Author
Elizabeth A. Weicker

 

 

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between the parenting style a college student experienced during childhood and the student’s most recent college GPA. Using survey data collected from undergraduate students throughout the United States, a between-subjects ANOVA was conducted to comparing different parenting styles and mean GPA for those styles. The parenting styles analyzed were authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive. Results indicated significant differences in GPA between parenting styles, with the authoritative parenting style producing the highest college GPA. In addition, an independent samples t-test was conducted to analyze the relationship between student satisfaction with the parenting style they experienced and their college GPA. Results of the t-test in the present study were also significant, indicating that students who were content with the way they were raised had a higher GPA than those who were not content. The results of the present study add to the existing knowledge surrounding parenting styles and academic success.

 

 

 

 

Parenting Style and Academic Success: How Can You Help Your Child Succeed?

 

Most parents are constantly concerned about their children’s successes. Whether academics, arts, sports, or any other interest the child might have, most parents want to help their children reach their full potential. There are various theories of the best way to achieve this as parents. Some parents become very intentional about propelling their kids into success, and some find it more useful to have a relaxed attitude about it. This study was conducted to understand parenting styles and their effect on academic success in college. The four parenting styles defined for use in this study are authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and uninvolved.

Authoritative parenting requires high performance from a child, but also provides high support (Li, 2019). Authoritarian parenting includes high requirements like authoritative parenting, but the difference is the lack of support provided (Li, 2019). These parents will be very demanding, but not encouraging when a personal relationship is needed. Permissive parents will not be very strict but will be very compassionate with their kids (Li, 2019). These parents are more like friends than authoritative figures. Lastly, uninvolved parents provide no rules, nor any support (Li, 2019). The present study is designed to understand which of these styles is strongly associated with college academic success. The expected results include authoritative parenting leading to higher GPA’s combined with high support on how to get there would propel someone to be able to reach their full potential.

Throughout the past few decades, research on this topic has been mixed. Many studies have been conducted to try to determine the relationship between parenting styles and academic success. In one study conducted by researchers at California State University, Cuesta College, and Albion College, the specific question of whether maternal or paternal involvement and strictness increases college GPA was studied. In 2003, researchers Joshi, Otto, Ferris, and Regan provided a self-report questionnaire regarding the type of parenting style students experienced while growing up and current GPA (Joshi et al., 2003). These researchers hypothesized that parenting style affects college success because when a child is growing up, parental influence is at its maximum, and a child learns almost everything from his or her parents. Alternatively, parenting style might not affect college GPA because there are a lot of other factors involved in school success, such as a learning disorder, biologically based limitations, or involvement in too many extracurricular activities, which could influence GPA. If parenting styles affect college achievement, then certain parenting styles should reflect high GPAs and others low GPAs. If parenting styles do not affect GPA, then we should find no differences between high GPAs and certain parenting styles. With this study, results were not significant or in support of the hypothesis that certain parenting styles affect GPA, therefore concluding in this instance that other factors played a bigger role than the way students were raised. The researchers suggested that once a child enters young adulthood in college, peer influence becomes much more important than parental influence on college students. This might play a role in college GPA.

In another study from Johns Hopkins University in 2009, researchers Turner, Chandler, and Heffer studied the question of whether a parenting style influences achievement motivation and self-efficacy on academic performance in college students (Turner et al., 2009). These researchers hypothesized that college students perform differently depending on the style of a parenting they experienced growing up. Alternatively, they hypothesized that college students may be able to overcome the failures of their parents to be successful in college, or other factors such as high school education or personal motivation cause college achievement. In this study, two hundred and sixty-four undergraduate psychology students took the Parental Authority Questionnaire, which is used to measure Baumrinds’s parenting styles (Li, 2019). Results of the Johns Hopkins study suggest that parenting characteristics such as supportiveness and warmth play an important role in a successful college academic career. These results support the hypothesis that certain parenting styles do affect academic achievement in college students. The parenting styles high in supportiveness are authoritative and authoritarian.

