Parenting Styles There are a few different parenting styles, named by Matsumoto as authoritarian, permissive, uninvolved, and authoritative. Generally, uninvolved parents are those who are too involved in their own lives to respond appropriately to their children, while permissive parents are warm and nurturing but allow their children to regulate their own lives. Authoritative parents are those that are firm, fair and reasonable. Authoritarian parents, by contrast, are those who demand unquestioned obedience, viewing the child as something to be controlled (Matsumoto, Chapter 3).

Within each style, the parents behave differently and this influences the child in different ways. The uninvolved parents have minimal interaction with the child. Often, this leaves the child with minimal enculturation as they have few adults from whom to learn. Such children end up being demanding and noncompliant. The children of permissive parents are often immature -- by setting their own boundaries they end no progressing as quickly as if they had been guided by an adult. They may act independently, but have difficulty doing so in an effective manner and have been found to have poorer impulse control.

Authoritarian parents can have a detriment effect on their children. These children are "more anxious and withdrawn, lacking spontaneity and intellectual curiosity." The children of authoritative parents fare the best. They are the most healthy, cooperative and independent children (Matsumoto, Chapter 3).

There are two types of cultures, according to Matsumoto, the collective and the individualistic. One finding from research was that Asian children benefit less from the authoritative style. Asians tend to be collective cultures, though arguably there are other collective cultures in this world as well, including Latin. In all cultures, however, authoritarian parenting has negative outcomes for children. One would think that in collective cultures, with the emphasis on cooperation in such societies, that authoritative parenting would be effective, and there is some evidence of this, even though it is not as effective as in other cultures (Matsumoto, Chapter 3).
The authoritarian parenting style may also have been thought to be useful in collectivistic cultures because those cultures tend to rely on hierarchical relationships, but that has not proven to be the case. The stunted emotional state of children raised in this manner ends up resulting in negative psychological adjustment in many cultures.

Supportive parenting styles, either permissive or authoritative, are correlated with more positive views among teens about their parents. Teens raised in a more supportive environment find that autonomy equates with higher parental support levels as well as higher motivation to do well in school. This stands to reason,…