15 Parenting Styles You Should Be Aware Of

PALAK SHAH ON MARCH 23, 2016

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Which parenting style do you use? Are you an authoritarian parent or an

authoritative one? A few years back this type of conversation was never heard of.
There was no particular style required for parenting, as it was considered to be a trait
that was as natural as breathing.

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Now days, it is required that you choose a particular style to nurture your children.
The style or type of parenting should be such that it suits your family and your
lifestyle. Moreover, it is not possible to have a common parenting style as there are
various factors that differentiate one parent from the other. Some of these factors are
difference in culture, family size, parental background, education level, socioeconomic stature and religion.

15 Different Types of Parenting Styles:

Have a look at these types of parenting styles and find out the ideal one for your
family and your child.

1. Authoritarian Parenting Style:

As the name suggests, this authoritarian parenting style is formed with strict rules,
harsh punishments for non-adhering rules. They are highly demanding but least
responsive towards their children. In this style, parents provide no freedom of
expression to their children and hardly show any warmth.

When this style is used for parenting, it is bound to make a child fearful and the one
with low self-esteem. Such children might also face difficulty in managing social
situations. Some children might also display aggressive behaviour outside home as a
means to vent their frustration.

2. Authoritative Parenting Style:

In contrast to authoritarian parenting, here the parents set rules and regulations which
are fair and consistent. They create high expectations from their children, but are
highly responsive also. They allow children to express their opinion and encourage
them to become independent.
Children nurtured under authoritative parenting style are said to be self-confident with
good social skills and emotional control. Such children end up being more successful,
competent and happy in life.
[ Read: Authoritative Parenting ]

3. Indulgent or Permissive Parenting:

Under this type of permissive parenting style, there are hardly any disciplinary rules.
They have very few demands from their children. At the same time, they are highly
responsive towards them and also quite lenient in their behavior. They often act as a
friend than as a parent.
This type of parenting style may make children demanding, insecure and lacking in
self-esteem. Children might be too self-involved and possess poor social skills. They
tend to be aimless in life because of absence of any boundaries or guidelines from
parents.
[ Read: Parenting Books ]

4. Neglectful or Uninvolved Parenting Style:

Parents following this style are least demanding and least responsive towards their
children. The communication between a parent and child is also at the lowest end.
Here the parent fulfills only the basic needs of their children and neglect or reject any
other needs that they develop.
They are almost detached from their childrens life. Children under uninvolved
parenting become emotionally withdrawn and always remain fearful, anxious or under
stress. There are more chances of such children going astray in adolescence.

5. Instinctive Parenting:
If you are following this style of parenting then it means that you are most likely to
follow your intuition or go with the attitude flow. Under this style parents tries to
nurture their children in the same way as they were brought up. They try to follow the
same logic and rules that were applied to them during their childhood.

6. Helicopter Parenting Style:

Here,parents usually interfere to a large extent in the life of their children. It is exactly
like a helicopter that hovers! Parents try to overprotect their children and constantly
ensure about their safety and security. This style is suitable while the child is an infant,
however in the long run this style is considered to make children over dependent on
their parents for small as well important things in life.
[ Read: Helicopter Parenting ]

7. Slow Parenting:
This is also called as simplicity parenting or free-range parenting. In this style, the
parents allow children to grow as per their tastes and take the helm of their life. They
let them explore the world at their own pace. They allow them to develop their own
interests and ultimately let the child be what he actually wants to be.
They interfere less in their childrens life and allow them to enjoy and make their own
decisions. The idea behind slow parenting is to make the children happy and satisfied
with their own achievements. Such children are believed to cope up with the
unpredictability of the real world very well.

8. Attachment Parenting:
In this style of parenting, utmost importance is given to developing a strong emotional
bond between parents and children. Parents here are highly sensitive towards their
childs need and are always available for emotional support.
As followers of Attachment Parenting believe more in natural births, no corporal
punishments and home schooling, attachment parenting is believed to make the
children secure, happy and peaceful humans.

9. Equalitarian Parenting:
In this method, you try to give your children choices which give them a feel of
democracy. The whole family works more like a team in tandem to the fair and just
rules and regulations. The atmosphere at home gives the vibes of team spirit.
As children are given a say in lot of issues of family, they can learn the art of
negotiating and compromising at an early age. Parents are highly responsive towards
their children and mistake, if any, is seen as an opportunity for learning.