Brandt and Strage also studied whether parenting styles affect college students’ academic success (Brandt & Strage, 1999). They hypothesized that research would support the hypothesis that parenting does have an effect on academic success. Alternatively, academic success in college could be attributed to the level of high school education a student received. It also could be attributed to the friends and people someone surrounds themselves with because the environment may or may not be pro-academics. If academic success is not a priority in a social group one surrounds his or herself with, that person will be more likely to also not value academics. In this study, a two hundred and thirty-six-person sample completed a survey with self-report questions about their parents’ styles of parenting. The responses were associated with GPA as well. Results of this study suggest that parenting style continues to play an important role in the academic lives of college students. This study demonstrated that supportive and demanding parenting tend to render the most academic success in college.

A study published in 2012 in the Journal of Family Social Work from Taylor & Francis Online supported the same hypothesis. Researchers Rivers, Mullis, and Fortner studied the question of whether there is a relationship between parenting style and academic performance (Rivers, et al. 2012). They hypothesized that results would support that parenting style does affect academic performance. The alternative hypothesis was that parenting style does not influence academic performance; maybe academic success is not a result of parenting style, but of personal motivation. If parenting styles affect college achievement, then specific parenting styles should correspond with high GPAs. In this study, one hundred and forty-eight students were given a questionnaire containing measures of parenting style, motivation, and goal orientation. GPA’s were self-reported as well. Results of this study supported the hypothesis that authoritative parenting renders the most successful kids in college. Results indicated that parenting styles including high demandingness and responsiveness led to children with high academic performance, while parents who are high in demandingness and low in responsiveness led to children with low academic performance. These results do not support the alternatives, but they do support the hypothesis that parenting styles do have an effect on academic success.

In a study from University of Wisconsin La Cross in 2002, Hammer and Ross studied the relationship between parenting style and adjustment and achievement in a student’s freshman year of college (Hammer & Ross, 2002). They hypothesized that college freshmen who perceive their parents’ parenting style to be authoritative will be positively related to adjustment and achievement in the first semester of college. They surveyed four hundred students in the first survey and one hundred and six of the same students in the second survey. Students completed the surveys revolving around perceived parenting styles and demographic questions. They were also asked to self-report their GPAs. If results support the hypothesis, GPA will be affected by parenting style. If the results do not support the hypothesis, other factors besides parenting styles must affect GPA. Overall, these results did not support the hypothesis. According to their study, authoritative parenting was not related to college adjustment and achievement. However, findings showed that students with reportedly permissive parents had lower GPAs than all other students in the study.

Overall, previous research has resulted in mixed outcomes. As seen above, some research supports the hypothesis that certain parenting styles, specifically authoritative parenting, renders a better college GPA for students. In contrast, some research does not support this, and it supports the alternative hypotheses stating other factors cause the degree of college success.

In addition, the factor of “satisfaction” with one’s parenting style will also be examined within the present study. This hypothesis was also studied in 2005 by the Academy of Management and Learning, in which research supported “overall life satisfaction” being a “significant predictor of GPA” (Rode et al. 2017). Simply put, students who were pleased with their upbringing might be more prepared for the demands of higher education, which is reflected in their higher GPA. Research has also indicated that parenting styles are not the sole cause of a student’s success. In a study published in 2009 focused on Spanish families, research supports the importance of children “fitting” with the parenting style they experience rather than there being one sole best parenting style (García, et al. 2009).

In this study, researchers hypothesize that the authoritative parenting style will render a more academically successful college student (as measured by GPA), consistent with Turney et al., 2009. It is also hypothesized that an individual’s satisfaction with parental upbringing will affect their academic achievement. Specifically, a student who was satisfied with their upbringing will have a higher GPA than one who was not satisfied.

 

 

Methods

 

Participants

Participants were recruited through word of mouth, and all participants provided their informed consent to participate before continuing the survey via Google Forms. Each participant was made aware of the voluntary nature of this survey, the opportunity to stop at any point, and the purpose of their participation. Participants included 16 females and 14 males. All of the participants’ ages were between 18 and 22 years old (M= 19.87, SD=1.106). A total of 30 participants completed the survey. The survey took between 5-10 minutes to complete.

