The Four Parenting Styles

The following article offers some insight to thoseparents, though lenient, are more aware and show a
involved in the wonderful world known as Parenting.committment to engage with their children.
There are just as many parenting styles as there areThe third parenting style is that of the authoritative
a number of parents. Experts believe the parentingparent. These parents are both demanding and
styles fall into 4 different and identifiable styles:responsive at the same time. Authoritative parents
authoritarian, indulgent, authoritative, and uninvolved.while expecting their their children to behave in a
Let's examine this more closely. The first parentingcertain manner, don't impose their authority and
style is that of the authoritarian parent. These parentswelcome a certain amount of questioning. They
are like army commanders. They prefer to issuedemonstrate a combination of assertiveness coupled
commands and orders to their children and fully expectwith the ability to respond to their children's feedback.
their children to carry out their orders withoutThese children appear to be more lively and have a
questioning them. Authoritarians do not welcome norhappier disposition about them. Their self-confidence is
appreciate any feedback from their children. They livemore developed they seem to be more sure of their
by set and defined rules in a structured environment..abilities. These children also show better emotional
These children as we now know, are generallycontrol and are more adept in their social skills. Gender
considered to have an unhappy nature about them.stereotypes are also less of an issue with authoritative
Boys generally exhibit hostile behaviour when dealingparents, as they tend to be more open minded in their
with frustration, whereas girls tend to give up easilyoutlook towards their children's behaviour, i.e. boys
when faced with difficult situations. Both the boys andplaying with dolls and girls playing with tools.
girls however, tend to perform better in school due toLastly, we look at the parenting style known as
their disciplined upbringing."uninvolved parenting". As the name suggests, these
The second parenting style is the indulgent parent.parents are simply uninvolved. They are neither
These parents are generally lenient. They allow ademanding nor responsive of their children and they
variety of behaviours by their children that some wouldare not interested in any feedback from them. These
describe as immature. Essentially, they let the childrenparents are the most likely to be irresponsible and
look after themselves and avoid confronting them at allmore often neglect their children.
costs. Indulgent parents may also be described asWe hope you found the above information insightful
non-directive or democratic. Non-directive parents areand will seek out the many more resources available
known to parent by default, that is, by taking virtuallyon this topic online.
no action in parenting of their children. Democratic