PARENTING STYLES AND THE EFFECT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Parenting Styles and the Effect on Academic Achievement John T. Cummings Westminster College

PARENTING STYLES AND THE EFFECT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

While children are born with a combination of their parents genes it is their environment that will shape who they will become. The classic argument of nature vs. nurture should not be seen as a competition between the two but rather how the nature is effected by the nurture. !n his Essay Concerning Human Understanding John "oc#e $%&''( poses the idea that children are born with a blan# slate which society but more importantly parents imprint beliefs and values upon. Societies are sustained through the ne)t generation a generation which has been molded through parental involvement. A#in to philosophers speculating decades ago educational psychologists study the role of parental styles and their effect on offspring. *iffering styles of parenting may foster or inhibit the development of responsibility self+reliance and even a sense of performance competence. Within the last decade research has shown that parental involvement does not decline as children mature into adolescents and that parental styles continue to shape competence in educational achievement $,lasgow et. al %--&(. Parenting styles can effect education in a myriad of ways. Whether it be specific such as. time allotted for homewor# homewor# aid or involvement in school functions or general such as. time allotted for reading aid in e)tra+curricular activities or involvement in the student/s social life. *espite positive correlation between parental involvement and school+related outcomes research indicates that parental involvement declines in adolescence $Spera 0''1(. This paper will evaluate different parental styles to show that parental involvement is vital to academic achievement. Parenting Styles ! will begin by defining various parenting styles to clarify the relationship shared between parents and offspring. Parenting styles or basic strategies that parents use in child rearing have various methodologies. There are many different theories and opinions on which style is the best

PARENTING STYLES AND THE EFFECT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

due to each style offering differing levels of time and effort parents invest. These styles are basic and most parents create their own form due to personal opinion how they were raised by their parents and how they were affected by the culture they were raised in. Parenting styles are often categori2ed by the emotional environment that the parent chooses to create while specific behaviors or models can be defined as parental practices. Parental styles alter the parent3s ability to sociali2e their children by changing the effectiveness of the practices $*arling 4 Steinberg %--5(. 6accoby and 6artin $%-75( define four different parental styles. authoritative parenting authoritarian parenting indulgent parenting and neglectful parenting. Authoritative parenting is often deemed democratic or balanced as punishment is measured and consistent. A child typically #nows why they are being punished as authoritative parents ma#e reasons clear. Authoritative parents set basic standards for their children as the children are encouraged to be independent within limits while regulating feelings through appropriate outlets. 8n the other hand authoritarian parenting is typically seen as strict due to the little to no dialog between parent and offspring. Authoritarian parenting is restrictive with high e)pectations of conformity and compliance. 8bedience is demanded without e)planation. !ndulgent

parenting is responsive li#e authoritative but no demanding. !ndulgent parenting is deemed permissive and lenient as few behavioral e)pectations for offspring are set. !ndulgent parents are typically nurturing and accepting but do not e)pect offspring to regulate themselves. 9inally neglectful parenting is defined by parents being uninvolved dismissive or being low in warmth or control. Parents who are neglectful provide basic needs such as food and shelter but do not support the child emotionally. :ecause parenting style is theoretically independent of specific sociali2ation practices and because the style is conveyed across all

PARENTING STYLES AND THE EFFECT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

parent+child interactions the parental style communicates parent3s attitude towards the child rather than the child3s actions $*arling 4 Steinberg %--5(. 8bviously how the child interprets the parental style can have a huge effect on child behavior but the studies presented this paper all follow a common methodology which is to analy2e the parental style and the child3s academic achievement rather than the child3s actions otherwise. Effects of Parent+Child ;elationships The nature of the parent+child relationship can greatly affect the way adolescents understand and respond to events. <ot only can home life affect the personal relationship you have with yourself but it can affect your social relationships along with your educational relationships. *ifferent constructions or combinations of parenting styles and parenting practices produce various adolescent perceptions of personal performances perceptions of personal capacities and perceptions of self+reliance and ability to act responsibly. According to ,lasgow *ornbusch Troyer Steinberg and ;itter $%--&( authoritative parenting is the most successful style in fostering personal and social responsibility in adolescents without limiting individuality and autonomy. *ue to this generali2ation the researchers hypothesi2ed that adolescents under non+authoritative parenting styles would be associated with dysfunctional attributions in high school. Steinberg "amborn *arling 6ounts and *ornbusch $%--=( studied the development of adolescents under each category of parenting styles for a year to see the change in self+reliance and wor# orientation. Their studies found that adolescences raised under authoritative parents had an increase in self+reliance scores> those from indulgent and authoritarian families essentially remained the same> and the adolescence raised in neglectful households generally declined. Similarly adolescents in neglectful and authoritarian homes had a decrease in wor# orientation