10. Spiritual Parenting:

Under this approach, enough space is given to a child to develop his own beliefs on
the basis of his self-developed personality. Though it is less scientific in approach, a
child is encouraged in developing his intimate relationship with God and methods to
lead a balanced life. It is believed then when children are imbibed with strong spiritual
values, their self-esteem increases and they feel empowered.

11. Positive Parenting:

This is common sense parenting, built on strong family principles. It is an approach

where the children are given a loving, warm, supportive, caring and positive
environment built based on respect and trust. Parents work on their childs vision and
plan to build self-confidence in them to manage the unexpected circumstances that
come up in their lives.
The parental role here is to guide and inspire their children to believe in themselves,
control their destiny and dance to their song. Believe, your children will have the best
prospect to develop a positive mental attitude, good character traits, productive life
skills and positive self-esteem and lead a happy and prosperous life.
[ Read: Positive Parenting ]

12. Concerted Cultivation:

It is a specific form of positive parenting characterized by the attempts of parents to
help hone their childs talents through extra-curricular activities in their lives. It is
commonly noticed in middle and upper-class Americans. It is also marked by
developing the use of language and the ability to interact with social institutions.
A child reared through this form of parenting will express greater social skills than
other children. It is because of their exposure to musical groups, sports, academic
clubs and more.

13. Narcissistic Parenting:

A narcissistic parent is a parent affected with narcissistic personality disorder or
narcissism. They make extremely bad parents. They are so possessively close to their
children and become envious of their childs independence. The child is solely
considered to fulfill the parents needs and wishes.
This kind of parenting will adversely affect the child in areas of emotional, reasoning,
societal and ethical behaviors as they grow up. The children grow developing a false
self of being co-dependent in relationships.

14. Nurturant Parenting:

In this parenting style, children are reared to explore their surroundings by parents
protection. Parents believe that the children should be aware of what they need and
should be allowed to explore. They are responsible for offering protection to their
child through their exploration. It focusses on creativity, empathy and responsibility.

One major concern is the nurturant parenting model can increase the risk of sexual
deviance in boys.

15. Toxic Parenting:

This kind of parenting describes parents whose own negative behavior damages their
childs sense of self. They abuse their children physically, verbally or sexually and are
also inadequate or ignore their childs emotional requirements. These patterns remain
so established in children that they continue into adulthood and replicate the same
behavior of their parents.

Parenting Styles Differ For Male and Female Children:

Parents also tend to pick up different parenting styles based on the sex of the child.
Studies reveal that fathers affect their daughters emotional adjustment through the
parenting style they impose rather than using disciplinary perspective like
punishment. To be simpler, fathers tend to favor their daughters, and likewise mothers
tend to favor their sons.

Why Do Parenting Styles Differ?

After learning through these many parenting styles, you may wonder why all parents
do not take up an authoritative parenting model. Because this is the most wonderful
parenting to create a happy and confident tot.
Some potential causes of varying parenting styles include personality, culture, parental
background, family size, religion, education and socioeconomic status. Moreover,
individual parenting styles also combine to produce a different blend in every family.
For instance, the mother may offer an authoritative parenting while the father offers a
permissive style.
Therefore, it is essential for the parents to cooperate and combine the various
approaches to produce a unique parenting style.

Are There Any Limitations & Criticisms In Parenting Styles?

There are some significant limitations of parenting styles one should note. The link
between parenting style and behavior is based on correlation research, which helps
finding relationships between variables. Of course, it cannot establish a definitive
cause and effect relationship.

There is evidence that a particular parenting style is connected to a certain behavior

pattern. Researchers also say that the correlations between the parenting model and
behaviors of children are sometimes weak. In most cases, parents who adopt
authoritative parenting will produce children who are aggressive or disobedient, while
parents with permissive styles produce children who are academically successful and
self-confident.
There is specifically no best style of parenting, says the author Douglas Bernstein in
the book Essentials Of Psychology.

The Outcome:
Parenting styles are associated with different outcomes in children. The authoritative
parenting is usually linked to positive behavior in children like self competence and
strong self esteem. Also, other factors like culture and social influences play a major
role in a childs behavior.
We hope this article has satisfied your curiosity about the different parenting styles.
Individuals tend to mimic the way they themselves have been raised as a child, but it
is entirely possible to choose a better parenting style that will benefit the child to the
maximum. Choose your style with care!