Authoritarian Parenting and its Consequences

Introduction

Parenting techniques are one of the many reasons responsible for the outcome of children’s academic achievements. It is one of the most controversial subjects yet the most necessary to ensure the success of a child educationally. Hundreds of studies have been done to better understand which types of parenting styles have affected these scores. One of the most notorious is the authoritarian style.

Authoritarian parents can be described as some of the harshest. Often their punishments are met with no explanations and their rules are strictly enforced often unfairly. The child is held to unacceptably high standards and if they fail to produce the outcome the parent demands, they are subjected to punishments that usually do not fit the misconduct committed. These types of parenting skills have been subjected to many critiques because of the negative outlook on them and the unusual heartlessness brought along with it. This style of parenting is the least constructive of all, as it consistently shows negative results in almost every study conducted. There is the occasional success story but it does not come without consequences. This type of style should be firmly researched against other styles of parenting simply because it has the lowest success rate of them all. Compared to other styles of parenting, when it comes to academia, and even the social aspects of the child, the authoritarian is by far the most disreputable and unsuccessful.

Authoritarian Vs. Authoritative

Due to the similar name, this type of parenting is often confused with Authoritative parenting, which is considered the most beneficial for a child’s education. The authoritative style can be defined as a proper parenting technique. It uses an approach involving communicating with the child by speaking to them and listening to their opinions and ideas. It also enforces punishment when the issue at hand needs discipline. It encourages children to work independently but allows the child to feel it is okay to ask for help. Much opposed to the authoritarian outlook, the authoritative parent senses the necessity of explaining the meaning behind punishment; allowing the child to understand why these consequences are being placed upon them. Though authoritative parents also expect a lot out of their children, they are certainly more understanding and lenient when it comes to punishment or any reservation that has caused their child to veer off course.

This type of parenting has been connected to many positive research results. As Turner et al (2009) explain “Baumrind and Black (1967) found that authoritative parenting was positively associated with academic performance; and authoritarian and permissive parenting was negatively associated with grades” (p. 338). It is human nature to be nurturing to one’s child. One can assume the mother and father would instinctually be an authoritative parent, reaping the benefits of encouraging the child to be strong and independent, as any species hopes for. Unfortunately, this study proves other, less obvious, parenting techniques are still part of many children’s upbringing and play out negatively not only in their academic life but in their social lives as well.

The effect of a negative parenting style reflects upon children and adolescents in many ways, eventually impacting academic performance. It is a vicious cycle; as the academic performance continues to plummet, the social life of the child or adolescent is subject to change as well. Just as likely, if the social life of the subject begins to change, it could reflect poorly in their academics. As Steinberg et al (1992) states the authoritative technique influences “a stronger work orientation, greater engagement in classroom activities, higher educational aspirations, more positive feelings about school, greater time spent on homework, more positive academic self-conceptions, and lower levels of school misconduct, such as cheating or copying assignments” (p. 1267). This is opposed to the negative connotations associated with authoritarian parenting. The benefits of the authoritative style are allied with more positive results than negative. This is due to the nurturing aspect of the style as well as the encouragement. An authoritative parent encompasses the qualities of an authority figure, along with being supportive. They realize what boundaries should and should not be crossed as a disciplinarian as well as a friendly figure in their child’s life.

An authoritarian figure does not demonstrate this knowledge. In contrast, they do not know when to stop stepping over the disciplinarian boundaries they have set for their child. They do not understand or acknowledge the nurturing aspects of a parent and in turn, the child suffers. Another common phrase for the term “authoritarian figure,” is a Tiger Parent. These parents show the same qualities as authoritarian figures and their children suffer the same fate. As Chamberlin (2013) states “Children of tiger parents reported higher rates of depressive symptoms than children with easygoing or supportive parents, as well as high levels of academic pressure and feelings of alienation from parents” (p. 16). This re-enforces that not only do the children under this type of authority suffer academically but emotionally as well. Schwartz et al (2013) confirm this belief, stating “Indicators of restrictive punitive discipline and exposure to violence were associated with within-subject declines in academic functioning over 7 years” (p. 305). Violence can be used either emotionally or physically, but it is usually verbal abuse in the authoritarian household.

