Authoritarian Parenting Style and Its Negative Impact - Research Paper Example

Authoritarian Parenting Style and Its Negative Impact Abstract This research paper discusses the effects that authoritarian parenting style creates on adolescents’ self-esteem in Saudi Arabia. The study explores the relationship between authoritarian parenting in Saudi Arabia and the effects it creates on members of the adolescent age between the ages of 13 to 18 years. The study is going to look into twenty cases of female respondents. The participants were required to complete the self-esteem scale that appraised five key dimensions to the study. The five dimensions included emotional, social, academic, family, and physical. The finishing of development tasks, like identity formation, is important for Saudi Arabians. There are numerous features that may influence an adolescent in Saudi Arabia such as culture and politics. Youth, as well as children from the Saudi Arabia, is influenced by parenting styles. For children, parenting styles that are authoritarian and typical in the Arab world lead to different development in children compared to the Western world. For children and young adolescents, the nature of parental control and the degree of parental openness are of critical importance. The value is seen as the children and youth move through different cultures other than their own. The study acknowledges that the self-esteem plays an important part in the development of a child through to his or her adulthood. The investigations, therefore, indicate that Saudi youths of between 13 to 18 years under the authoritarian parental are affected negatively. The study of the twenty respondents under the quantitative methods leads to the belief that self-esteem is a crucial and important ingredient in the development of a child. The paper used surveys of parenting styles and self-esteem to complete the study through relating the two aspects in a Saudi setup. Key words Arab, Saudi Arabian, youth, child, adolescent, parenting styles, authoritarian parenting, physical, social, emotional, Introduction Parenting (child rearing) is an intense process that involves the promotion and support development of the social, emotional, and intellectual development of a young person (child). It is a process that begins early as soon as the baby is born (from infancy) to the maturity levels of the baby (adulthood). The way parents behave helps in understanding the development of a child, which is of great value to both academia and laypeople. Scholars have gone too deep researching to understand the relationships between parents and their children (Steinberg, 2005). The abilities of researchers to organize a variety of behaviors with which parents engage their children and put in place a consistent framework has led to the identification of parental behaviors, as well as their effects on the total health of their children. Research studies have increased to discuss the relationships of various actions of parents on the perceptions of children and adolescents by applying an advanced differentiation of parenting dimensions. Researchers have been able to hypothesize about the specific links between different dimensions and their outcomes on the lives of adolescent’s emotional developments (O’Donnell, 1976). They have achieved this by utilizing tools that measure the behavior of parents with parenting constructs that have been around for a long time. An authoritarian parenting style is one that involves extreme or very strict form of parenting. It is characterized by total adherence of a child to what the parents want and set rules to be observed. The system does not give any room for input or information from the child. This parenting type is characterized by harsh, rigid emotional climate that offer a low parental response. The nurturing aspect of a child is neglected by imposition of strict codes and regulations. There is a high parental control over the child (O’Donnell, 1976). The parents do not give room for open communication in the authoritarian parenting style. There is a boss sense for the parents, and the feeling is exerted to their children through demanding total cooperation and adherence without questions. The parents set up a negative reward (absolute punishment) for any rule broken. In Saudi Arabia, yelling and spanking of teenagers aged 13 to 18 is very rampant as a means through which, parents punish their children for disobedience. The Saudi parents have instilled high levels and standards of performance and extreme value placed on compliance that demands for indisputable respect for authority. Authoritarian parents are not classified as emotional, passionate or affectionate. They degenerate high levels of criticism when their children fail to meet the expected high levels of obedience and behavior. There are many parents in the Saudi Arabian cultures that the practice this parenting style (Henry, 2011). The main reason is due to nationality, cultural and ethical backgrounds. The other factor is that the majority of the parents were raised by authoritarian parents. They do not feel the urge to practice any other forms of parenting. On the other hand, this affects the self-esteem of the children under such parenting styles. Self-esteem helps a person develop ways of valuing his or herself. Self esteem also affects the performance of a teenage either positively or negatively depending on the levels. When a person has low self esteem, their