Measures

Excluding demographic questions, there were seventeen questions total. The questions used in the survey were a mix between questions originated by the researcher and from a parenting style test from PsychTests (Parenting Style Test, n.d.). The parenting style each participant’s parental unit(s) fit into was determined based on their answers to the survey. The most frequent “strongly agree” answer represented the parenting style the participant was raised in. Specific questions corresponded with certain parental styles. Questions 8, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, and 19 (Appendix A) were representative of the demanding parenting styles, “authoritative” and “authoritarian”. If a participant strongly agreed with those statements, then the researcher put the participant in the high demanding parenting styles category. Distinguishing between the two high demanding categories was determined through statements 7, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 20, and 21. If the participant answered on the “agreeable” side of the scale, it was determined that they experienced the authoritative parenting style because the student answered on the demanding and nurturing side. If they answered on the opposite side of the scale, then they experienced the authoritarian parenting style because the student answered on the demanding and dismissive side. If a student disagreed with the demanding vs. relaxed questions (8, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18), then they were placed in the relaxed category which contained the parenting styles of “permissive” and “uninvolved”. If participants reported experiencing a relaxed and supportive home life from their parents (as assessed by the nurturing and dismissive questions (7, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 20, 21), then the participant was placed into the “permissive” category. Had any participants disagreed with a majority of these questions, they would have been placed into the “uninvolved” category.

Procedure

At the beginning of the survey, participants provided basic demographic information. Then, participants were asked to answer various questions about their parental unit’s style of parenting as they were growing up. Participants rated if they strongly disagreed, disagreed, were neutral, agreed, or strongly agreed with the statement. These responses corresponded with four parenting styles. These styles were Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive and Uninvolved. Participants answered a series of questions relating to this topic on a scale.

To maintain privacy for the participants, they were asked to select which GPA range their current college GPA fell into, rather than specifying their exact GPA. The brackets 0-1, 1.01-2, 2.01-3, and 3.01-4 were used. For calculating the mean GPAs for each parenting style, the middle of each range was used (.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5).

Once all of the data was collected, a between-subjects ANOVA was conducted between three of the four parenting styes: Authoritative, Authoritarian, and Permissive; no sampled individual had experienced the Uninvolved parenting style. An independent samples t-test was also conducted. The two groups used were people who are pleased with the parenting style they experienced growing up and people who are not pleased with the parenting style they experienced growing up. All statistics were calculated using IBM SPSS version 20.

 

Results

A one way, between-subjects ANOVA was conducted to determine if there is a relationship between the type of parenting style a college student experienced growing up and each student’s college GPA. The ANOVA was significant (F(2,27) = 31.629, p<0.05). Using the Tukey HSD post-hoc test, it was found that there is a significant difference (p < 0.05) between authoritarian parenting style GPAs (M = 1.50, SD = 0, N = 5) and authoritative (M = 3.367, SD = 0.352, N = 15) and between authoritarian and permissive (M = 3.2, SD = 0.675, N = 10); permissive and authoritative GPAs were not significantly different from one another. Students who experienced authoritative parenting styles had higher GPAs than those experiencing authoritarian parenting styles, but not those experiencing permissive parenting styles (Figure 1). 

A one-tailed, independent samples t-test was conducted to determine if students pleased with the parenting style they experienced tended to have a higher GPA. Results were significant, supporting the hypothesis that students that were satisfied (M = 3.45, SD = 0.213, N = 22), had higher GPAs than students that were not satisfied with their experienced parenting style (M = 1.75, SD = 0.463, N = 8), t(28) = 13.944, p<0.05 (Figure 2).

