Does Parenting Style Predict Identity and Emotional Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood?

Does Parenting Style Predict Identity and Emotional Outcomes in Emerging Adulthood?

Parents influence their children during each stage of life. In infancy, parents interact with their children and choose their clothing, diet, and entertainment. Throughout childhood, they determine with whom their children interact, the activities in which their children participate, and how their children manage their emotions. During adolescence, parents exert their influence by providing advice about schoolwork, social dilemmas, and values. Throughout development from childhood to adolescence, parents play an important role in the formation of their child‘s regulation of emotions and behaviors, as well as their child‘s self-esteem and identity (Shaffer & Kipp, 2010). The purpose of this study was to examine the ways in which parenting style influences the decisions children make and the ways in which children manage aspects of their lives that pertain to motivation and identity development.
Emerging Adulthood
Emerging adulthood is a period of development that occurs between adolescence and young adulthood, when individuals are roughly 18 to 25 years of age, and is characterized by change and exploration of possible life paths (Arnett, 2000, 2004, 2007). Many emerging adults recognize that they are no longer adolescents but that they do not yet perceive themselves as adults. The feeling of being in-between stems from the transient nature of emerging adulthood—many emerging adults have temporary residences, short-term school commitments or unsettled career paths, and romantic relationships that are rather flexible (Arnett, 2000).
Identity development plays a prominent role in emerging adulthood as individuals are exposed to many opportunities to explore career paths, romantic relationships, and worldviews. At the same time, emerging adults progress toward greater independence from their parents (Schwartz, Cote, & Arnett, 2005). As they gain independence, emerging adults assume
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responsibility for their identity and actively pursue new opportunities which then lead to more enduring choices (Arnett, 2000). For example, emerging adults begin to determine what sort of romantic partner they desire or which occupation best fits their talents. It is through these explorations that emerging adults determine who they are and what they want out of life (Arnett, 2004).
Some emerging adults are more advanced than others in terms of identity development. Schwartz et al. (2005), in a study of emerging adults and identity development across ethnic groups, found that agency, or self-direction, is positively correlated with exploration, flexible commitment, and deliberate choice making. These findings suggest that a sense of self-direction is an important component of healthy identity development in emerging adulthood. Thus, it is important to explore how a sense of agency develops during adolescence and continues to evolve as emerging adults make progress in their identity development.
Just as changes occur in their own identities, changes also occur in the relationship that emerging adults have with their parents. The dynamics of the parent-child relationship shift during emerging adulthood so that parents are no longer seen as dominant figures and children are no longer in a subordinate or dependent role. Emerging adults may begin to see their parents as companions, not just as parental figures; likewise, parents begin to see their children as peers, not just as their dependents (Arnett, 2004). According to Arnett, parents no longer need to enforce house rules and can, instead, develop a friendlier and less directive relationship with their children. It is also during this time that emerging adults acknowledge their parents‘ good and bad qualities, and begin to see them as complex individuals. The role of parents, and their parenting styles in particular, is the primary focus of the following research study.
Parenting Style
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Parenting style has been referred to as a socialization approach to raising children through which parents teach their children norms……………….