behavior may be a bit low in standards compared high self-esteem persons. One researcher, Branden (2001) was among the researchers who disaggregated the widely accepted parenting typologies, which are authoritarian, authoritative and permissive. He came up with parenting behaviors that are meaningful to researchers as they try to predict the different developmental significance of each of the parenting typologies. Due to the application of a differentiated approach for expounding on existing research, theorists have come up with key parenting (Henry, 2011) behaviors such as parental support, parental behavioral control also called monitoring and parental mental control. The majority of the existing research literature on the parent-child literature use the above three constructs. This paper utilizes these measurable constructs in an attempt to add to the existing research material on parenting. It does so about the Saudi Arabia’s adolescents. The group is a growing population but has underrepresentation in research (Forum, 2011). Statement of the problem This research paper is designed with the goal of better understanding the perceived parenting practices and how they relate to the self-image/self-esteem and motivation in academics, emotional, social, physical and intellectual development in adolescents of Saudi Arabians. There are few studies in existence that focus on this particular group; hence, this research will fill this literary gap. It will achieve this goal by trying to gain insight into the societal capability of adolescents in a growing group of adolescents from Saudi Arabia in Los Angeles. The difference between the youths of different cultural backgrounds is critical. While the scholarly literature has extensively explored the parenting behaviors among White European American populations to establish Western measures of parenting, there have been less research papers published discussing the parental behaviors of children from ethnic societies such as Saudi Arabia. Literature review The literature review of this study revolves around discussing the effects of authoritarian parenting style on self esteem of teens. The literature review discusses the effects on youths aged 13 to 18 years. The literature review discusses the Arab culture and the Islamic religion critically analyzing their effects on parenting especially on authoritarian style (Forum, 2011). The four slides that the literature review will analyze are parenting, authoritarian parenting, and influence of authoritarian parenting on teenage groups and their self-esteem and Arab culture and Islamic religion. Parenting involves bringing up kids in the right directions of life (in a moral and behavioral ethics). The biological parents are the basic partners in developing a child’s behavior and other aspects of development (Branden, 2001). There are many factors that affect the parenting style parents partake on their children. Among these factors are social class, wealth and income (Forum, 2011). They have the strongest impact on parenting techniques. On the other hand, lack of money is classified as a defining factor in the style parents may adopt in raising their children. Time is also an important factor in parenting. Growing patterns in life of a child necessitates that the child demand a change in the strategies adopted in parenting (Branden, 2001). The psychological parental investment theory states that basic differences in gender under parental investment present great adaptive significances and lead to differences in gender especially on mating propensities. A family’s social class has great implications on the opportunities and resources that a child will be exposed (Branden, 2001). For instance, the working classes of the lower scale often grow up as disadvantaged with the schooling, communities and parental attention as compared to middle class families or upper class families. The lower class will often need exposure and networking, as opposed to the middle class and the upper class. There are six Central Dimensions of Child Training under parenting, which can be categorized under two groups. These are Pressure towards Compliance, and the other is Pressure towards Assertion (Collins, 2005). The six Central Dimensions of Child Training is obedience, responsibility, nurturance, performance, self-assurance and broad-spectrum independence training. The central dimensions can be grouped into the two common threads (Branden, 2001). Under Pressure towards Compliance, there is obedience and responsibilities. Under Pressure towards Assertion, there is a performance, confidence and general freedom training (Collins, 2005). Depending on the functionality of the adult life of a particular family setup, a group may focus on one thread or the other. In other words, every social group is aware of the likely results expected of a member of that group. At the same time, most parents have individual ethnic theories. These theories link the child-rearing methods precisely within the context (Frank, 2010). The context may be either social or ecological. Therefore, family setups that vary in socio-political points of view may vary in the level of compliance and the assertion that is emphasized in parenting. It follows that parents who move from place to place, such as immigrants or those going through rapid change in culture may show inconsistencies in parenting approach (Frank, 2010). There is clearly a difference between families that exhibit a