 

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to provide evidence on how a childhood affects a future. Specifically, if authoritative parenting creates a more academically successful college student. This was done by conducting a survey of thirty college students and comparing which parenting style each student indicated through the various questions and each self-reported GPA. The results were consistent with the expectations. This study indicates that authoritative parenting (parenting that includes high demands and high support levels), is the most helpful in creating an environment that will allow a child to then succeed in college. These results are similar with the John’s Hopkins study mentioned above (Turner, et al. 2009). Their results supported the hypothesis that parenting styles revolving around warmth and supportiveness render a more academically successful college student. These two studies support similar hypotheses because authoritative parenting does include warmth as well as support. Interestingly, the permissive parenting style had similar results to the authoritative style. The college students that reported experiencing a permissive parenting style growing up reported only a slightly lower GPA than those who reported experiencing an authoritative style. Coinciding with the John’s Hopkins study, the permissive style also emphasizes support for the child. The difference between these two styles is the level of demandingness. These findings suggest that warmth and support for children produces higher levels of success. The significant levels of attention that a child would receive in an authoritative or permissive household would push the child to be ambitious and would provide the necessary support to allow them to fail and to try again.  

Additionally, this study provides evidence that college students who are pleased with the parenting style they experienced have a higher college GPA. Findings from the t-test supported satisfaction leading to success. A college student who feels like their childhood was satisfactory might still have a positive relationship with her parents. As stated by García et al., 2009, an individual who in an environment that matches their values and beliefs has an easier time adjusting and is more satisfied with that environment. This positivity might propel them to be more successful in their college career. The present findings also support those found by Rode et al., 2017. It should be noted that, while no formal analysis was conducted, there were individuals from all 3 parenting styles represented within the study who indicated that they were “not satisfied” with the parenting style they experienced growing up. This finding further provides evidence that there is not always a direct relationship between parenting style and academic success.

Once all of the data was collected, it became apparent that no participant indicated that he or she experienced an uninvolved parenting style. Originally, this was surprising. However, with more thought, a potential reason could be that someone who experienced uninvolved parents may not be able to go to college. Someone who was not supported may not believe in themselves enough to go to college. Someone who was not pushed academically may not find a purpose in academics. Alternatively, someone who was pushed academically and encouraged to believe in his or herself would probably be more likely to go to college and be more prone to being successful.

Moving forward, racial and cultural differences should be a consideration in this field of research. In different places around the world, parents vary in their values that they want to pass on to their children. For example, in some Asian countries, more value is placed on academic merit than supportiveness (Kawamura, et al. 2001). In some cases, certain parenting styles (such as authoritarian) have been found to be protective to children raised in marginalized minority communities rather than detrimental to them (García et al., 2009). While demographic information was collected in this study, the sample of non-Caucasians was too small to properly conduct any tests between race and culture. Each study mentioned previously also addressed the fact that their results may not be easily translated cross culturally. Future research should recruit participants who are diverse in their racial and cultural background.

The present study illuminates some new findings to this specific area of research, but there are some limitations. These include the smaller number of participants compared to the number of students in college today, the lack of cultural diversity, and the lack of knowledge about how or if these styles of parenting transcend cultures. In the future, these questions should be addressed. More studies including as many cultures as possible would overall further this area of research. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that authoritative or permissive parenting as the best styles to help a child succeed in college, but further research is needed to gather more information on authoritarian and uninvolved parenting styles. In addition, the present findings also support the hypothesis that individuals who are satisfied with the parenting style they experienced had higher GPAs than those who were not. The results of the present study add further findings to the existing research about parenting styles and academic success. Furthermore, the present study contributes information about parenting style satisfaction, which may prove to be a more relevant aspect of the conversation surrounding parenting and academic success.

           

 

About the Author

Elizabeth A. Weicker

My name is Elizabeth Weicker, and I am from Nashville, TN. I am a junior, Capstone Scholar studying experimental psychology as my major and neuroscience as my minor. I plan to graduate in the spring of 2021 and will pursue graduate school to obtain my doctorate in clinical psychology. Styles of parenting have always fascinated me because of the natural variability. The differences I have observed in parenting made me wonder if there is a superior way to guide and support one’s children. I started researching categorical parenting styles and found that there are distinct differences between the main types. I wanted to discover how to parent in the way that would render the most success for a child. From working on this project, I have learned how much I enjoy the entire process of research. Before diving into my own research project, I thought that I might just want to work in the clinical side of psychology. Because of this project, I now know that I want to pursue my own research in my future endeavors. In addition, I also decided to get involved in more research on campus. I have become a research assistant in a lab on campus studying autism in infants and am thoroughly enjoying the process. I want to extend my gratitude to Kristin Kirchner for being my mentor on this project and supporting me with her intellect and kindness.