PARENTING STYLES AND THE EFFECT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

while those in authoritative and indulgent homes remained stable. !t is to be noted that the researchers also loo#ed at the relation of ethnicity and found it to be marginally significant. 9urthermore the researchers found that each of the parenting styles had significant effects on academic self+conceptions or the personal beliefs the children had about their academic abilities or s#ills but not on grade point average over the year. The adolescence in each style group had a positive growth in self+concept but the increase was significantly higher in authoritative and indulgent styles. While self+concept increased each of the youth had become more negative about school in general. The youth raised in neglectful homes had a dramatic drop especially compared to those raised in authoritative and authoritarian homes. !n their earlier study *arling and Steinberg $%--5( wrote that authoritativeness may increase the effectiveness of parental practices through their effect on the child3s openness to sociali2ation. Thus authoritative parents involvement in school related activities communicate an importance of academics to an adolescent that is already open to receiving parental values. 8n the other hand authoritarian styles may increase adolescents3 resistance to parental advice decreasing some beneficial effects of the parents being involved. Problem behavior in children can be manifested in either an e)ternal or internal fashion. E)ternal problem behavior consists of a lac# of restraint or other e)pressions of under sociali2ation. This type of problem behavior typically directs negative emotions against others through aggression anger and frustration. !nternali2ed behavior can be manifested in an)iety inhibition fearfulness and withdrawal. This problem behavior is directed at oneself rather than others. Certain parental style combinations can lead to e)ternali2ing or internali2ing problem behavior and while many studies have been done on the role of the parental styles on problem behavior few have studied how each style moderates the others $Aunola 4 <urmi 0''1(.

PARENTING STYLES AND THE EFFECT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

?owever some studies have shown that high levels of behavioral control is related to low levels of e)ternali2ing problems among adolescences and elementary+aged children. These results have been attributed to the fact that behavioral control fosters self+regulation or compliance. 9urthermore it has been suggested that parental affection can help foster ad@ustment to regulation. $Eccles et. Al 0''5(. This regulation is reAuired within social conte)ts such as in school settings peer groups and the family. The school setting is a social one and even if a student can avoid group pro@ects during their entire educational career there is very little opportunity for a student to avoid peers. Children grow up in multiple conte)ts. with family members such as parents and siblings and within peer groups whether near the home or because of schooling. While each of these conte)ts can have an affect on the child ultimately it is the parental involvement that defines the relationships as even the peers are raised by their own parents. 8verall it is difficult to study how parental involvement effects achievement outside of the obvious such as e)ternali2ing or internali2ing problem behaviors affecting the individual in school settings. While we can ma#e conceptual distinctions between parental practices and styles we still need a way to better e)amine familial influences. Each style is within a culture conte)t as well as a socio+economic conte)t. *arling and Steinberg $%--5( find that authoritativeness and school performance is much stronger in European+ and ?ispanic+American adolescents than in Asian+ and African+American adolescents. This can mean that either culture plays a relative role within successful parental styles or that we need to further study and narrow the psychological views. 9urther research needs to be done on cultural influences and socio+ economic influences.

PARENTING STYLES AND THE EFFECT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

Aunola B. 4 <urmi J. E. $0''1(. The role of parenting styles in children3s problem behavior. Child development 76$C( %%==+%%1-. *arling <. 4 Steinberg ". $%--5(. Parenting style as conte)t" An integrative model. Psychological bulletin, 113(3 , =7&. Eccles J. S. Early *. 9raser B. :elans#y E. 4 6cCarthy B. $%--&( The relation of connection regulation and support for autonomy to adolescents3 functioning. !ournal o" #dolescent $esearch, 1%(% , 0C5+07C ,lasgow B. ". *ornbusch S. 6. Troyer ". Steinberg ". 4 ;itter P. ". $%--&(. Parenting styles adolescents3 attributions and educational outcomes in nine heterogeneous high schools. Child development 6&$5( 1'&+10-. "oc#e J. $%&''(. An essay concerning human understanding. 6accoby E. E. 6artin J. A. $%-75(. Sociali2ation in the conte)t of the family. Parent+child interaction. ?andboo# of Child Psychology volume !D. Sociali2ation personality and social development %+%'% Spera C. $0''1(. A review of the relationship among parenting practices parenting styles and adolescent school achievement. Educational Psychology $evie' 17$0( %01+%=C. Steinberg ". "amborn S. *. *arling <. 6ounts <. S. 4 *ornbusch S. 6. $%--=(. 8vertime changes in ad@ustment and competence among adolescents from authoritative authoritarian indulgent and neglectful families. Child development 6($5( &1=+&&'.