collectivist versus an individualistic approach. Families that follow the collective approach, emphasize on avoiding uncertainty, being obedient and having behaviors that benefit the group. On the other hand, parenting in families that follow the individualistic approach emphasize on freedom and confidence. When parenting paradigms from the Western world are applied in different families, the parenting issues may vary (Forum, 2011). The variation occurs despite debates about how applicable the paradigms are across the social groups. Parenting styles: authoritarian parenting Authoritarian parenting uses rules to set up structures of codes of conducts for children. The authoritarian way of parenting demands that the parent is very demanding and authoritative (Forum, 2011). The approach has many characteristics such as child-centered approach that maintains high expectations of maturity on children and youth. The approach encourages teens to be independent but within the limits stipulated by their parents (Haboush, 2005). Baumrind classified the parenting styles in the 1960s using three fundamental patterns. The patterns differ in the amount of warmth and level of control. The parenting styles are classified as authoritarian, permissive and authoritative (Forum, 2011). In authoritarian parenting, the parents place emphasis on parental control and obedience. Rules are supposed to be followed without question. The parents have low levels of nurturance and affection. In permissive parenting style, the parent focuses on autonomy and allows the child to do their own actions and make their own decisions. They exhibit high nurturance and low control. Finally, in the authoritative mode, the parent balances the autonomy level with control. Limits are put in place, but explanations are given for the limits (Haboush, 2005). A comprehensive study on parenting in Saudi Arabia was researched by Marwan Dairy and others. The group has continuously estimated and measured results of parenting variables including Baurmrind’s types. Other dimensions such as control, rejection and inconsistency have also been studied (Garg, 2005). The research carried out in Saudi Arabia indicated that youths between the age of 13 to 18 have less social competence because the parent determine every aspect of their lives. The youth is not given an opportunity to make any choices even if the life is his or hers. The youths end up developing insecurities and displaying anti-social behaviors (Garg, 2005). Arab culture and Islamic religion Arab is a language that is spoken by many communities in different parts of the world. Islam is the main and biggest form of religion that is practiced by most people in Saudi (Henry, 2011). These people are also Arabic speakers. Their culture mainly revolves around the Islamic religion, traditional Arab practices, and Bedouin. The impact of the Islamic religion and the Arab traditional practices necessitate for an authoritarian parenting process. The Islamic religion has very strict codes that demand an authoritarian way of parenting especially to the female gender (Henry, 2011). The female gender in Saudi Arabia faces different attitudes when it comes to parenting. Even so, both genders are raised in an authoritarian way but the male gender face a more relaxed authoritarian authority. Dwairy (2004) says that Arabic cultures such as that in Saudi Arabia are typically collectivist and authoritarian. Children are required to follow strictly the rules of adults. Disobedience is accompanied by harsh punishment, particularly for publicly displayed social behaviors. Saudi children view themselves as a reflection of the status and reputation of the family coupled with the support and approval from the family. Majority of Saudi adolescents who have been questioned in the past concerning authoritarian practices cite authoritarian practices (Garg, 2005). Most of them said that they complied with parental guidance on social decisions. They claimed that compliance with parental directives gave them satisfaction, as opposed to suffering from authoritarian parenting style (Henry, 2011). However, changes in recent years, in countries undergoing rapid social change may produce different styles. Two earlier studies produced some gender differences. They gave the impression that authoritarian parenting styles did not have negative effects on these groups. The first study by Dwairy (2004) found young Palestinian-Arab adolescents reported that parental authority and discipline practices caused problems in the relationship between parents and children. They also said that the authoritarian parenting styles affected their sense of self-worth and caused emotional distress. Authoritative parental patterns were associated with more positive mental health outcomes. However, the authoritarian parenting style showed no positive impact on the children. Male youth exhibited heightened emotional (Garg, 2005) difficulties associated with the permissive parenting style (O’Donnell, 1976). With the same respect, when parenting style was examined across urban and rural samples of Egyptian youth, mental health was associated with the authoritative parenting style and not an authoritarian one. More evidence originates from three studies that involved 2,893 adolescents from eight countries. The authors of these studies emphasize on the fact that Arab societies are more towards a collective family identity (O’Donnell, 1976). Despite this, they also show that