How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

Darae Lyles

Stevenson University

CM-490-ON2

Dr. Leeanne Bell & Dr. Lee Krahenbuhl

April 17, 2023

How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

Abstract

Self-Esteem is a concept many do not touch on. Culture can influence not only how we view life

and society but also how we view parenting and parenting styles. Said styles can affect

adolescent self-concept and self-esteem within a child’s personal identity and academic success.

In this paper, the presented research demonstrates how diverse cultures affect how adolescents

view themselves. Single parenting also plays a significant role in the mental health of children.

The Face-Negotiation Theory (Ting-Toomey, 1985) will be used to provide proper

communication ideologies to the research and deliver a solid thesis that adolescents' self-esteem

can be predetermined given their home environment and the culture they come from. In this

research, the cultures discussed include Hispanic/Latino and Japanese cultures.

How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

Table of Contents

Introduction of Self-Esteem, Self-Concept, and Parenting Styles............................................. 3

Review of Literature...................................................................................................................... 5

Face-Negotiation Theory............................................................................................................... 5

Parental Influence.......................................................................................................................... 7

Single Parenting............................................................................................................................. 9

Cultural Parenting....................................................................................................................... 11

How Face-Negotiation Theory is Implemented in Cultural and Influential Parenting........ 12

Research Question....................................................................................................................... 13

Discussion..................................................................................................................................... 13

Research Implications................................................................................................................. 13

Limitation of Study...................................................................................................................... 14

Conclusion.................................................................................................................................... 15

Summary.......................................................................................................................................16

References..................................................................................................................................... 17
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

Introduction of Self-Esteem, Self-Concept, and Parenting Styles

Self-esteem and self-concept are two ideas that not many people touch on. Self-esteem

can be referred to as the extent to which we approve or value ourselves while self-concept is an

“individual's belief about himself or herself, including the person’s attributes and who and what

the self is” (Baumeister 1999, as stated by Mcleod, 2022). Alfred Adler is known for his

ideologies regarding self-esteem. The Austrian psychiatrist is well known for researching

psychopathology and mental health. In 1902, he was highly associated with Sigmund Freud who

is the founder of psychoanalysis. Adler is an important figure when discussing mental health

within children given that his research targets the many topics that can affect a child’s mental

health (Alfred Adler, 2023).

Given these definitions and background, skewed self-esteem can cause significant mental

health problems in adolescents. A contributor to these problems can stem from parental

influence, cultural influence, or a combination of both. Cultural Parenting is the idea that the

culture a parent comes from determines how they will raise their child. Due to the different

cultures and the values they carry, parenting styles can vary in drastic ways. In typical

individualistic cultures, people look out for themselves only while in standard collectivistic

cultures, people identify with a larger group, and caretaking responsibilities are spread among the

community (Griffin, Ledbetter, & Sparks, 2019). The concept of individualistic and collectivistic

culture bleeds into parenting styles because how an individual was raised and the environment

they come from influences the way they parent their child and provide them with specific values

tailored to that culture.

Parenting styles vary from each culture and each individual. Zakeri, & Karimpour, (2011)

gives a perfect definition based on a few different researchers and theorists. According to
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

Steinberg, Lamborn, Dornbusch, and Darling (1992), there are three different kinds of parenting

styles: acceptance-involvement, psychological autonomy-granting, and behavioral

strictness-supervision. Acceptance-Involvement can be defined as one’s perception of the

amount of paying attention and responsiveness of parents. This parent is heavily involved in their

child’s life and tends to be very warm and involved (Jaffe, 1998 as stated by Zakeri &

Karimpour, 2011). A child who experiences this kind of parenting will more than likely end up

with a high sense of self-esteem. The psychological autonomy-granting parenting style is the

idea that the parent uses a democratic approach to discipline their child yet they do not push their

children to obey the rules. A child who experiences this kind of parenting will vary in

self-esteem.

