Parenting Styles as Predictors of Social and Emotional Maturity

Abstract

Attainment of maturity is a key outcome of adolescence phase. A number of factors contribute to social and emotional maturity among adolescents. Rearing practices adopted by parents are one of the most relevant determinants of maturity attainment among adolescents. (Okpako 2004) defines parenting styles as the act of parenthood, the child upbringing, training, rearing or child education. Steinberg and Cauffman (1996) opine that social maturity relates to the aspects of development and behaviour that includes traits, interpersonal relations, and emotional experiences. It indicates the competence accomplished by an individual with respect to interpersonal relationships, appropriateness of behaviour, social decision making and problem solving. Emotional maturity has been defined by Menninger (1999) as the ability to deal constructively with reality. Chamberlain (1960) has emphasized the self control part of emotional maturity when he defined an emotional person is one whose life is well under control. The present study was conducted to analyze the relationship between parenting styles, social maturity, and emotional maturity. The sample comprised of 200 adolescents in the age range of 15-17 yrs, selected from different educational institutions in Haryana. Parental authority questionnaire (Buri 1991) was used to assess the adolescents’ perceptions of their parent’s parenting style. Social Maturity Scale ((Srivastava 2004) was administered to assess social maturity and Emotional Maturity Scale (Singh and Bhargava, 2006) was administered to assess emotional maturity among adolescents. Pearson Product Moment correlation and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The results revealed parenting styles to be significant predictors of social and emotional maturity among adolescents.