What is permissive parenting?
When we talk about permissive parenting we have to draw a distinction between ignoring anti-social behavior and firmly supporting autonomy. Permissive parenting is often portrayed as a “anything goes” parenting style. In reality it is more like a radical democracy/egalitarian view of raising children (children should have the same rights and autonomy as adults).
Permissive parents don’t expect their child to get away with disruptive and antisocial behavior but have little influence on actions that do not affect others. Children can either consistently make poor choices or can mostly make reasonable choices and learn from the occasional poor choice.
Case study: Permissive Parenting in Spain
A Spanish study on permissive parenting challenged the idea that authoritative parenting is always best. The researchers found that the effectiveness of permissive parenting was dependent on the mentality of society. They concluded that the effectiveness of permissive parenting is linked to how individualistic the society was. Spain emphasizes relatively more collectivism than individualism and parents focus on using acceptance, support, and involvement to motivate their children.
How demandingness of authoritative parenting is defined
- Parental control scale takes on the view of a much more controlling, dictatorial, and intensive approach to parenting
- Parenting style index uses a looser interpretation of authoritative parenting which requires parents to support autonomy without coercion
Authoritative? Permissive? We are asking the wrong things.
Trying to follow authoritative or permissive parenting styles does not matter. Instead parents should understand what factors are linked to better outcomes:
- Parents should intervene when they see antisocial behavior
- Parents need to be involved and supportive by talking with their children
- Parents should not micromanage behavior or be too directive or coercive
Parenting style effectiveness also depends on your child’s behaviors. Researchers found that children who naturally did not have many antisocial behaviors thrived under permissive parents and showed less signs of emotional maladjustment. In contrast, the same children showed increased antisocial behavior under authoritative parents.
Sources
https://www.parentingscience.com/permissive-parenting.html
https://www.parentingscience.com/permissive-parenting-style.html
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