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Characteristics

Impact

Why It Works

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Parents who exhibit this style listen to their kids and provide love and warmth in addition to limits andfair discipline. This approach to parenting avoids punishment and threats and instead relies on strategies such aspositive reinforcement.

Verywell / Hugo Lin

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Brief History

During the 1960s, developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind described three different types ofparenting styles: authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive. These types were based on her research with preschool-age children.

Traditionally, the authoritative parenting style has been identified as the most effective and helpful to a child; research suggests that parents should flexibly deploy parenting techniques based on their personal goals and the unique behaviors of each child.

What’s Your Parenting Style?

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:

According to Baumrind, authoritative parents share some common characteristics. Traits they exhibit include:

While the expectations of authoritative parents are high, these kinds of parents also tend to be flexible. If there are extenuating circumstances, authoritative parents will adjust their response accordingly.

Parents with this style are able to adjust and adapt their approach depending on the situation, their child’s needs, and other factors that may be present. Discipline, then, takes into account all variables, including the child’s behavior, the situation, and so on.

The Benefits of Mindful Parenting

Commanding but supportive

Focused on reinforcing desirable behaviors

Provides structure, guidelines, and expectations

Significant involvement in a child’s life

Strict and unsupportive

Focused on punishing mistakes

Rules that are often harshly enforced

Little involvement in a child’s life

For example, imagine a situation where two young boys steal candy from the grocery store. How each boy’s parents deal with the situation characterizes the differences between these parenting styles.

When the boy with authoritative parents finally arrives home, he receives a fair punishment that fits the nature of the transgression. An example of how authoritative parenting might look in this situation:

The other boy has authoritarian parents, so his consequences look quite different. An example of how authoritarian parenting might look in this circumstance:

RecapThe child with authoritative parents was disciplined but with support and guidance for encouraging the desired future behavior. On the other hand, the child with authoritarian parents was not given support or love and received no feedback or guidance about why the theft was wrong.

Recap

The child with authoritative parents was disciplined but with support and guidance for encouraging the desired future behavior. On the other hand, the child with authoritarian parents was not given support or love and received no feedback or guidance about why the theft was wrong.

Tiger Parenting—Impact on Children’s Mental Health

According to Baumrind, children of authoritative parents:

Research suggests that authoritative parenting is associated with better:

While authoritative parenting is often viewed as the most effective approach, it is important to recognize that various factors play a role in developmental outcomes.

These parents tend to exhibit good emotional understanding and control. Their children also learn to manage their emotions and learn to understand others.

Some parents are naturally more authoritative than authoritarian orpermissive. However, this doesn’t mean that you cannot adopt a more authoritative style, even though it is not your natural default.

Attempting to moderateyour parenting stylemay mean that you will have to remain mindful of your actions while you work to develop the habits of an authoritative parenting style.

If you are interested in becoming a more authoritative parent, there are some things you can do that may help. It can be helpful to view this parenting style as a balance between discipline, emotional control, and allowing independence.

A Word From Verywell

​​Co-Parenting: What It Is and How to Make It Work

6 SourcesVerywell 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.Baumrind D.Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior.Genetic Psychology Monographs. 1967:75(1):43-88.Smetana JG.Current research on parenting styles, dimensions, and beliefs.Curr Opin Psychol. 2017;15:19-25. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.02.012Sege RD, Siegel BS.Effective discipline to raise healthy children.Pediatrics. 2018;142(6). doi:10.1542/peds.2018-3112Kuppens S, Ceulemans E.Parenting styles: a closer look at a well-known concept.J Child Fam Stud. 2019;28(1):168-181. doi:10.1007/s10826-018-1242-xLau EYH, Power TG.Coparenting, parenting stress, and authoritative parenting among Hong Kong Chinese mothers and fathers.Parenting. 2020;20(3):167-176. doi:10.1080/15295192.2019.1694831Macmull MS, Ashkenazi S.Math anxiety: The relationship between parenting style and math self-efficacy.Front Psychol. 2019;10:1721. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01721

6 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.Baumrind D.Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior.Genetic Psychology Monographs. 1967:75(1):43-88.Smetana JG.Current research on parenting styles, dimensions, and beliefs.Curr Opin Psychol. 2017;15:19-25. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.02.012Sege RD, Siegel BS.Effective discipline to raise healthy children.Pediatrics. 2018;142(6). doi:10.1542/peds.2018-3112Kuppens S, Ceulemans E.Parenting styles: a closer look at a well-known concept.J Child Fam Stud. 2019;28(1):168-181. doi:10.1007/s10826-018-1242-xLau EYH, Power TG.Coparenting, parenting stress, and authoritative parenting among Hong Kong Chinese mothers and fathers.Parenting. 2020;20(3):167-176. doi:10.1080/15295192.2019.1694831Macmull MS, Ashkenazi S.Math anxiety: The relationship between parenting style and math self-efficacy.Front Psychol. 2019;10:1721. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01721

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.

Baumrind D.Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior.Genetic Psychology Monographs. 1967:75(1):43-88.Smetana JG.Current research on parenting styles, dimensions, and beliefs.Curr Opin Psychol. 2017;15:19-25. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.02.012Sege RD, Siegel BS.Effective discipline to raise healthy children.Pediatrics. 2018;142(6). doi:10.1542/peds.2018-3112Kuppens S, Ceulemans E.Parenting styles: a closer look at a well-known concept.J Child Fam Stud. 2019;28(1):168-181. doi:10.1007/s10826-018-1242-xLau EYH, Power TG.Coparenting, parenting stress, and authoritative parenting among Hong Kong Chinese mothers and fathers.Parenting. 2020;20(3):167-176. doi:10.1080/15295192.2019.1694831Macmull MS, Ashkenazi S.Math anxiety: The relationship between parenting style and math self-efficacy.Front Psychol. 2019;10:1721. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01721

Baumrind D.Child care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior.Genetic Psychology Monographs. 1967:75(1):43-88.

Smetana JG.Current research on parenting styles, dimensions, and beliefs.Curr Opin Psychol. 2017;15:19-25. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.02.012

Sege RD, Siegel BS.Effective discipline to raise healthy children.Pediatrics. 2018;142(6). doi:10.1542/peds.2018-3112

Kuppens S, Ceulemans E.Parenting styles: a closer look at a well-known concept.J Child Fam Stud. 2019;28(1):168-181. doi:10.1007/s10826-018-1242-x

Lau EYH, Power TG.Coparenting, parenting stress, and authoritative parenting among Hong Kong Chinese mothers and fathers.Parenting. 2020;20(3):167-176. doi:10.1080/15295192.2019.1694831

Macmull MS, Ashkenazi S.Math anxiety: The relationship between parenting style and math self-efficacy.Front Psychol. 2019;10:1721. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01721

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