Authoritarian Parenting Undermine Children's Psychological Development

Individualism and collectivism are complex cross-cultural constructs and have both been defined in numerous ways by previous researchers (e.g. Hofstede, 2001; Kagitçibasi, 1997; Oyserman et al., 2002). Typical attributes associated with individualism are usually independence, autonomy, self-reliance, competition and uniqueness. Individuals are educated to have control over and taking responsibilities for their actions. Collectivism, on the other hand, emphasizes on a sense of duty within groups, interdependence with other group members, and a responsibility to keep a social harmony and conformity with group norms. Decades of researches have supported the idea that authoritarian parenting undermines children’s psychological development. In recent …show more content…
Researchers argued that in collectivist culture, individuals have to learn to inhibit the expression of their own desire with attending to the needs of other group members, which is an outcome achieved through more authoritarian parenting with more psychological control (Hofstede, 1983). Later researches have discussed more on the interference of culture on the effectiveness of authoritarian parenting. One understanding was authoritative parenting appeared to be more effective in transmitting values in individualist, which corresponding with the central cultural idea in some regions (Rudy, Grusec, 2006). Similarly, in collectivist groups, authoritarian parenting may be valued more by their particular cultural …show more content…
It has been found to be linked with a higher rate of externalizing problems (drug use, delinquency) and internalizing problems (depression, anxiety) (Barber, 1996). Barber noted further that in being nonresponsive to children’s emotional and psychological needs by only controling children what to do, it became difficult for them to develop a healthy awareness and perception of self. The reason can be a lack of healthy parent-children interaction required for self-definition, limited opportunity to develop a sense of self-efficacy, and interference with the children’s own exploration needed to establish a stable identity. Plenty of studies have shown parents’ psychological control is negatively related to adolescents’ life satisfaction and individual development, suggesting a high level of parental psychological control can predict children’s and adolescents’ low levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction (Shek, 2007; Soenens, Vansteenkiste, Luyten, Duriez, &Goossens, 2008), and a high level of depression (Soenens et al.,