The Relations Between Parenting Styles and Adolescents' Value Orientations

Abstract

The article examines the relations between parenting styles and adolescents' value orientations. The performed theoretical analysis has showed that value orientations determine behavioural patterns, an individual's internal readiness for some activities in order to achieve certain goals and satisfy one's own needs. Entering adolescence, children begin to evaluate attitudes of their parents, their place in the family and their own importance in a new way, which serves as the basis for their value orientations. We found that families applied different parenting styles to adolescents to the same extent, but indifferent and authoritarian styles had a slight predominance. The most significant values for adolescents were “conformity”, “hedonism”, “kindness”, “security”, “stimulation”, “power” and “achievement”, the least significant values were “independence”, “universalism” and “traditions”. Existing correlations between family educational styles and adolescents' value orientations were revealed and described. The largest number of links was between the authoritative parenting style and adolescents' values: traditions, independence, stimulation, power and conformity (the last relation was inverse); between the liberal style and the values: kindness, universalism, security (direct links) and traditions and achievements (inverse). This showed that acceptance and a warm emotional attitude towards an adolescent was associated with developed independence, a desire for activities, for excitement, formed ideas about the importance of group solidarity and absent fear to violate social expectations and norms, in particular, when such violations could harm an adolescent oneself. Vice versa, emotional indifference of parents, distance towards their children formed such values at adolescent that were aimed at loved ones' well-being, tolerance, acceptance, understanding of others (which could be a kind of compensation) and low importance of one's own achievements. The lowest number of connections was found between the authoritarian parenting style and conformity (direct) and independence and security (inverse); between the liberal style and conformity (direct) and achievement and power (inverse). This meant that, under low acceptance, a directive parental style, adolescents felt the importance to subordinate to other people's positions and opinions and their independence in making decisions and taking actions was low. Permissiveness and minimization of parental control, which were characteristic of the liberal style, are associated in adolescents with importance of submission and decreased importance of personal success through the demonstration of one's own competence.