The 5 parenting educational styles: what does each one consist of?

Do you know what parenting 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 parenting educational styles: authoritarian, permissive, negligent, overprotective, and democratic. In this article we will know the characteristics of each of them and which is the most appropriate to promote good psychosocial development in children.

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Parental educational styles: what are they?

Parental educational styles encompass the way parents educate, and act in response to their children in everyday situations when it is necessary to make decisions about them or solve some type of conflict.

These styles respond to the way in which the adult interprets the behaviors of their children, and your vision of the world. It is important that these parental educational styles are adequate, because they will produce certain evolutionary consequences in the social-emotional adjustment of the children.

The fact of growing up in one educational style or another has important consequences: adaptation to the environment, consolidation of personality, behavior problems, etc. (that is, both positive and negative consequences).

There are five parenting educational styles. We will see the characteristics of each of them below.

1. Authoritarian style

This type of style is used by parents who they impose their rules instead of explaining things to their children or talking to them. Through the authoritarian style, parents punish their children's inappropriate behaviors, with the aim of to prevent future problems (when in reality what they do is promote that in the future these problems "Explode").

They are parents who think that children should not be offered too many explanations; Rather, they believe that punishment alone 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 maturation of the children. At the communicative levelThey are parents who do not communicate adequately with them, since they consider that dialogue is unnecessary or accessory.

For this type of parents, the main thing is to comply with the rules, that is, obedience. As for his emotional expression, he is quite limited with his children, and they do not usually openly express affection with them. Finally, they do not take into account the needs, wishes or interests of their children, because for them the main thing is that they comply with the rules.

2. Permissive style

The second of the parenting 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., coupled with an absence of control.

The requirement for a minimum 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, the interactions between adult and child are modulated by the wishes and interests of the latter. Parents with this educational style tend to intervene as little as possible in setting norms or limits. Thus, the demand for their children in terms of maturity and compliance with standards is minimal. According to them, children have to learn by themselves.

As for the level of affectivity, as we mentioned, in this case it is high, although on the other hand, they are parents who do not put limits on their children in any way.

3. Negligent or indifferent style

The following of the parenting educational styles is perhaps the most damaging for children. This style is characterized by having little involvement in the task of educating and raising children.

They are fathers and mothers who show little sensitivity towards the needs of children. They do not set rules, but from time to time they manifest excessive control over the child, who is subjected to severe punishment without an explanation or reasoning for the inappropriate behavior.

That is, they are incoherent educational patterns, which can make the child not understand why they are being punished on some occasions and why they are allowed to do what they want on other occasions.

4. Overprotective style

The overprotective style, meanwhile, it is characterized by involving few norms, or if they exist, by rarely being applied. This is done because it is considered that the children are not prepared for it.

In short, they are fathers and mothers who overprotect their children and who do not provide them with the tools to be independent and to face their problems autonomously. They are parents who give their children everything they want, and usually at the moment. They do not usually apply punishments, and are excessively permissive in everything. On the other hand, they justify or forgive all the mistakes of their children, avoiding facing these problems or downplaying them.

5. Assertive or democratic style

Finally, the assertive or democratic style is the best of the parenting educational styles, in the sense that it is the most appropriate when it comes to educating and avoiding the appearance of inappropriate behaviors. This is justified because it is a balanced style, where there are all the previous elements (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 actions with their children. They put limits on 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 behavior problems never appear in children with assertive parents, but rather that they are less likely to appear than compared to other educational styles parental.

Relationships, affectivity and communication

Regarding affectivity and communication, they are understanding and affectionate parents, who encourage communication with their children. His sensitivity to the needs of his children is high.

In addition, they facilitate the expression of their needs and give them space to begin to be autonomous and responsible with their things. That is, they favor their personal development.

In the context of this type of educational style, parent-child relationships appear based on dialogue and consensus. For these types of parents it is important that their children understand the different situations, whether they are problematic or not.

Finally, they are parents who encourage their children to strive to get things done, but they know the their children's range of possibilities, and do not pressure them for what they are not yet ready for.

Bibliographic references

• López, S.T. and Calvo, J.V. (2008). Parental educational styles: bibliographic review and theoretical reformulation. Theory of education, Interuniversity Magazine, 20.

• Pichardo, M.C. (2000). Influence of parents' educational styles and family social climate in early and middle adolescence. Editorial University of Granada.

• Trenas, R. and Féliz, A. (2009). Study on parental educational styles and their relationship with behavior disorders in childhood. Publications Service of the University of Córdoba.