What type of parent are you? Designed by Wes Mountain, CC BY-ND
What’s the best way to raise your child? It’s a question that has provoked the publication of numerous books, and seen authors race to coin the next quirky name for a new style of parenting.
And it turns out there are many styles. To date, some of the best known include:
- Tiger parents, who are seen as pushing their children to succeed according to their parents’ terms.
- Helicopter parents, who take over every aspect of the child’s life.
- Snowplough parents, who remove obstacles to make life easier for their child.
- Free-range parents, who allow children a great deal of freedom.
- Attachment or gentle parents, who are relaxed but set limits in line with the child’s needs and character.
Psychologists generally talk about parenting as fitting into typologies, based on the work of Diana Baumrind, a clinical and developmental psychologist known for her research on parenting styles.
There are generally understood to be four typologies:
- Authoritarian parents are the authority in their child’s life. They set the rules and say “jump” and their child responds “how high?”. (Most similar to tiger parents.)
- Permissive parents are lax about their expectations, don’t set standards and don’t ask much of their children.
- Neglectful parents are uninterested in their children and unwilling to be an active part of their child’s life.
- Authoritative parents are highly demanding while being highly responsive.
One of the major criticisms of these typologies is how culturally determined they are.
So what does research say about the pros and cons of each of these parenting styles?
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