The Four Types of Parenting Concepts
Michalis "BIG Mike" Kotzakolios
Kotzakoliou, SSA

There are about as many parenting styles as there are parents. Some experts have distilled the different parenting styles into four parenting concepts; namely indulgent, authoritarian, authoritative, and uninvolved.

The first of the parenting concepts is the indulgent parent. Parents who are indulgent are generally lenient. They allow a host of behaviors by their children, including immature behavior. Essentially, they let the children parent themselves and do not wish to confront their children. Indulgent parents can also be further categorized as democratic and non-directive. Non-directive parents take practically no action to parent their children, whereas democratic parents are lenient but aware, committed, and engaged with the children.

The second of the parenting concepts is the authoritarian parent. Parents who are authoritarian are like drill sergeants. They issue commands to their children and expect their orders to be followed without question. Authoritarians don't respond to feedback from their children. They often have structured and orderly environments with defined rules. Children of authoritarian parents are generally anxious and tend to have an unhappy disposition. When faced with frustration, boys might exhibit hostile behavior while girls might simply throw in the towel. However, because of the strictness of the environment, children tend to do well in school.

The third of the parenting concepts is the authoritative parent. These parents have qualities of being both responsive and demanding. Authoritative parents expect their children to behave in a certain fashion. At the same time, they don't impose their unquestioned authority. Rather, they assert themselves to their children but are responsive to their children's feedback. Children of authoritative parents are generally lively with a happy disposition. They have a developed self-confidence in their own abilities. Their emotional regulation is also well-developed, as are their social skills. Authoritative parents are also not as concerned with gender stereotypes and are open-minded to other possibilities, such as boys cooking and girls playing sports.

Finally, we have uninvolved parents. Like the label implies, uninvolved parents are not demanding of their children, nor do they respond to their children's feedback. In the extreme, uninvolved parents are neglectful of their children. They also reject their children.