the rapid rate of modernization, as well as urbanization coupled with exposure (Garg, 2005) to Western cultures, has created a high variation between the Arab countries. Some have embraced the more liberal ways. However, those exposed to cultures from the West through occupation, for example, may resist change. For others, exposure to Western cultures may foster an “ambivalent” parenting style, which mixes both authoritarian and permissive parenting styles (O’Donnell, 1976). Due to the strong hierarchical support system in Arab families, they anticipated that Arab American college students will be extremely responsive to the acculturation practices and attitudes of their parents. They also predicted that the level of control may interact with openness in the prediction of the health (Henry, 1989). Openness to American culture predicted well-being when parents exerted high levels of control. Lower levels of health were evident when parents exhibited high control, but were not open to American culture. Congruent with the former study, the preservation of the Arab culture by parents contributed to the health of students when parents exhibited less control (O’Donnell, 1976). The level of autonomy in this case was responsible for the integration between the host and native culture. Other reports indicate that there are some intermediate variables that impact parenting styles in Saudi Arabia. First, about first born children, they receive special treatment. First born adolescents and children tend to receive more attention and they are likely to take the family’s ambition. They are also given a dominant role with respect to other children (Henry, 1989). Saudi adolescents take the aspirations of the parents, but, on the other hand, get a chance to indulge themselves. Another variable is the level of education and economic ability of the parents. The association between socioeconomic classes and a harsh parenting style is global, and not just in Saudi Arabia. The more educated parent is, the less the level of authoritarian parenting style and vice versa (O’Donnell, 1976). Mother of a high socioeconomic level tends to be more authoritative than the mothers of lower socio-economic level. Gifted Saudi children were found to be from families in which parents were more authoritative but less authoritarian. Modernization also has an effect on the traditional authoritarian style of parenting in Saudi Arabia. Modernization has enabled parents to reject or only accept a small portion of traditional values and culture (O’Donnell, 1976). Consequently, they receive modern values and a higher level of individualism. Modernization effects include the change from using the extended family system to using to the nuclear family that is becoming a common phenomenon in developing areas. Another factor that has influenced the authoritarian parenting system in Saudi Arabia is how well parents and children fit together. Experts have discovered that there are three sorts of children (Garg, 2005). There are easy children, who are happy, calm and adaptable. They have regular patterns of eating and sleeping. In addition, they have a positive mood and are interested in new experiences. On the other hand, there are difficult adolescents who are mostly fussy and exhibit irregular feeding and sleeping patterns. In addition, they have low adaptability and are fearful of new circumstances and people. They are easily upset and have a high temper. Moreover, they have intense reactions to situations (Garg, 2005). Therefore, the match or mismatch between a parent and the child will determine whether or not the Saudi parent is authoritarian or authoritative. In Saudi Arabia, not only does gender affect parenting. Also, the gender of children affects them also. In Saudi Arabia, it was found that parents with an authoritarian style of parenting were more in number than females. Females, on the other hand, exhibited a more authoritative parenting style (Plunkett, 2009). Research Method The design (quantitative techniques) used in this study was selected because of its reliability (Plunkett, 2009). The project researchers asked for participation in the study from five schools in Saudi Arabia. The administrators from each school were contacted and requested to help facilitate the collaboration between interested teachers and trained graduates and undergraduate research assistants. With the permission from the administrators from each school, research assistants contacted individual teachers to further ask for support by expounding the purpose of the study as well as the process of obtaining the data. The teachers who agreed to participate in the program were given parent consent forms so that they can issue these to parents in order to collect signatures of approval. Only students who submitted their consent forms to their teachers were allowed to participate. Research Sample stratification The sample consisted of 20 females of Saudis aged between thirteen and eighteen years. The survey below was made to explore the effect of parenting style on self-esteem. The adolescents were asked to put themselves in their parent’s shoes and answer the questions based on how their parents behave when it comes to parenting styles. They were each given a questionnaire made up of queries that reflected the behavior of their parents. A final score would reveal the parenting style as well as the impact on the self-esteem of the children. They were asked if they were receptive