This kind of parenting is confusing as the child receives some sort of discipline while

also not being pressured or judged by their parent. The last parenting style is behavioral

strictness-supervision which is the parent who is incredibly controlling. This parent evaluates the

child’s behaviors and attitudes with a level of standards they expect from them which causes a

broken sense of self-esteem. Due to the severity of this parenting style, children tend to end up

with a low sense of self-esteem. They do not know how to be themselves given the idea that they

have always had some sort of judgment or standards they needed to achieve to please their parent

(Knight et al., 2000 as stated by Zakeri & Karimpour, 2011). It is very important to provide a

child with a safe family environment since “negative and problematic relationships within the

family can cause children to have negative perceptions of themselves and others” (Sahan, &

Kahtali, 2021).
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

Review of Literature

Face-Negotiation Theory

Face-Negotiation Theory takes a look at the diverse styles of conflict management and

how it is used by various cultures. This theory takes the audience through a cultural lens of how

conflict is started and how people involved handle it. Stella Ting-Toomy is the founder of this

theory and explains that there are cultural differences when responding to conflict. She assumes

that people of every culture are negotiating “face” which is a term that is a metaphor for our

“public-self image” or the way we want society to view and treat us. She touches on

individualistic and collectivistic cultures and how they play a part in conflict management.

Individualistic cultures tend to care only about themselves and the individual is higher than the

community while collectivistic cultures believe the community is before the self. This results in

the individual culture being of low context while the collectivist culture is of high context

(Ting-Toomey, 1985 as stated by Griffin et al., 2019).

Facework is another term Ting-Toomey uses that describes the “specific verbal and

nonverbal messages to help maintain face loss and to uphold and honor face gain.” She

emphasizes that there are multiple kinds of facework strategies. The first one is Face-Concern

which is the regard for self, other, or mutual face which is essentially when people in conflict pay

more attention to maintaining the face or “self-image” of the other person instead of saving their

own. This type of facework can be seen throughout collectivistic cultures while the next face,

self-restoration, can be seen within individualistic cultures. Self-restoration is the self-concerned

strategy in which the individual maintains independence and defends against “loss of personal

freedom.” In other terms, the individual cares more bout how they are viewed rather than how
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

the other person is viewed. This ties back to individualistic cultures because they tend to only

care about themselves instead of others. The next and final facework strategy is face-giving. This

term is used to defend and support the other person's need to feel included. This can be seen

throughout collectivistic cultures because they tend to put others before themselves.

Ting-Toomey has also introduced five responses to conflict where there is an

“incompatibility of needs, interests, or goals.” The five conflict styles are avoiding/withdrawing,

obliging/accommodating, compromising/bargaining, dominating/competing, and

integrating/problem-solving. These five responses vary given the culture one comes from.

Avoiding or Withdrawing Style can be defined as exactly what it is; avoiding or withdrawing

from a discussion about conflict. This style produces a low concern for others and a low concern

for the self. Obliging/accommodating is giving the other party what they want. Because of the

high concern for others and the low concern for the self, this is heavily seen within collectivistic

cultures. Compromising or bargaining is the middle conflict style where negotiating and

bargaining come into play. This has equal concern for others and for the self resulting in it being

seen in both collectivistic and individualistic cultures. Integrating/problem-solving is having an

open discussion to allow for a win-win resolution. This is a high concern for others and for the

self. The last conflict style is dominating or competing where individuals are competing to win

the conflict. Due to the selfish nature of this style, this is prevalent in individualistic cultures

(Ting-Toomey, 1985 as stated by Griffin et al., 2019).

Ting-Toomey’s Face-Negotiation Theory has many different factors and explains in great

detail what “saving face” means and the various kinds of face. Through the lens of this theory,

parenting styles can have specific conflict styles that affect adolescents' self-concept. Whether
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

it's avoiding by giving a child the silent treatment or dominating by being in competition with the

child, there are many forms of parenting styles that can affect the mental health of adolescents.

Parental Influence

Parents play a significant role in the way we view ourselves and our self-esteem.

Adolescents, who can be defined as “physically, cognitively, and socioemotionally more

advanced than children but prone to behave in ways that are inconsistent with adult values and

norms” tend to reflect their parents and the influence they have (Pfeifer, & Berkman, 2018).

