Do you know what parental educational styles are? They are educational patterns that include the way parents act with their children, in response to situations that require decision-making in their education.
There are five parental educational styles: authoritarian, permissive, negligent, overprotective and democratic. In this article we will learn about the characteristics of each of them and which one is the most appropriate to promote a good psychosocial development in children.
- Recommended article: “The 8 types of families (that exist in our society)”.
Parental educational styles: what are they?
The parental educational styles include the way in which parents educate and act in response to their children in daily situations when it is necessary to make decisions about them or to resolve some type of conflict.
These styles respond to the way in which adults interpret their children’s behaviors, and to their vision of the world.and their vision of the world. It is important that these parental educational styles are adequate, because they will produce certain evolutionary consequences in the socio-emotional adjustment of the children.
Growing up in one educational style or another has important consequences: adaptation to the environment, consolidation of the personality, behavioral problems, etc. (i.e., both positive and negative consequences).
There are five parental educational styles. Let’s see the characteristics of each of them below.
1. Authoritarian style
This type of style is used by parents who impose their rules instead of explaining things to their children or having a dialogue with them.. Through the authoritarian style, parents punish their children’s inappropriate behaviors, with the aim of preventing future problems (when in fact what they do is to promote that in the future these problems “explode”).
They are parents who believe that children should not be offered too many explanations; instead, they believe that punishment by itself is sufficient to control the child’s behavior.
On the other hand, this educational style is characterized by a high degree of demand in the children’s maturation. At the communicative level, they are parents who do not communicate adequately with their children, since they consider dialogue unnecessary or accessory.
For this type of parent, the most important thing is to comply with the rules, that is, obedience. As for their affective expression, it is quite limited with their children, and they do not usually express affection openly with them. Finally, they do not take into account the needs, desires or interests of their children, because for them the most important thing is that they comply with the rules.
2. Permissive style
The second of the parental educational styles is the permissive style. Parents with this type of style are characterized by providing their children with high degrees of affection and communication, together with an absence of control.coupled with an absence of control.
The demand for a minimum of maturity in their children is also low. That is, they are permissive parents, who do not demand too much, and who constantly adapt to the needs and desires of the child.
Thus, adult-child interactions are modulated by the wishes and interests of the child. Parents with this educational style tend to intervene as little as possible in terms of setting rules or limits. Thus, the demands made on their children in terms of maturity and compliance with rules are minimal. According to them, children have to learn by themselves.
As for the level of affection, as we mentioned, in this case it is high, although, on the other hand, they are parents who do not set limits for their children in any way.
3. Neglectful or indifferent style
The following parental educational style is perhaps the most detrimental for children.. This style is characterized by having little involvement in the task of educating and raising children.
These are fathers and mothers who show little sensitivity to the needs of the children. They do not set rules, but from time to time they show excessive control over the child, who is subjected to strong punishment without any explanation or reasoning for the inappropriate behavior.
In other words, they are incoherent educational patterns, which may cause the child not to understand why he/she is being punished on some occasions and why he/she is allowed to do what he/she wants on others.
4. Overprotective style
The overprotective style, on the other hand, is characterized by involving few rules, or if they exist, they are rarely applied.. This is done because it is considered that the children are not ready for it.
In short, they are parents who overprotect their children and do not provide them with the tools to be independent and to be able to face their problems autonomously.
They are parents who give their children everything they want, and usually right away. They do not usually apply punishments, and are excessively permissive in everything. On the other hand, they justify or forgive all their children’s mistakes, avoiding confronting these problems or downplaying their importance.
5. Assertive or democratic style
Finally, the assertive or democratic style is the best of the parental educational styles, in the sense that it is the one that is the best in terms of the assertive or democratic style.In the sense that it is the most appropriate when it comes to educating and avoiding the appearance of inadequate behaviors. This is justified because it is a balanced style, where all the previous elements exist (demand, control, affection…) but in the right measure.
Thus, they are fathers and mothers who show high doses of: affection, demand and control. This makes them warm fathers and mothers but without ceasing to demand and show firmness in their actions with their children. They set limits for their children but they are coherent limits (not rigid); they also make their children respect and comply with the rules.
Through these behaviors, they stimulate the maturity of their children. This does not mean that behavioral problems never appear in children with assertive parents, but that the probability of them appearing is lower than in comparison with other parental educational styles.
Relationships, affectivity and communication
Regarding affectivity and communication, they are understanding and affectionate parents, who encourage communication with their children. Their sensitivity to their children’s needs is high.
In addition, they facilitate the expression of their needs and provide them with space so that they begin to be autonomous and responsible with their things. In other words, they favor their personal development.
In the context of this type of educational style, parent-child relationships based on dialogue and consensus emerge.. For this type of parent it is important that their children understand different situations, whether they are problematic or not.
Finally, they are parents who encourage their children to make an effort to achieve things, but they know the scope of their children’s possibilities, and do not pressure them for what they are not yet ready for.