Depression is an extremely problematic behavioral and chemical issue that affects millions of people every day. Unfortunately, parents have the chance to diminish depression in their children, even destroy it completely, but because of the parenting style they choose to adopt, they only increase the feeling more. By putting too much pressure on a child or adolescent to succeed academically puts an increased amount of unnecessary stress on them. This, in turn, does not allow them any time with peers due to the amount of work they must put into their academics. Without having friends, they do not grow or understand how to socialize properly. This is extremely damaging for their futures in adulthood as well. The interviewing process to successfully obtain a job requires the candidate to be able to communicate well with peers and employers. If they do not learn this at an early age, it could prove to be detrimental to their success as a working person.

Authoritarian Parenting and the Behavioral Aspects

To solidify a place in society, one needs to be a well-rounded individual. Authoritarian parents take away their child’s chance to become this when they begin practicing their techniques. Though these parents may believe they are doing the best they can to ensure their child is successful in the future, they may be doing the exact opposite. As stated above the student may become depressed due to the pressure they feel as a student, however, this could also lead to academic failure as well. The student may become so depressed they do not participate even in school anymore, not just social settings. The overbearing behavior of a parent may make the child feel inadequate academically as well as socially. This gives the child a feeling of extreme anxiety and perhaps they lose the will to continue trying, as they believe they will never be rewarded with their parents’ approval.

Another suggestion about behavioral issues due to authoritarian parents is quite haunting. Studies show terrorism is bred in those who are raised with this technique being prevalent. As Fischer et al. (2010) stated, “It was found that terrorist threat cues (induced by reminders of terrorist incidents) had a significant impact upon both attitudes and behaviors regarding authoritarian parenting practices” (p. 246). The study later goes on to explain the threat of terrorism is greater in children raised this way, rather than those raised in a less harsh environment.

The consensus seems to be more parents agreeing with the idea of allowing children to make their own decisions while supporting them. It allows the parent to still be authoritative while the child can become self-sufficient. As Stogdill (1936) states “Parents, on the average, express the belief that children should have some freedom, but at the same time they insist that children should be kept under control so strict as to render this freedom practically inoperative” (p.359). This idea is the most frequently spoken of. The authoritarian way does still appeal to many parents, as is seen frequently throughout many different societies. However, as more research is conducted, ethnicity has found its way into the equation.

The Authoritarian Style Involving Ethnicity

The authoritarian style holds with it many key concepts, and one of these ideas involves each race suffering differently from authoritarian parenting. As Louie et al (2013) explain “Research suggests that parental control may be motivated by various socialization goals and contributes to children’s adjustment in diverse ways depending on cultural context” (p. 424). This explains how parental control affects each child differently, and each parenting style is based upon a cultural aspect.

Other studies represent similar ideas. Steinberg et al (1992) suggest parenting techniques, a family’s value on education, and the student’s idea of how successful they can become, all play a role in their academic achievement. It is also suggested different races respond in different ways due to cultural differences. An example of this is, white adolescents are often successful students because they receive an equal amount of peer encouragement as they do authority from their parents. Hispanics receive a combination of authoritarian discipline with a lack of peer encouragement which can be seen as discouraging. Asian Americans can receive peer encouragement which in turn allows the students to succeed given the authoritarian power their parents hold over them (p. 723). Though many of these explanations support the idea of the authoritarian style being a positive technique, others do not share the same opinion.

As stated in the above section, Asian Americans seem to continue to be successful aside from being under the control of the authoritarian or “tiger” parenting guidelines. As Kim et al (2013) suggest “The current study suggests that, contrary to the common perception, tiger parenting is not the most typical parenting profile in Chinese American families, nor does it lead to optimal adjustment among Chinese American adolescents” (p. 7). This solidifies that although many people believe Chinese American students have academic success because of extremely authoritative parents, it’s not true all of the time, though it is extremely common.