When considering parental influence, a few topics come to mind such as the way parents

speak to their children, how they handle child conflict, and the culture the parent comes from. As

stated by Deci & Ryan, (2000), parents act as primary socialization agents in a family who may

foster or undermine the development of an integrated identity of adolescents in two ways (Bhatt

& Pujar, 2020). This can be explained as parents being the direct line of social interactions for

adolescents, therefore, becoming the first person in their life to show them what self-esteem is

supposed to look like. If a parent has low self-esteem, they pour that energy onto their child

which results in the child having low self-esteem. Or on the other side, if a parent has high

self-esteem, their child will more than likely carry high self-esteem as well.

Taking parental influence into a situation students can understand, academic self-esteem

can also be influenced by a parent's culture or parenting style. Sangawi, Adams, & Reissland,

(2018) referenced Nishikawa, Sund-bom, & Hägglöf, (2010) in this academic journal. They state

that “A number of studies indicate that positive parenting styles play an important role not only

in the growth of children’s academic self-concept (ASC) but also in reducing behavioral

problems.” This is highly important when discussing cultural parenting styles and parental
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

influence given the idea that many cultures behave differently in an academic setting. As stated

by Dagnew, (2018), “academic self-concept is defined as how a person feels about himself or

herself within a school or academic setting, or in relation to a student’s academic progress.”

Parental involvement and positive parenting were negatively related to conduct problems

including aggression, rule violations, and non-compliance. Therefore emphasizing that the more

a parent is involved, the less their child will experience behavioral problems or low academic

self-esteem. On the contrary, children whose parents are less involved portrayed higher levels of

behavioral challenges within the academic setting. Pham and Ng express that there is a link

between creativity, parenting styles, and self-esteem (2019). This study takes a look at how these

three concepts intersect one another and parenting styles is at the center of it all. The influence of

the parent and their own personal views on creativity will affect how a child not only views

creativity but has self-esteem revolving around it. The understanding of parenting styles and how

it affects a child goes beyond the home. This pours into their academic success, therefore, setting

them up for failure.

In a 2020 study by Krauss, Orth, & Robins, the researchers examined the effect of family

environment on self-esteem development from the ages of 10 to 16 years old. The study

expresses that according to the Theory of Symbolic Interactionism by Blumer, 1986, Cooley,

1902, and Mead, 1934, the self develops and constantly evolves throughout their lifetime through

social interactions. It is assumed that the interactions made in the social setting reflect how much

others appreciate someone. This results in the self believing that certain interactions are symbolic

of their worth.

This study goes on to example how parental hostility plays a significant part in the

self-development of adolescents. Parental hostility can be defined as “rejection, neglect,

How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

maltreatment, punishment, and verbal and physical aggression” from a parent to a child (Krauss

et al., 2020)

Single Parenting

Single parenting is the first concept when considering adolescent self-esteem. Whether a

child experiences single parenting due to the death of a parent or a divorce, this familial

environment can significantly affect self-concept within adolescents. Single Parenting is a term

frequently used to describe mothers who are single parents given most children whose parents

are divorced are under the mother’s supervision (Retnowati, 2008 as referenced by Hereyah &

Purwanti, 2021). Family communication is the primary form of communication a child

experiences which then becomes an intimate part of their life since it is the closest relationship to

the child. Fitzpatrick as referenced by Hereyah & Purwanti states that communication within the

family environment determines the quality of established relationships from platonic, romantic,

and familial (2021).

Families with single parents tend to have a bit of confusion given that when the mother is

absent, the father has to play both a motherly and fatherly role and vice versa. The gap in

communication that children from single-parent households affect self-concept in both the child’s

personal and academic life.

This study hosted six families who were single parents to children ages 6-12 years old

and examined the communication between the parent and their children. Categorized as IU

families one through six, each family has a unique story.

IU Family 1 or (IU1) is a 43-year-old divorced father with custody of two daughters aged

10 and 12 years old. IU2 is a single mother who was widowed several years ago and has three
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

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children aged 17, 14, and nine years old. IU3 is a 35-year-old divorced mother of a six-year-old

boy. IU4 is a 36-year-old single mother who was also widowed several years ago; she is a mother

to a nine-year-old boy. IU5 is a 33-year-old single woman who adopted a boy when the child was

an infant and now is six years old. Lastly, IU6 is a 32-year-old single woman who adopted a girl

when she was a baby and is also now six years old.

