Psychologists share Authoritative parenting style is the best! Here’s why – Times of India

Broadly, parenting styles can be categorized into four sections – Permissive, authoritative, neglectful and authoritarian.

To understand these terms, let us explain in brief what each parenting style encompasses. Permissive parenting is about letting the child take decisions and involves overindulging the child to avoid tension. Authoritative parenting is about solving issues with the child and setting clear rules for them to follow. It involves clear communication. Authoritarian parenting has the parent on the driving seat. They set strict rules and decide how the child is supposed to behave or act. Neglectful parents are almost absent from the child’s life and are indifferent to the child’s emotional needs.

Out of these major parenting styles, authoritative parenting is ranked higher in terms of academic growth, social emotional and behavioural aptitude. While these parents expect a lot from their child but they also try to project behaviour that sets a good example for the child.

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Let’s see some traits of authoritative parents:

While they have high expectations, they are responsive to their child’s emotional needs

They realise the need to communicate frequently and do not undermine the child’s feelings

These parents allow things to fall in natural order but then help their child learn important lessons from them

They also provide their child an environment where they can think and reason

They are deeply engrossed in their child’s growth

The reason psychologists believe that authoritative parenting is helpful is because it helps in better conflict resolution where the child learns early on to address issues and learn to resolve them too. They set limits but they do not expect their child to blindly follow what they say. They allow them to communicate their feelings and help them to learn the importance of setting rules.