The Effects of Perceived Parenting Styles on Psychopathology, Attachment, Self Esteem and Grit in American and Indian Students

Research indicates that among the various factors that could play a role in determining the personality and psychological well-being of a person, the parenting style is a major one. In the present study, the variables of perceived parenting styles, i.e. the ways in which one perceives his or her parents and the effect of culture were studied in relation to psychopathology, the nature of attachment, self-esteem and grit. The sample consisted of North American and Indian college/university students belonging to the age group of 18-25 (N = 256). Tools like the Parental Authority Questionnaire, the Outcome Questionnaire, the Relationship Questionnaire, Rosenberg's Self-esteem scale, and the 12-item Grit Scale were used to measure perceived parenting, psychopathology, attachment, self-esteem and grit respectively. The results indicated that the group that perceived their parents as authoritative had lesser psychopathology, tended to be more secure in their relationships, had higher self-esteem and higher grit, as compared to the groups that perceived their parents as authoritarian or permissive. Also, the group that perceived their parents as authoritarian showed worse outcomes on all the dependent variables. A majority of both, American and Indian participants perceived their parents as authoritative. However, the American participants displayed a greater amount of symptom distress as compared to the Indians participants. Perceived mother's authoritarianism emerged as a significant predictor of pathology and poor self-esteem. These and other findings, along with their implications are discussed.