Parenting Styles: Authoritarian, Permissive, and Authoritative

This essay provides a comparative analysis of three distinct parenting styles: authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative. It begins by defining each style, highlighting the key characteristics of each approach, such as the level of demand, responsiveness, and the degree of freedom afforded to children. The essay then contrasts these styles, pointing out the differences in parental behavior, discipline methods, and the overall parent-child relationship. Furthermore, the essay delves into the consequences of each parenting style, drawing on research to illustrate how each approach can impact a child's self-esteem, behavior, and social skills. It examines the potential negative outcomes associated with authoritarian and permissive parenting, while also highlighting the benefits of authoritative parenting. The essay concludes by applying these concepts to a hypothetical scenario involving triplets raised with different parenting styles, predicting the likely outcomes for each child based on the parenting they received.

Running head: PARENTING STYLE
Parenting style
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

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Task 3: Compare and contrast of three parenting styles
Comparison between three styles of parenting:
Parenting style is a crucial factor that determines the overall health of a child and their
self-esteem needs. In case of the scenario of identical triplets adopted at birth, each of the parents
used different styles of parenting. These styles included authoritarian approach, permissive
approach and authoritative approach to parenting. Authoritarian parenting style is a form of
parenting characterized by high demands. Such parents allow no freedom to their child and give
harsh punishment in response to any misbehavior or bad conduct. For example, if one of the
triplet is crying, the parent screams at the child instead of employing other measures to stop
crying (Smetana, 2017). Thus, in brief, it can be said that authoritarian parents do not offer
warmth and encouragement to their child and they set the rules for their children and give no
choices to the child. In contrast, permissive parenting style is opposite to the authoritarian
parenting style. Permissive parents do not engage in harsh disciplines and they give freedom of
choice to their child. Such parents focus on developing emotional bond with their children and
nurturing them (Barton & Hirsch, 2016). Hence, it can be said that permissive parenting style is
characterized by low demands and high responsiveness, whereas authoritarian style is associated
with high demand and low responsiveness.
In the contrast to the authoritarian and permissive parenting style, authoritative parenting
style is about ‘just right’ style of parenting. Parent using this style focus on positive
reinforcements instead of punishing their children and their main focus is to explore the hidden
capabilities of their children. Instead of direct punishment and reprimanding, authoritative
parents try to make their child realize their mistake and the consequences of misbehavior.
Parents with this parenting style are not too strict like authoritarians nor too lenient parents like

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the permissive style. Authoritative parenting style is regarded as the best parenting style, whereas
authoritative parenting style is considered as worst parenting style because of its negative
consequences. There are certain differences in authoritative and authoritarian parenting style too
(Smetana, 2017). For example, authoritarian parents are cold and non-responsive to emotional
needs of their child, whereas authoritative parents are very responsive to their emotional needs.
Another difference is that authoritative parents allow their kids to seek autonomy and monitor
whether they can correct their behavior or not. They allow their children to take their own
decisions. However, authoritarian parents do not allow such independence to their child and they
take all decisions without considering their child’s opinion (Sahithya, Manohari & Vijaya, 2019).
Consequences of each type of parenting styles:
Along with the different in characteristics of parents according to different parenting
styles, the consequence of each parenting style is different for each child. Research has revealed
mainly negative outcome for the child in response to strict authoritarian parenting styles. A
systematic review by Jadon and Tripathi (2017) revealed that authoritarian parenting has
negative impact on self-esteem of children and it destroys their self-confidence. Such children
are overwhelmed by feelings of insecurity and inferiority. As authoritarian parents have less
interaction with their children, some children suffer from indecisiveness and poor social skills
too. Permissive parenting style has been linked to risky behaviors and negative outcomes in
children. Children raised by authoritarian parents have lower odds of engaging in harmful
behavior like smoking and substance abuse. However, children with authoritative parents are
protected against abnormal behavior. This is because they buffer their child from negative or
harmful consequences (Sahithya, Manohari & Vijaya, 2019).

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Application to the scenario:
Hence, in case of the triplet, it can be concluded that the first and second triplet may
engage in harmful behavior and they may not be attached to their parents. They may suffer from
behavioral issues and engagement in risky behaviors like smoking. However, third triplet is
likely to have a good personality and he may accept society and its challenges in a mature
manner.

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References:
Barton, A. L., & Hirsch, J. K. (2016). Permissive parenting and mental health in college
students: Mediating effects of academic entitlement. Journal of American college
health, 64(1), 1-8.
Jadon, P. S., & Tripathi, S. (2017). Effect of Authoritarian Parenting style on self esteem of the
Child: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Advanced Research and Innovative
Ideas, 3, 909-913.
Sahithya, B. R., Manohari, S. M., & Vijaya, R. (2019). Parenting styles and its impact on
children–a cross cultural review with a focus on India. Mental Health, Religion &
Culture, 22(4), 357-383.
Smetana, J. G. (2017). Current research on parenting styles, dimensions, and beliefs. Current
opinion in Psychology, 15, 19-25.