Conclusions on Authoritarian & Authoritative Parenting Styles

Authoritarian and Permissive

• Authoritarian parenting and permissive parenting describe two extremes of the spectrum of the parenting styles of involved parents (as opposed to neglectful parenting, in which parents are not engaged in their children's lives). Permissive parents are indulgent of their children's wants and lay down little discipline or structure by which a child needs to abide.The style is also sometimes called "democratic" parenting because of the amount of input permissive parents allow children to have in their own upbringing. On the opposite end of the spectrum, authoritarian parents lay down a very structured environment in which children have no choice but to obey or face punishment.

Long-Term Effects

• Children of permissive parents, accustomed to getting their own way, can adopt the habit of rebelling against individuals who get in the way of their particular wishes or desires. This individual could be the parent, a friend, or a superior in work environments. They can also have difficulty regulating their own emotions in socially appropriate ways. Children of authoritarian parents generally do not have the same anti-social issues of rebelling against authority figures who countermand their wishes and have a much easier time integrating themselves into social structures with appropriate behaviors. However, they can have persistent issues with low self-esteem, which can lead to poor reactions to frustration.

Authoritative

• Because neither the authoritarian nor the permissive parenting style consistently produces well-balanced adults, psychologists usually recommend the hybrid approach of "authoritative" parenting. This median approach includes enough discipline to teach children to understand how to follow societal rules and integrate themselves into social structures constructively, which can prevent the anti-social behaviors sometimes found in the children of permissive parenting styles. However, it also grants the child enough recognition to not undercut his self-esteem later in life, as is the case at times with children of authoritarian parenting styles.

Conclusions

• Authoritative parenting is a broad term that effectively refers to a mix of authoritarian and permissive parenting-style characteristics. Because all children are different, the blend of authoritarian discipline and permissive leniency that will have the optimal effect on a child's development will depend on the child herself. If a child is beginning to act out and becoming excessively rebellious, then parents need to increase the amount of discipline to which the child is subject. But if a child is reacting well to the amount of discipline she is currently receiving, then parents should not needlessly add further discipline and could consider granting her additional leniency.