to their adolescent’s emotions and wants. Next, they were asked whether they take their adolescent’s desires into thought before asking them to carry out a task that they describe to their adolescent what their impression regards their conduct and whether they encourage their adolescents to partake in conversations regarding his/her emotions and difficulties. The following question was whether or not they elucidate the motives at the foundation their children’s anticipations. The parents were asked whether they offer relief and empathy when their adolescent is distressed. This was another way of asking whether they praise their adolescent. The subsequent enquiry was whether or not they contemplate their adolescent’s inclinations when making policies for the household like about weekends and breaks. Also, they were asked whether they venerate their adolescent’s view and encourage them to express them. They were also asked whether they treat their adolescent as an identical associate of the household. They were asked to give their youngster motives for the hopes they have for them. The next question was whether they have warm moments with their children. When the adolescent requests they to do something do they tell them that the reason is that they commanded it, they are the guardians, or because it is their desire. On an area of control, they were asked whether they reprimand their adolescent by taking privileges away from them, such as TV, games, visiting friends. They were asked whether they yell when they disapprove their child’s performance. Parents were also asked whether they explode in anger towards their child. Another enquiry was whether they spank their child when they do not like what they do or say. Do they use criticism to make their child improve his/her behavior? They were asked whether they utilize threats as a method of chastisement with petite or no explanation. Also, they were asked if they punish their child by withholding emotional expressions such as kisses and cuddles. Another question was whether they openly criticize their adolescent when their conduct does not meet their expectations. The tenth question was whether they find themselves struggling to try to change how their child thinks or feels about things. Next, they were asked what they felt when they needed to point out their child’s past behavioral problems to make sure that they will not do them again. In that regard, they were asked whether they remind their children that they are the parents. In addition, they were asked whether they remind their child of all the things they are doing and have done for him/her. The next set of questions involved the point whether parents find it difficult to control their child. They were asked whether or not they give into their child when he/she causes a commotion about something. The next question was whether they spoil their child. The previous question would determine whether they ignore their child’s bad behavior. Research Findings The study showed a clear characteristic of what other studies have found regarding Saudi children and the authoritarian style of parenting. Out of the total number of participants, 90% agreed that their parents used authoritarian parenting. This showed that the traditional parenting style was being held from the culture of the Saudis. The rest of the children said that their parents were either authoritative or authoritarian and appeared to be the most gifted. The 90% were mostly shy and some of them (4%) did not show their identity for future follow up. The discussion of the findings is as below. Discussion The researchers’ goal was to determine authoritarian parental practices and how it impacts on the youths aged 13 to 18 in Saudi Arabia. The data was gathered and analyzed using t-tests, multiple regressions and vicariate correlations (Plunkett, 2009). The results of the paired t-tests indicated significant differences Saudi adolescent’s notions of paternal versus maternal behavior. In this respect, separate analyses were conducted for the report of fathers and mothers. These findings were in line with the prediction that perceived support and monitoring by both parents were significantly and positively related to self-esteem of the adolescents. Perceived punitive nature and mental control by both parents appeared to be negatively and significantly related to the self-esteem of the adolescents. On similar lines, parental support and monitoring by both parents were found to be positively and significantly related to the academic motivation of the adolescents. On the other hand, emotional control and punitive nature by both parents were not significantly related to the self-esteem of the adolescents (Plunkett, 2009). In addition, the perceived maternal and paternal behaviors accounted for significant change in male and female academic motivation and self-esteem of Saudi adolescents. The perceived behaviors of mothers made up for more change than paternal behavior. It is thought that mothers accounted for most of the development because of the primary caretaking role they hold in the Saudi family structure. It turns out that adolescents are more exposed to the behaviors of mothers more consistently and often than to fathers’ behaviors. As expected earlier, parents may change parenting practices to be in line with the particular social context of the family. The preservation of Saudi culture helps their children hold on to the base of support. It