The results from each case varied depending on their background, income, and daily life

tasks. The results were interesting as IU3, IU4, and IU6 were all strong in connectedness while

IU1 was strong in separateness. IU4 was high in certainty and IU2 was high in uncertainty. IU1’s

child is very reserved and the father has not tried to have open conversations and communication

which resulted in the child having low self-esteem and self-concept. IU4’s child has experienced

changes within the family since their toddler years. The mother finds it difficult to communicate

with her child what is going on since she believes the child does not fully understand, however,

they do. Given the fae that the child actually understands the changes in their life, the

communication between the child and mother is stronger than ever. IU6’s child is still adapting to

their fairly new adoption and provides open and honest conversation with their child. IU2’s child

experiences an interesting situation. This child experiences uncertain communication as the child

gets spoiled often. IU4’s child experiences certainty within communication since the mother tries

her absolute best to communicate with the child. Lastly, IU5’s child experiences openness within

their household communication. The mother is great at noticing the nonverbal communication

her child provides and allows open communication to flow (Hereyah & Purwanti, 2021).

This study has shown the various ways communication can affect a child’s self-esteem.

As communication differs for each individual, many factors play a part in how a person

communities such as gender, sexual orientation, race, and culture.

How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

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Cultural Parenting

Cultural parenting is an interesting topic that many people fail to explain. Depending on

what culture someone comes from will determine the way they interact with different people

which then will affect the way they parent their child and cause either a low or high sense of

self-esteem within the child. We see this in our every day whether it is in our personal lives, in

society, or in the entertainment industry. The popular anime TV series, Demon Slayer, has many

Japanese cultural aspects of parenting. In the series, there is a demon named Gyutaro who has

endured abuse growing up in his mother's care. His mother was mentally ill and tried to kill not

only herself but Gyutaro as well. She also idolized his younger sister while making Gyutaro feel

terrible about himself. She would label him as ugly, disgusting, and dirty which resulted in him

saying the same negative words about himself. Although this is a TV series, this is what children

who have abusive parents endure.

In the Hispanic/Latino culture, there tend to be more negative or harmful parenting styles.

​Bagán, Tur-Porcar, & Llorca (2019) take a look at the parenting styles in a study in Spain. This

study explains that there have been links to parenting styles and behaviors within children. In

boys, they saw that aggressive behaviors start in early childhood however there is a link to

emotional components. Anger has been the main part of aggression stemming from children.

This is because anger stems from conflict triggers between people so using this aggression can

be seen as an intimidation tool. The lack of proper communication during a conflict at home

affected the child and the way they view conflict towards others.
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

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How Face-Negotiation Theory is Implemented in Cultural and Influential Parenting

Face-Negotiation Theory can be seen all throughout cultural and influential parenting

When taking a look at the different ways parenting can affect a child’s sense of self-esteem, the

way the parent speaks to their child and handles conflict has been shown to play a big role.

When discussing conflict, we can see obliging in a more positive parenting style given

the parent cares more about the child’s face rather than their own. We can see Avoiding in a

negative parental household when the parent does not engage in discussing conflict or provide

their child with a voice. Bargaining is the middle ground where the parent compromises to make

sure both parties are happy. These three conflict styles are the most popular within the parenting

and will either affect their child's self-esteem in a positive or negative way.
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

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Research Question

● How do cultural parenting styles affect adolescent self-concept and self-esteem?

Discussion

Parenting styles can be an interesting concept to discuss. It is even more fascinating when

culture mixes in. When discussing the different kinds of parenting, Zakeri, & Karimpour, (2011)

introduce various researchers and theorists. According to Steinberg, Lamborn, Dornbusch, and

Darling (1992), there are three main parenting styles as examined on page four of this paper. The

first one is acceptance-involvement which is when the parent pays close attention to the child;

this results in a high sense of self-esteem.

