types of parenting styles presented by psychologists, you should also know which is the best parenting style for you.
According to research, an authoritative parenting style leads to academic success, independence, and a healthy psychological orientation towards a child’s work. They develop a positive attitude towards life, beliefs, and achievements.
Compared to the permissive, authoritarian, and neglectful parenting style, the authoritative style provides more positive results in a child’s well-being. However, when it comes to the best parenting styles, there isn’t any “one size fits all.” You don’t need to adapt to a single style. Instead, you can use different parenting approaches based on the situation. If you are an authoritative parent, you can focus on becoming a bit permissive when your child is ill.
Similarly, if you are a permissive parent, you can become more strict in certain scenarios, specifically when your child’s safety or development is at risk.
Final Words
These were the 4 types of parenting styles, along with how you can decide the best parenting style for yourself. You should remember that you don’t need to fit in a single category all the time. You can change your approach based on your situation.
You need to be strict in some situations and friendly in others with a child. They need emotional support, and they aren’t mature enough to understand everything you say. You have to support them while also teaching them what is wrong and right. Sometimes, be permissive and let them do certain things they love. Meanwhile, also be strict if it’s good for their development.
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