Parenting Styles as Perceived by Parents and Children

A parenting style is a psychological construct representing standard strategies that parents use in their child rearing. Parenting styles are the representation of how parents respond to and make demands on their children. Research has often studied parenting style from the perspective of parents. This study attempts to approach the phenomena from the perspective of both parents and children.160 fathers, 160 mothers and 160 children from urban and rural middle income families were questioned on responsiveness and demandingness of parents. A simple tool was developed, pilot tested and used. The results indicated that the differences between parents and children were marked among rural sample, but were found even among urban parents and children. in general, lesser number of parents felt they were authoritarian than the perceptions of their children. More parents felt they were democratic and permissive than what their children perceived.