• Parental behavior varies along at least two dimensions

– Responsiveness/Acceptance

– Control (“Demandingness”)

Authoritarian

• Low acceptance/responsiveness

• High control

• Power-assertive discipline

• Ex: “Do it because I say so”• More likely to use physical punishment

Authoritative

• High acceptance/responsiveness

• Moderate control– Set clear standards and consistently enforce

rules– Responsive to children’s needs and point of

view

• Discipline based on reasoning/explanation– “It’s not ok to hit people because it hurts

them.”

Permissive

• High acceptance/responsiveness

• Low control– Make few demands for mature behavior

Neglecting/Disengaged

• Low acceptance/responsiveness

• Low control

Authoritarian

Childhood:

• Anxious

• Unhappy

• Dependent/Easily Frustrated (esp. girls)

• Hostile/Aggressive (esp. boys)

Authoritarian

Adolescence:

• Poorer social skills and lower academic achievement than children of authoritative parents

• Better school performance and less problem behavior (e.g., drug use, truancy) than children of permissive or neglecting parents

Authoritative

Childhood:

– High self-esteem

– High self-control

– Generally positive mood

Authoritative

Adolescence:

– Good social skills

– High academic achievement

– Low in problem behaviors (e.g., drug use, truancy)

Permissive

Childhood:

• Low self-control

• Overly demanding and dependent on adults

Permissive

Adolescence:

– Low academic achievement

– More problem behaviors (e.g., truancy; drug use)

Neglecting/Disengaged

• Childhood:

– Low self-control

– Low self-esteem

– Disturbed attachment relationships (disorganized)

Neglecting/Disengaged

• Adolescence:

– Low academic achievement

– Poor social skills

– Many problem behaviors• Truancy, drug use, delinquency, sexual

promiscuity, depression

• Parenting styles (and their “effects”) may not generalize to all ethnic/cultural groups

Rudy & Grusec (2006)

• Examined correlates (parental emotion and cognition) of authoritarian parenting in individualist and collectivist cultural groups

• Examined relations between children’s self-esteem and – Authoritarian parenting– Parental emotion and cognition

Hypotheses (Within-Groups):

• Authoritarianism and negative maternal emotion and cognition would be related only in the individualist group

• Authoritarianism would be more strongly negatively associated with children’s self-esteem in the individualist group

• Maternal emotion and cognition would be related to children’s self-esteem in individualist and collectivist groups

Method

• Mothers and their 7- to 12-year-old children living in Toronto (33 dyads in the collectivist group, 32 in the individualist group)

– Mothers completed questionnaire measures assessing

• Parental warmth toward the child• General negative affect toward the child• Positive view of the child• Negative cognitions: discipline situation• Anger: discipline situation• Authoritarianism• Collectivism

– Children completed a measure of self-esteem

Results

• H4: Within the individualist group only, authoritarianism was associated with maternal emotion and cognition (Table 2, p. 74)

• H5: Maternal authoritarianism was not associated with children’s self-esteem in either group

• H6: Maternal emotion and cognition were associated with children’s self-esteem in both groups (Table 3, p. 75)

• Overall, findings suggest that authoritarianism may have different meanings in different cultural groups