Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsCharacteristicsCausesImpactTipsWhat’s Your Parenting Style? Take the QuizFAQs
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Characteristics
Causes
Impact
Tips
What’s Your Parenting Style? Take the Quiz
FAQs
Close
Others believe that there are more styles of parenting beyond these three. For instance, some say that there are four parenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved or neglectful.
Parents with an authoritarian style have very high expectations of their children, yet provide very little in the way of feedback and nurturing.Mistakes tend to bepunishedharshly. When feedback is given, it is often negative.
Yelling and corporal punishment are also common with the authoritarian style. People with this parenting style often use punishment rather than discipline. They are commonly not willing or able to explain the reasoning behind their rules.
This article discusses the characteristics of authoritarian parenting and the factors that cause it. It also covers the impact that this parenting style has on children and how to respond if you or your partner is an authoritarian parent.
Baumrind believed that one of the major roles that parents play in a child’s life is to socialize them to the values and expectations of their culture. How parents accomplish this, however, can vary dramatically based upon the amount of control they attempt to exert over their children.
The authoritarian approach represents the most controlling style. Rather than valuing self-control and teaching children to manage their own behaviors, the authoritarian parent focuses on adherence to authority. Instead of rewarding positive behavior, the authoritarian parent only provides feedback in the form of punishments for misbehavior.
Here are some of the most common traits of an authoritarian parent.
Demanding, But Not Responsive
Little Warmth or Nurturing
Parents with this style often seem cold, aloof, and harsh. They are more likely to nag or yell at their children than offer encouragement and praise. They value discipline over fun and expect that children should be seen and not heard.
Little Explanation for Punishments
Parents with this style usually have no problem resorting to corporal punishment, which often involves spanking. Rather than relying onpositive reinforcement, they react swiftly and harshly when the rules are broken.
Few Choices for Children
Impatient With Misbehavior
Mistrusting
Unwilling to Negotiate
Shaming
Using phrases such as “Why do you always do that?,” “How many times do I have to tell you the same thing?,” or “Why can’t you do anything right?” is an example of authoritarian parenting.
Tiger Parenting—Impact on Children’s Mental Health
Parenting styles have been associated with a variety of child outcomes in areas like social skills and academic performance. The children of authoritarian parents may:
Because authoritarian parents expect absolute obedience, children raised with this style are typically very good at following rules. However, they may lack self-discipline.
What Is the Storm and Stress View of Adolescence?
While developmental experts agree that rules and boundaries are important for children, most believe that authoritarian parenting is too punitive and lacks the warmth, unconditional love, and nurturing that children also need.
This fast and freeparenting styles quizcan help you analyze the methods you’re using to parent your kids and whether or not it may be a good idea to learn some new parenting behaviors:
A Word From Verywell
This parenting style is connected to a number of negative outcomes for children including lower self-esteem, social difficulties, and poor self-control, but there are strategies for adopting a more positive parenting style.
While an authoritarian approach might be effective in situations that require strict adherence to the rules, it can have negative consequences when overused as an approach to parenting. If you notice that your parenting style tends to be more authoritarian, consider looking for ways that you can begin incorporating a more authoritative style into your daily interactions with your children.
Frequently Asked Questions
Parents may use this style for a variety of reasons. It may be the result of their cultural background, their personality, or their own upbringing. In many cases, they may not recognize their own behavior because it is simply how they were raised and they don’t know any other way of responding.
How to Cope With Parental Anxiety and Stress
14 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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Diaconu-Gherasim LR, Măirean C.Perception of parenting styles and academic achievement: The mediating role of goal orientations.Learn Individ Differ. 2016;49:378-385. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2016.06.026.
Matejevic M, Todorovic J, Jovanovic AD.Patterns of family functioning and dimensions of parenting style.Procedia Soc Behav Sci.2014;141:431-437. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.05.075
Santrock JW.A Topical Approach to Life-Span Development.7th ed. McGraw-Hill; 2014.
Stassen KB.The Developing Person Through the Lifespan. 10th ed. Worth Publishers; 2017.
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