THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACTUAL AND PERCEIVED PARENTING STYLES AND SELF-ESTEEM

Abstract

The present study investigated the hypotheses that firstly, there is a relationship between actual parenting styles and self-esteem and secondly, there is a relationship between perceived parenting styles and self-esteem. 5 different domains of self-esteem were examined: Scholastic Competence, Social Acceptance, Behavioural Conduct, Close Friendship and Global Self-worth. The four different parenting styles measured were authoritarian, authoritative, neglecting and permissive. 125 students completed the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents and Parenting Scale-Perceived. Each student also had a parent complete the Parenting Scale - Parent's Self-Report. Correlations and hierarchical regressions were conducted to determine the relationships between actual and perceived parenting styles and the domains of self-esteem. Results showed that there were significant relationships between perceived parenting styles and the domains of self-esteem. Actual parenting styles were found to be inconsistently related to the domains of self-esteem.