is, therefore, important for Arab families in Saudi Arabia (Haboush, 2005). When change is imminent for youth, either from their country of origin or through immigration, they are better off when some level of openness is provided. This is the opposite of anticipating a rigid adherence to the culture of origin. Similarly, psychologists working with and studying the Saudi culture must be sensitive to the fact that maintenance of the culture of origin is beneficial. They should also remember that good parenting may be of different forms in different cultures. Depending on the results of this research, parental support and monitoring are of pivotal importance in fostering heightened academic motivation as well as positive self-esteem among adolescents from Saudi Arabia (Haboush, 2005). The findings of the study show that the monitoring behaviors of mothers are positively proportional to the self-esteem of adolescents. It, therefore, turns out that gearing interventions towards the mothers of Saudi Arabian adolescents is a key strategy. However, despite the positive relationship between maternal monitoring and self-confidence, fathers should be encouraged to increase their efforts. Fathers need to assume a more active role in monitoring their adolescent kids. Based on stereotypes, fathers in the Saudi Arabian culture are not used to familiarizing themselves with the development processes of their children (Laible, 2004). They leave all the information and most of the interaction to their wives. Another solution to this worrying trend is to give meaningful training to the fathers so that they become more interested in the activities and whereabouts of their children. The parenting order was found to create low esteem on the researched population. It creates negative impacts on the self-esteem of most adolescents in Saudi Arabia (Laible, 2004). Most of them rarely learn to think for themselves. When asked, they said they usually feel pressured to conform. Another characteristic that was observed on the effects to their self-esteem was that they ended up being socially withdrawn. Anger took control of their better parts of the judgment, and they always felt resentment and frustration (Laible, 2004). They are always under the fear of failing. The worst is that they develop a resentment of any authority. Conclusion The study explored parental support, parental mental control, parental monitoring as well as parental punitive nature in relation to academic motivation and self-esteem in Saudi Arabian adolescents dwelling in the United States. The results show the parental support and monitoring were significantly positively related to the self-esteem of the adolescents. On the other hand, parental mental control and punitive nature were negatively and significantly related to the self-esteem of adolescents. A similar trend was observed with parental support and monitoring on the academic motivation of adolescents, thereby signifying a statistically significant positive relationship. However, parental mental control and parental punitive nature had no significant relationship to adolescent’s academic motivation. The implication, therefore, is that the more positive methods such as support and monitoring may be more influential to the self-esteem compared to either emotional control or punitive nature by parents in Saudi Arabian families. The authoritarian parenting style is not the best for many countries, including Saudi Arabia. The reason is that the parenting style does not encourage the development of a positive self-esteem in the children. Parents should be encouraged to foster a more authoritative and permissive style in place of the traditional authoritarian system. While some may hold on to their traditional family systems that encourage collectivism, Saudi parents should be encouraged to develop a positive relationship with their children. Parenting styles differ around the globe. Nevertheless, it is vital to recall that the parenting style affects the self-image of a child and their sense of adventure. The questionnaire utilized in this study paper clearly showed that the level of autonomy given to a child to responsibly plan his or her time and other resources is important. Otherwise, the adolescent may pretend to like what he or she is commanded to do, but on the inside, they may be rebellious. Most of them rarely learn to think for themselves. When asked, they said they usually feel pressured to conform. Another characteristic that was observed on the effects to their self-esteem was that they ended up being socially withdrawn. Anger took control of their better parts of the judgment, and they always felt resentment and frustration. They are always under the fear of failing. The worst is that they develop a resentment of any authority. Reference List Branden, N. (2001). The Psychology of Self-Esteem 32nd Edition: A revolutionary approach to self-understanding that launched a new era in Modern psychology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, publisher. Collins, W. A. (2005). Parsing parenting: Refining models of parental influence during adolescence. Monographs of the society for research in child development, 70, 138-145. Dwairy, M. &. (2006). Parenting style, individuation, and mental health of Egyptian adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 29, 103–117. Forum, C.-D. (2011). Top 10 MSA's/CSA's by Middle Eastern population (2005-2009). 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