Asian cultures benefit from an authoritative perspective as Lee et al (2013) re-enforces “neighborhood Asian concentration was positively associated with authoritarian parenting, which in turn was associated with Chinese American children’s higher externalizing and internalizing problems” (p. 1). This also suggests although children may do well in school, they tend to suffer emotionally due to the parenting style.

Concerning African Americans, it is proposed mothers who are more controlling may be suffering psychologically themselves. This means those who are affected by depression take out their feelings on their children in an authoritarian manner but do not necessarily do it for the success of their children rather than their release. Taylor and Budescu write “Depressive symptoms and demanding kin relations were positively associated with mothers' use of psychological control in parenting” (p. 58). This study was based on African American women. It also supports the idea of different cultures using this technique for various reasons.

The Opposition

In almost every situation, there is an opposing side of each argument. In the case of the authoritarian standard of educating children, there is a belief this style of parenting, as well as teaching can lead to positive academic results. It encourages the idea if children are pushed to succeed and the success is not obtained, it can be considered punishable, therefore they will have no choice but to succeed.

As a harsh reality, this is often true when looked at in the past. The Darwin theory itself suggests only the strong survive and the weak must die off to benefit the entire species. This can certainly be seen in the instance of humans, though in modern-day the world has adopted an extremist’s viewpoint of compassion toward others. It is not entirely impossible to believe that those who are given no choice but to succeed can certainly become a great success. Children need discipline and strict reinforcement to gain respect for their surroundings. As Dever and Karabenick (2011) state from their research “For all students, authoritarian teaching was positively associated with achievement gains” (p. 131). Throughout the studies conducted on numerous students of various races, the conclusion was, all of them responded well to the authoritarian style of teaching.

It’s important to recognize a teacher’s placement in the life of a student is far different from a parent's influence. The teacher does not have the authority to tell the student what to do once the school day is done, and therefore perhaps the student feels that release of control. When a parent is an authoritative figure, the child knows their life is being completely controlled. As Carr and Pike (2012) suggest from their study “only harsh parenting accounted for unique variance in non-contingent scaffolding practices” (p. 543). This revelation suggests if the educational system, rather than the parents, were manipulated into a more authoritarian style, the result could possibly be a better academic success.

Other results have shown a less authoritative attitude with children can damage their chances of becoming a functioning adult. Where one feels supported and encouraged it is easier for them to know they can achieve greatness. Unfortunately, many parents believe because they are acting as more of a “friend” the child will respond better, this is not true. Moments like these could be quite discouraging for the child without them even knowing it. The lack of respect they may begin to show to their parents could eventually become overwhelming and turn into an extremely dangerous way of life. This could include using drugs, lack of focus on school work, and fraternizing with peers who are perhaps are not up to the social standards the parents wish them to be. As Gulley et al (2014) state “association between observed negative parenting (e.g., authoritarian style) and youth social anxiety” (p. 577). The association between the two can cause the child to grow up with extreme anger and anxiety issues.

Amongst anxiety and anger, aggression plays a brief role in authoritarian parenting as well. Kuppens et al (2013) confirm “Youth aggression has been associated with negative parenting practices” (p. 1697). This allows the question to be asked of whether or not a child can go through this type of parenting and become a successful grown-up.

Conclusion

The authoritarian parenting style is certainly not one to ensure a successful adult. However, it is inconclusive how detrimental it is to the child’s upbringing. Though much evidence has proven other techniques are more useful, helpful, and ultimately beneficial, using a certain amount of authoritativeness can be respected in the field of rearing a child.

One of the most controversial subjects of raising a child to achieve greatness academically lies in the authoritarian perspective. Reaching back to basic human and animal instincts of only the strong survive, this role has been widely accepted and largely practiced. It is surely a way of life that will not be changed, but perhaps it can be tweaked. If this type of upbringing were used only in schools or with a brief understanding of the consequences it could be more useful to both the parents and their children, but especially the relationship between the two. This type of style cannot be counted out as a complete failure, having had some success rate. However, with more research, it could become an excellent tool in school systems as well as at home if used correctly.

References

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