by R. Renee Bembry

Created on: October 27, 2007   Last Updated: August 16, 2009

Developmental psychologists have been studying parental influence on child development, and social and instrumental competence for more than eighty five years; the most vigorous aspect of the studies has been conducted in the area of "Parenting Style". (Instrumental competence is the ability to maneuver about your surroundings in order to achieve your goals.)

AtHealth.com's "Parenting Style and Its Correlates" (PSIC) describes parenting as a "complex activity that includes many specific behaviors that work individually and together to influence child outcomes." PSIC also suggests that although individual aspects of parenting such as spanking a child or reading to a child have an influences on child development, individual aspects of child rearing should not be considered as playing major roles on their own accord.

PSIC places parenting styles in four categories as described below:

1. Indulgent otherwise known as Permissive or Nondirective.

2. Authoritarian as summarized below.

3. Authoritative otherwise known as Democratic.

4. Uninvolved parents are practically unresponsive and non-demanding

Primarily, the Authoritarian Style will be addressed here. However, since the Authoritarian and the Authoritative styles appear similar and in fact are similar, I must point out that the key differences in these two styles lie in how each type of parent controls their children. Both types of parents have high expectations of their children in regard to behavior and achievement. However, unlike authoritarian parents, authoritative parents allow free exchange of information with their children, tend to explain things to their children, and do not place psychological pressures on their children.

Whereas Uninvolved parenting lies at one extreme in the area of parenting style, Authoritarian parenting lies at the other. And as extremes go, whereas Uninvolved parent means almost exactly what it says, little to no parental involvement, Authoritarian parenting means almost total parental control of a child's physical, intellectual, and psychological life.

Authoritarian parents tend to form relationships with their children in which discipline is enacted without love or affection. Children are expected to "do" and scolded should they ask "why". Furthermore, Authoritarian parents will use any means necessary to make their children conform including spanking and humiliation. Consequences to this parenting style are aplenty and may lead to:

Children's Increased Inability to

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