The psychological autonomy-granting parenting style is the concept of using a

compromising approach. A child who experiences this kind of parenting will vary in self-esteem.

The last parenting style is behavioral strictness-supervision which is when the parent does not

provide a safe environment for their child to voice any opinions or concerns; the self-esteem of

this child is weak and broken as they do not have a proper self-concept.

Research Implications

From this research, there are many things parents and children can take into consideration

when parenting a child or caring for someone younger. Whether the relationship is between aunt

and niece, uncle and nephew, or parent and child, everyone can take something away from this

study. When raising a child, it is important to consider the various conflict styles as noted by

Ting-Toomey in her Face-Negotiation Theory (1985). Psychology Today is a website where

verified, professional therapists, and individuals in the psychological field can promote their
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

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work whether it is actual therapy or articles. Bernstein states that there are many ways a parent

can fail their child and cause negative self-esteem. Yelling or hitting a child, not letting go of past

conflicts, guilt-tripping, and sarcastic responses are ways children’s self-esteem decreases

(2019). Bernstein also states that accountability and responsibility are both important ways to

build trust and a genuine connection with a child. When a parent screams at their child because

they had a bad day, that can affect how the child believes they are viewed by their own parent

which causes a broken sense of self.

An article on Parenting and Self-esteem (2023), states that there are many different ways

a parent can help their child’s self-esteem. Using words of affirmation to show suppose for the

child can boost self-esteem tremendously. A simple “you got this!” or “I am so proud of you”

can go a long way to help boost how the child views themself. The article also touches on being

realistic and understanding the child is just a child. Showing a child proper affection and making

sure to love them the way that they need is key to securing a solid relationship from parent to

child. Knowing and understanding a child’s love language and what they need is incredibly

important since not every child is the same.

Limitation of Study

This study was a very hard topic to find. One of the biggest struggles was not being able

to find relevant sources on Face-Negotiation Theory. The topic of culture affecting parenting

styles and the self-esteem of adolescents seems to be a popular topic within today’s society

especially given everyone’s diversity and inclusion statements. As cliche as it might sound,

culture and diversity are the new topics in this generation; everyone is talking about them. Given

this information, it was believed that finding relevant information on culture and parenting would
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

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be easy yet it was the most difficult part of this study along with finding proper implications.

Also, because there are so many aspects of culture such as academics, race/ethnicity, gender or

sexual orientation, and more, the idea of parenting in relation to culture was a very broad topic.

The last limitation of this study was trying to find how Ting-Toomey’s Face-Negotiation Theory

(FNT) related to parenting styles. The desired outcome of this essay was to incorporate studies

that were already constructed to examine how FNT related to parenting and how these two

concepts related to adolescent self-esteem and self-concept.

Conclusion

This paper touched on a wide variety of topics. The first is the definitions of self-esteem

and self-concept. These two go hand in hand when discussing confidence in social interactions

and academic success. Ting-Toomey’s Face-Negotiation Theory was then discussed and

incorporated into parenting styles in families from all across the world. As children grow up, the

influence of their parenting styles becomes more real by the day. If a child comes from a broken

home, they will have a broken sense of self. Parental influence was talked about in relation to

many aspects of self-esteem.

Many articles found discussed parental influence, parenting styles, and how it contributes

to the academic success or failure of a child. Also touched on were specific cultures and how

they play a part in cultural parenting and parental influence. The Hispanic/Latino culture showed

signs of a negative household which resulted in a skewed sense of the self and an increase in

aggression in adolescent children. The Japanese culture was also examined in this essay and

showed other negative aspects of parenting styles such as physical and emotional abuse.
How Cultural Parenting Styles Affect Adolescent Self-Concept & Self-Esteem

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Summary

This research examines how Stella Ting-Toomey’s Face-Negotiation Theory (FNT)

relates directly to parenting styles. It also touched on how FNT correlates to a crooked sense of

self-esteem within adolescents. Various cultures were analyzed such as the Japanese culture and

Hispanic/Latino Culture. Said cultures have had a massive influence in the way a child views

themself. Also studied was the combination of parental influence, single parenting, cultural

parenting, and how FNT is used throughout all three concepts.

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