AUTHORITATIVE An authoritative parent-child interaction balances acceptance with limits, and is positively related to self-esteem, social acceptability, and achievement in young children
The authoritative parent seeks democracy. This style is warm:
responsive to the child's needs, and
consistently sensitive.
it imposes reasonable limits without resorting to belittling or punishments that are abusive, punitive, or inappropriate for the child's stage of development.
Authoritative parenting seeks to enhance the happiness of both the child and parent.
Warm and Responsive:
Parents who are responsive to the needs of their young children through their active participation and assistance in the child's play have children who demonstrate socially acceptable classroom behavior at age ten.
The research suggests that responsive parenting in early childhood enables children to feel more comfortable in social interactions and act more responsibly themselves in situations encountered later in childhood
Mothers who display affection are responsive, flexible, and accepting, and who refrain from punitive or harsh punishment have children at age four who are more likely to play independently.
By age six, the children are more likely to choose challenging games and activities that they self-initiate.Ê
Other studies on mothering found that a warm and responsive interaction between mother and child increases the likelihood that a young child will pay attention to the formal aspects of written language during storybook reading.
A willingness on the part of the child to focus on a task is positively related to performance on emergent literacy measures by age five.
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PERMISSIVE PARENT
Permissive ... to behave in an acceptant and affirmative manner towards the child's impulses. desires. and actions.
She [the parent] consults with him [the child] about policy decisions and gives explanations for family rules.
She makes few demands for household responsibility and orderly behavior.
Style of Parent-Child Interaction
She presents herself to the child as a resource for him to use as he wishes, not as an active agent responsible for shaping or altering his ongoing or future behavior.
She allows the child to regulate his own activities as much as possible, avoids the exercise of control, and does not encourage him to obey externally defined standards.
She attempts to use reason but not overt power to accomplish her ends.
AUTORITARIAN PARENT
Authoritarian ... to shape, control, and evaluate the behavior and attitudes of the child in accordance with a set of standards of conduct, usually an absolute standard, theologically motivated and formulated by a higher authority.
She [the parent] values obedience as a virtue and favors punitive, forceful measures to curb self-will at points where the child's actions of beliefs conflict with what she think is right conduct.
She believes in inculcating such instrumental values as respect for authority, respect for work, and respect for the preservation of order and traditional structure.
She does not encourage verbal give and take, believing that the child should accept her word for what is right.
Uninvolved parents are low in both responsiveness and demandingness.
In extreme cases, this parenting style might encompass both rejectingÐ neglecting and neglectful parents, although most parents of this type fall within the normal range.