Parenting Styles Research Paper

Parenting Styles in the Development of IdentityChildren are always exploring their independence and developing their identity, or in other words, a sense of self. Research has shown that those who receive proper encouragement and reinforcement will emerge with a strong sense of self. Those who do not receive proper encouragement and reinforcement will remain unsure of themselves and confused about the future. For this reason, I believe an authoritative parenting style is the most beneficial factor in the formation of identity.

Before we get into parenting styles, we must first discuss how an identity is formed. One of Erik Erikson 's steps in his Theory of Psychosocial Development is identity versus confusion, commonly called the identity
Authoritarian parents are controlling and demanding but not very loving or responsive to their children 's needs. They intervene frequently and do not allow their children to make independent choices. Authoritative parents have high expectations and set clear boundaries, but allow their children considerable freedom. They are accepting, loving, and supportive of their children. Indulgent parents are responsive to their children 's needs but completely undemanding. They are warm and loving but set no clear boundaries or expectations. Uninvolved parents are unresponsive and undemanding. They are not warm or loving, nor do they set any type of boundaries or
The emotional characteristics that facilitate identity development are warmth, companionship, and acceptance. The behavioral characteristics that facilitate identity development are setting reasonable behavior standards and enforcing adherence to those standards, encouraging self-expression and self-exploration, and being accepting of others ' perspectives. The emotional characteristics that impede a child 's identity development are hostility, restrictiveness, emotional distance, and rejection. The behavioral characteristics that impede identity development are rigidity, intolerance, inability to adjust, and not setting behavior standards.4These emotional and behavioral characteristics that assist or inhibit identity development tie back into the afore mentioned patterns of parenting. Both authoritarian and uninvolved parents ' emotional and behavioral characteristics obstruct identity development. Indulgent parents ' emotional characteristics help identity development, but their behavioral characteristics hamper it. Authoritative parents ' emotional and behavioral characteristics support identity development. As you can see, neither a neglectful or avoidant style of parenting is likely to help the development of identity. Steinberg stated that "compared with their counterparts from non-authoritative homes, authoritatively reared