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Perceived Parenting Styles as Correlates of Self-Esteem among Adolescents
in Secondary Schools
Osenweugwor Ngozi Aihie (Ph. D)
Department of Educational Evaluation and Counselling
Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Benin,
Benin City. e-mail address : oseaihie @gmail.com
Abstract
The study investigated the relationship between perceived parenting styles (mothers’ and
fathers’) and self-esteem among secondary school adolescents in Egor Local Government
Area of Edo State, Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 276, consisting of 163 females
and 113 males. The study made use of two research instruments. A 24-item parental authority
questionnaire was validated and used to measure perceived parenting styles and a 25-item
self-esteem scale was also used to measure the self-esteem of the adolescents. One research
question was raised and three hypotheses formulated to guide the study. Descriptive
statistics were used to answer the research question and Pearson Product Moment
Correlation was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that
the adolescents perceive their parents as moderately authoritarian and authoritative and low
in permissiveness. There were significant negative correlations between parental (maternal
and paternal) authoritarianism and self-esteem of the adolescents. Results also revealed
significant positive correlation between maternal authoritativeness and self–esteem of the
adolescents. Perceived permissiveness of both parents did not correlate significantly with
self-esteem of the adolescents. Implications for school counselling were discussed and
recommendations for future research made.
Key words: Adolescents, Self-Esteem, Parenting Styles, Correlation, School
Counselling
Background of the Study
Adolescence is the transition period between childhood and adulthood. It is a period
of multiple transition involving education, training, employment, unemployment and other
developmental issues. Over the years, researchers have shown that parenting styles have
strong impact on children’s and adolescents’ development. This is because the family is the
first and most important socialising agency of individuals and parents in particular, play
important roles in shaping the personality of individuals. Baumrind (1991) conducted studies
using observational and other research methods and identified some important dimensions of
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parenting which include disciplinary strategies, warmth and nurture, communication style and
expectations of obedience and control. Based on these, three parenting styles- authoritative,
authoritarian and permissive were suggested by Baumrind (1991). According to the
researcher, authoritarian parenting is the style in which children are expected to follow the
strict rules established by parents. Failure to do so attracts punishment. In this parenting style,
parents are obedient- and status- oriented and obedience to orders without explanation is
expected.
Authoritarian parents believe that children are by nature self-willed and self-indulgent
and therefore see their primary job to be bending the will of the child to that of authority
(Darling, 2014). Compliance, conformity, parental authority and respect are the hallmarks of
the parenting style. Authoritative parents are issue-oriented and pragmatic rather than
motivated by an external, absolute standing. They tend to adjust their expectations to the
needs of the child and listen to the child’s arguments. They balance the responsibility of the
children to conform to the needs and demands of elders with the rights of the children to be
respected and have their own needs met. Permissive parents are responsive but make few
rules and little or no controls are exerted over the children. Children are given complete
freedom to make their life’s decisions and behave autonomously and independently
(Baumrind, 1991).
Self-esteem has been highly researched into with multiple types to investigate. Selfesteem is generally defined as one’s assessment of own self-worth (Lightfoot, Cole &Cole,
2009). This general definition can be called global self-worth, considering internal and
external factors. Internal factors refer to emotions, genetic make-up and personality traits
while external factors refer to specific events, family, school, career among others. There is
also trait self-esteem which refers to the amount of regard we have for ourselves over time.
This type is referred to as part of the personality because it is fairly enduring and can be used
to describe an individual. The present study is concerned with this type of self-esteem. There
are more specific types of self-esteem like academic self-esteem where the feeling of selfworth is contingent upon how well one does academically (Valizadeh, 2012). Another type of
self-esteem is state self-esteem which is fluid and is affected by feelings and situations
(Driscoll, 2013). Self-esteem is important because of its role in healthy human development
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Abraham Maslow categorised self-esteem as one of the basic human motivations. In the
hierarchy of needs, self-esteem comes near the top, followed by only self-actualisation
(Maslow, 1987). Factors affecting self-esteem include how we compare ourselves to others
and how they respond to us. One important factor influencing self-esteem development is
parenting (Gecas and Schwalbe, 1986). Researchers and developmental psychologists have
over the years uncovered convincing links between parenting styles and the mental,
psychological and emotional development of children. The types of parenting children
receive have significant implications on their physical, social, emotional and cognitive
development (Milu and Fathima, 2015)
Parenting Styles and Self-Esteem
There is no universally best parenting style as culture; environment and individual
characters differ from person to person. In the Western cultures, self-esteem has been
demonstrated to be consistently negatively correlated with parenting styles characterised by
low levels of acceptance and high levels of over protectiveness (Herz and Gullone, (1999).
