Parenting is a rewarding and yet challenging experience but there are plenty of resources and research available today to help parents deal with most if not all situations. Diana Baumrind, an American clinical psychologist, is famous for her research on parenting styles and the use of psychology in raising children. According to Baumrind, there are three main parenting styles, namely authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive/indulgent (Lang, 2020). The first type is characterized by parents using reason with the children and setting consistent and reasonable expectations (Land, 2020). The second consists of low support and high demand levels towards the children, and the latter is the most permissive, where the children are spoiled with little consequences from the parents (Lang, 2020). Children with authoritative parents generally rate much higher socially and in instrumental competency, while those with authoritarian parents might have much lower social skills (Lang, 2020). Furthermore, couples with an indulgent style of parenting are likely to have less well-behaved children that behave worse in school (Lang, 2020). Different parenting styles will react to situations in contrasting ways.
A scenario where a child is requesting a particular toy in a store might be considered. An indulgent parents might immediately agree to all demands of the child, purchasing the original toy and perhaps some other items. As a result, the child will learn that there is nothing that they cannot get by simply demanding it and will be unprepared for failure and rejection in future life and likely be ungrateful to the parents. On the other hand, authoritarian parents will deny the child the toy, scolding him for making a scene. As a result, the child might learn that he will only be reprimanded when asking for anything for himself and choose to always put himself and his wishes second to others. This might result in general dissatisfaction and inability to stand up for himself in the future. Lastly, an authoritative parent might bargain with the child, explaining that he already has many toys, or getting the child to promise to clean his room in exchange for the purchase. This way, the child will be taught that actions have consequences and are not stand-alone occurrences.
References
Lang, D. (2020). Parenting and family diversity issues. Iowa State University.