SOCIALIZATION CONSEQUENCES OF PARENTING STYLES: A STUDY OF MIDDLE CLASS INDIAN FAMILIES

Parenting style has been considered as one of the primary sources of socilization for children. However, researchers have pointed that the impact of parenting is not independent of the sociocultural context of children. Indian middle class families having shared some sort of socio-cultural uniqueness are the focus of the present study to examine their nature of parenting and its consequences on the socilization of their children. The participants were 480 highschool students including equal number of boys and girls, who were randomly selected from the middle class families of Odisha. They were asked to respond to a standardized parenting style questionnaire relating to their perception of parents' behavior towards them and also to a questionnaire which measures their socilization skills. The results pointed out 27% of parents preferred authoritarian parenting, 22% preferred permissive parenting, 45% preferred authorative parenting, and only 5% were uninvolved parents. Authoritative and permissive parenting styles were found better in promoting adequate socilization skills except taking of responsibility. Authoritarian and uninvolved parenting were found to be negatively influencing the development of socilization skills. Gender preferences were also found in the parenting of both parents, father being more permissive for girls, and mother being more permissive for boys.