Authoritarianism is characterised by this affectionless control and the parenting style is
presumed to be associated with social incompetence and poor communication skills. In
traditional collectivist cultures (like Nigeria), there may be preference for this parenting style
and it is not thought to have a negative impact on self-esteem. Yamawaki, Nelson and Omoni
(2010), studying Japanese college students, found that warm and caring parenting which is
characteristic of the authoritative parenting may be a universally crucial factor for the
individuals’ psychological well-being later in life. The results of the study also suggest that
poor parenting such as low parental care and warmth was significantly associated with low
self-esteem and low life satisfaction which may lead to poor psychological well-being.
Research results show that authoritarian parenting style puts children at a greater risk of
anxiety, low self-esteem and depression (Bacus, 2014). Accordingly, Cardinali and D’Allura
(2007) mentioned that adolescents treated authoritatively become more socially adjusted and
independent compared to their peers. Maccoby and Martin (1983) also found that young
people who experienced authoritative parenting style have higher social development and
self-esteem than other parenting styles. In the same vein, Yusuf, Agbonna and Yusuf (2009)
asserted that authoritative parenting has been consistently associated with positive cognitive,
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emotional and social outcomes. Permissive parenting, on the other hand is associated with
social incompetence and lack of self- control (Maccoby and Martins, 1983 and Baumrind,
1991).
Variations exist as to which parenting styles lead to highest levels of self-esteem.
Martinez and Garcia (2008) found that children of indulgent parents had the highest level of
self-esteem while those of authoritarian parents had the lowest levels of self-esteem. Garcia
and Gracia (2009) found that both the children of indulgent and authoritative parents had the
highest levels of self-esteem. These variations in results make it unclear as to which parenting
style could be labelled as most successful in self-esteem development. Yang and Liang
(2008) suggested that nurturing and supportive parenting styles could improve children’ selfesteem. Regarding parental characteristics, nurturing (authoritative and permissive) had
positive effect on children’s self-esteem while perceiving parents to be over-protective
(authoritarian) had negative effects (De Hart, Pelham and Tennen, 2006). Also, emotional
warmth (authoritative, and permissive) correlated positively with higher self-esteem while
negative loving, anger and rejecting were negatively correlated with self- esteem (Yang and
Zhou, 2008). Akinsola (2010a, 2011) reported that parental practices in
Nigeria combines all the parenting styles as parental emphasis was on obedience and
compliance with parental instructions. This, the researcher reported was accompanied by
responsiveness, love, care, sensitivity and reciprocal dialogue. Most parents aim for the wellbeing of their children but children may not experience or perceive parenting in the same
manner parents believe they do. Children’s perception may therefore be more relevant to their
well-being than the actual parenting style. This implies that the individual’s subjective
evaluation/ perception of father’s and mother’s parenting pattern/style may influence selfesteem development to the extent, and in the way that the person perceives the behaviour.
The present study therefore, is designed to determine the relationship between adolescents’
self-esteem and their perception of parents (fathers and mothers)as authoritative, authoritarian
and permissive.
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Purpose of the Study
The main objective of this study is to Determine the Relationship Between
Adolescents’ Self-esteem and Perception of their Parents as Authoritative, Authoritarian and
Permissive.
Specifically the study sought to determine:
1. Patterns of parenting of fathers and mothers as perceived by the adolescents
2. Relationship between perceived parental (fathers’ and mothers’) authoritativeness,
authoritarianism and permissiveness and self-esteem of the adolescents.
