THE IMPACT OF DIFFERENT PARENTING STYLES ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN: A CROSS‑CULTURAL EXAMINATION OF EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL OUTCOMES

Abstract

This paper examines how the various styles of parenting phenomenon influence the psychological growth of children in areas of emotional regulation, behavioral, self-esteem, socialness, aggressiveness, academic, parental warmth, and parental control. Two cultural contexts were used in a comparative study (the United States being an individualistic culture and China being a collectivist culture) in order to determine the effects of parenting styles on child outcomes in different cultural conditions. The findings reveal that authoritative parenting is the most preferred approach, which is highly responsive and highly restrictive and results in the most desirable outcomes across all areas that support emotional control, academic performances and desirable social behaviors. Conversely, the least desirable parenting style is neglectful parenting that involves low responsiveness and low control resulting in aggressive children exhibiting low self-esteem and poor performance in school. The authoritarian and permissive parenting styles resulted in betraying results, considering that authoritarian parenting resulted in increased aggression, specifically in the Chinese population, whereas permissive parenting was associated with reduced academic performance and lack of emotional control. These results present a case in favor of culturally sensitive parenting intervention based on warm and controlling control to ensure the best child development