Which parenting style creates a positive effect on the behavior of children?

Is it an
authoritative or permissive method of child rearing? Parents, especially first timers, often
struggle with the idea of raising a well-mannered child, as well as instilling good morals which
can later on be beneficial to their social and mental well-being. For that reason, psychologist
Diana Baumrind introduces four different types of parenting styles, namely authoritarian,
authoritative, permissive and uninvolved, to sort out differences between parental behavior and
the effect it has on their children (Cherry, 2022). To explain, parents who have an authoritative
style tend to be assertive. They support their children, encourage positive reinforcement, and
establish ground rules. On the other hand, parents who have a permissive style of parenting are
receptive and quite unrestrained. Permissive parents let their children have the freedom to decide
for themselves, and seldomly offer guidance when it comes to disciplining their children.
Although Baumrind explores four methods of parenting, I will be focusing on two main
parenting styles, authoritative and permissive, that are commonly observed in parents due to time
and word constraints that limits the amount of scope of this research. While there is no right way
on how to raise a child, parents should know what parenting style fosters healthy boundaries and
good behavior in order to create well-raised children, build stronger connection ties with their
children, as well as establish social and mental relationships. In this case, I argue that
authoritative parenting is a positive indicator of social and mental stability towards

In the article, Cherry briefly mentions how authoritative and permissive parents nurture
their children’s growth and development. Authoritative parenting raises children who are
independent, responsible, sociable and emotionally intelligent. Comparatively, permissive
parenting raises children who have low self-critical esteem and self-regulation which can result
in behavioral complications. Furthermore, Cherry suggests that it is possible to have a mixture of
different parenting styles according to the needs of the family. For instance, the mother can have
a permissive approach in raising children while the father can have an uninvolved style of
parenting. The downside of this situation may result in incohesiveness and inconsistency
between both parents when it comes to child rearing. To solve this problem, Cherry encourages
that both parents should communicate effectively and learn how to be flexible in their own
distinctive style of parenting.
 Evaluating Cherry’s article, I take into account that she effectively provides various
background contexts as to why methods of parenting matter in terms of introducing Baumrind’s
parenting styles, presenting the impacts it causes on children’s social and mental capabilities, and
considering the limitations of the study. For instance, Cherry mentions how Baumrind came up
with the idea of categorizing different styles of parenting by conducting a study on preschool
children. Besides that, Cherry also gives a brief summary of each parenting style, namely
authoritative and permissive, which can be helpful for readers, especially first time parents, to
easily digest information found in the article. As a matter of fact, Cherry also mentions the
impacts of parenting styles in a condensed manner, like how children are prone to be bullied and
experience high levels of anxiety when they are raised in an environment with parents who are
permissive. Lastly, the limitations of the research, such as the behavioral aspects of children
affecting the parenting style and other cultural factors, were considered by Cherry in the article.
This displays transparency, promotes progress, and enhances validity in future studies. However,
the article fails to provide further explanations as to why permissive parenting can have a
positive effect on the child's behavior, as well as authoritative parenting having possible negative
effects on the well-being of a child since the article only mentions the advantages of this
particular style.