Common Parenting Styles

Authoritative:

• Providing a loving, supportive home environment
• Holding high expectations and standards for children’s behavior
• Explaining why some behaviors are acceptable and others are not
• Enforcing household rules consistently
• Including children in family decision making
• Gradually loosening restrictions as children become capable of greater responsibility and independence

• Happy
• Self-confident
• Curious
• Independent and self-reliant
• Capable of considerable self-control
• Likable, with effective social skills
• Respectful of others' needs
• Motivated and successful in school

Authoritarian:

• Conveying less emotional warmth than authoritative parents
• Holding high expectations and standards for children’s behavior
• Establishing rules of behavior without regard for children’s needs
• Expecting rules to be obeyed without question
• Allowing little give-and-take in parent–child discussions

• Unhappy
• Anxious
• Low in self-confidence
• Lacking initiative
• Dependent on others
• Lacking in social skills and prosocial behaviors
• Coercive in dealing with others
• Defiant

Permissive:

• Providing a loving, supportive home environment
• Holding few expectations or standards for children’s behavior
• Rarely punishing inappropriate behavior
• Allowing children to make many of their own decisions (e.g., about eating, bedtime)

•  Selfish
• Unmotivated
• Dependent on others
• Demanding of attention
• Disobedient
• Impulsive

Uninvolved:

• Providing little, if any, emotional support for children
• Holding few expectations or standards for children’s behavior
• Showing little interest in children’s lives
• Seeming to be overwhelmed by self-focused personal problems

• Disobedient
• Demanding
• Low in self-control
• Difficulty handling frustration
• Lacking long-term goals