Research Question
1. To what extent do the adolescents perceive their parents {mothers and fathers) as
authoritative, authoritarian and permissive?
Hypothesis
1. There is no significant correlation between adolescents’ self-esteem and their perception
of parents (father and mother) as authoritative, authoritarian or permissive
Methodology
The study employed the correlational survey design. The population of the study is all
the senior secondary school students in the public secondary schools in Egor local
Government Area of Edo State. There are eleven public secondary schools in the local
Government area consisting of an average of one thousand, two hundred students each. First,
five schools were selected by simple random sampling. Then, the instruments were
administered to sixty randomly selected senior secondary school II students in each of the
selected schools.
The sample of the study was two hundred and seventy –six (276)
adolescents made up of one hundred and thirteen (113) males and one hundred and sixtythree (163) females whose instruments were properly completed.
Two research instruments were used to collect data for the study
1. A 24-item, Perceived Parental Authority Questionnaire (PPAQ) adapted from Buri
(1991) The instrument has two sections, A and B. Section A demands personal data of
the respondents while section B consists of twenty- four statements based on the three
parenting styles ( authoritative, authoritarian and permissive). The items were responded
to on a 4- point rating scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The
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reliability of the instrument was established using the test-retest method with an interval
of four weeks and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient calculated was r
= 0.79. To determine adolescents’ perceived parenting styles in the study, response
scores were calculated by dividing the mean scores obtained, by the number of items on
each subscale. Response scores of 1.00 -1.99 were regarded as not representative of the
parenting style being considered, 2.00 -2.49 were regarded as low while 2.50 -2.99 and
response scores of 3.00 and above were regarded as moderate and high respectively. The
Parental Authority Questionnaire is most widely used for assessing adolescents’
perception of parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive) and has
demonstrated good validity and reliability (Shahimi, Heaven and Ciarrochi, 2013).
2. A 25-item self-esteem scale adapted from Hudson (1982) Index of Self-Esteem was used
to measure the adolescents’ self-esteem. The instrument has two sections, A and B.
Section A sought demographic information about the respondents, section B was made
up of 25 statements regarding self to which the respondents responded to on a 5-point
likert scale ranging from all of the time to none of the time. A coefficient α =0.92 was
obtained using test-retest scores to determine the reliability of the present instrument.
The instruments were administered to the sample and completed questionnaires were
collected on the spot. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics to answer
the research question and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient to test the
hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance.
Results
Table 1. Adolescents’ perception of mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles
Perceived Parenting Styles
Authoritarian Father
Mother
Authoritative Father
Mother
Permissive
Father
Mother
N =276
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Response
Scores
2.54
2.46
2.67
2.59
2.25
2.17
Decision
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Moderate
Low
Low
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The result on Table 1 reveals that the adolescents perceive their parents (fathers and mothers)
as moderately authoritarian and authoritative but low in permissiveness.
Table 2. Correlations between adolescents’ self-esteem and perceived authoritative,
authoritarian and permissive parenting styles of fathers and mothers
Correlations
Perceived Parenting styles
Authoritarian
Father
Mother
Authoritative
Father
Mother
Permissive
N =276
Father
Mother
*Significant at p <0.05
Decision
Pearson corr. r
Sig (2-tailed) p
Pearson corr. r
Sig(2-tailed) p
Self-esteem
- 2.42*
0.000
-1.30*
0.031
Pearson corr. r
Sig (2-tailed) p
Pearson corr. r
Sig(2-tailed) p
Pearson corr. r
Sig (2-tailed) p
Pearson corr. r
Sig(2-tailed) p
0.064
0.287
0.158*
0.000
-0.062
0.302
0.100
0.096
Significant
Significant
N.S
Significant
N.S
N.S
The results on Table 2 indicate that adolescents’ perceptions of mothers and fathers as
authoritarian have significant negative correlations with the self-esteem (fathers, r = -2.42, p
=.000; mothers, r =-1.30, p =.031). Perception of fathers as authoritative had a nonsignificant positive correlation with the adolescents’ self-esteem (r= 0.064, p =0.287) while
perception of mothers as authoritative had a significant positive correlation with their selfesteem (r= 0.158, p= 0.000). Perceived permissiveness of father and mother had no
significant correlations with the self-esteem of the adolescents.
Discussion
The results of the study reveal that the adolescents perceive their parents (fathers and
mothers) as moderately authoritative, moderately authoritarian and low in permissiveness.
Parents were not perceived as categorically authoritative, authoritarian or permissive. This
could be because Nigerian society though hierarchical, such that within the family
unquestioning obedience to authority is paramount, parents also discuss issues with the
children and sometimes allow children have their way on certain issues.
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This result is consistent with Akinsola (2010a, 2011) who asserted that Nigerian
parents tend to be perceived as practicing the three parenting styles due to their insistence on
compliance to parental instruction and obedience accompanied with love, care,
responsiveness and reciprocal dialogue. The results also reveal significant negative
correlation between adolescents’ self-esteem and perceived paternal and maternal
authoritarianism. This means that perceiving parents (fathers and mothers) as authoritarian
impacts negatively on the adolescents’ self-esteem. This finding is in line with Liang (2004),
who reported that perceived over-protection and authoritarianism on the part of parents lead
to lower self- esteem in children. It is also in consonance with Yamawaki, Nelson and Omoni
(2010), Bacus (2014), among others who found negative correlations between perceived
authoritarian parenting and self-esteem. Positive correlations were also found in this study,
between perceived authoritative parenting and adolescents’ self-esteem, though only
perceived maternal authoritativeness significantly correlated with the self-esteem.
This may be as a result of the fact that mothers on the average spend more time taking
care of the children than the fathers (Craig, 2007).This finding corroborates Russel and
Russel, cited in Milu and Fathima (2015) who opined that maternal parenting style has
greater influence on individuals because up to middle childhood, mothers spend more than
twice as much time alone with their children than do fathers. It is therefore expected that
perception of mothers’ parenting styles/ appraisal of them would make significant impact on
the psychological development of children and adolescents.
Similarly, Milu and Fathima (2015) made
findings indicating that maternal
authoritativeness had positive correlations with self-esteem of adolescents. Nurturance and
warmth which are the hallmarks of authoritative parenting tend to promote healthy
psychological development and social relationships. Perception of parents as permissive had
no significant correlations with the self-esteem of the adolescents in this study. This is not
surprising since the adolescents perceive their parents as generally low in permissiveness. It
is also in consonance with Milu and Fathima (2015), who found no significant correlations
between self- esteem of adolescents and perceived maternal permissiveness.
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Conclusion
From the results of the study it can be concluded that Nigerian adolescents perceive
their parents as practicing the three parenting styles – authoritarian, authoritative and
permissive. Perceived authoritarianism of parents impacts negatively on adolescents’ selfesteem while perceived authoritativeness correlates positively with the self-esteem.
Implications for School Counselling
The results of this study have implications for counselling adolescents and parents.
Research has shown that high self-esteem is beneficial to everyone. General principles of
education indicate that a student needs good academic self-esteem to be successful
academically. Therefore to achieve success in school, school counsellors should assist
students to foster positive self- esteem. Self- esteem can be enhanced when children imbibe
good study habits and self-management skills. Literature is replete with reports of significant
positive correlations between self-esteem and perceived authoritative parenting, particularly
maternal parenting. Parents should be made to understand how their parenting styles affect
their children and also encouraged to adopt a more authoritative style in rearing their children
as this has been reported to be universally beneficial to psychological adjustment of
individuals.
Recommendations for Further Research.
The present study has investigated correlations between adolescents’ perceived
parenting styles and self-esteem. Future studies using larger samples could investigate if there
is a differential influence of gender on adolescents’ perceived parenting styles and selfesteem. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies investigating how individuals’ perceived
parenting styles change over time/at different age points should also be carried out.
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