 

 

References

García, F., Gracia, E. (2009) Is always authoritative the optimum parenting style? Evidence from Spanish families. Adolescence, 44.

Joshi, A., Ferris, J., Otto, A. & Regan, P. (2003). Parenting styles and academic achievement in college students. Psychological Reports, 93, 823-828.

Kawamura, K. Y., Frost, R. O., & Harmatz, M. G. (2002). The relationship of perceived parenting styles to perfectionism. Personality and individual differences, 32(2), 317-327.

Li, P (2019). 4 Parenting Styles – Characteristics and Effects [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://www.parentingforbrain.com/4-baumrind-parenting-styles/.

“Parenting Style Test.” TestYourself by PsychTests: Tests and Quizzes on Personality, IQ, Love/Relationships, Career, Health and Attitudes/Lifestyle. Professional Quality Online Psychological Assessments Developed by the Web's Prominent Testing Experts., testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/2858. 

Rivers, J., Mullis, A. & Fortner, L. (2012). Relationships between parenting styles and the academic performance of adolescents. Journal of Family Social Work, 3, 202-216.

Rode, J. C., Arthaud-Day, M. L., Mooney, C. H., Near, J. P., Baldwin, T. T., Bommer, W. H., & Rubin, R. S. (2005). Life satisfaction and student performance. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 4(4), 421–433. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2005.19086784

Ross, J., & Hammer, N. (2002). College freshmen: Adjustment and achievement in relation to parenting and identity style. J. Undergrad. Res, 5, 211-218.

Strage, A., & Brandt, T. S. (1999). Authoritative parenting and college students' academic adjustment and success. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 146–156.

Turner, E.A., Chandler, M. & Heffer, R.W. (2009). The influence of parenting styles achievement motivation, and self-efficacy on academic performance in college students. Journal of College Student Development 50(3), 337-346.

 

Figure 1: GPA Varies Depending on Parenting Style

Figure 1: Mean GPAs for the three parenting styles identified (Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive). Errors bars reflect a 95% confidence interval.

 

Figure 2: GPA Varies Depending on Satisfaction with Parenting Style

Figure 2: Mean GPAs for the two levels of content with parenting style (Yes or No). Errors bars reflect a 95% confidence interval.

 

 

Appendix A

1. Biological Sex:
   1. Female
   2. Male
   3. Prefer not to say
2. Age (years)
   1. 18-25
   2. 26-40
   3. 41-65
3. What is your major?
   1. Open ended
4. What is your class level?
   1. Freshman
   2. Sophomore
   3. Junior
   4. Senior
5. What is your race?
   1. African American
   2. Caucasian
   3. Native American
   4. Latino/Hispanic
   5. Asian
   6. Other
6. What is your ethnicity?
   1. Latino/Hispanic
   2. Non-Latino/Hispanic
7. Growing up, my parental unit(s) were available to me when I needed it.
   1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
   2. 2 – Disagree
   3. 3 – Neutral
   4. 4 – Agree
   5. 5 – Strongly Agree
8. My parental unit(s) required me to live by the rules, without any question.
   1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
   2. 2 – Disagree
   3. 3 – Neutral
   4. 4 – Agree
   5. 5 – Strongly Agree
9. My parental unit(s) love me unconditionally.
   1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
   2. 2 – Disagree
   3. 3 – Neutral
   4. 4 – Agree
   5. 5 – Strongly Agree
10. My parental unit(s) encouraged self-expression and individuality.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
11. My parental unit(s) preferred to give in to my desires, rather than risk the chance of me being mad at them.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
12. My parental unit(s) strictly controlled my use of electronics.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
13. My parental unit(s) sheltered me from things considered negative.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
14. Every time I did something wrong, I was punished.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
15. I was encouraged to question my parental unit(s) opinions or beliefs.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
16. My family ate dinner together most nights.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
17. I had a strict curfew.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
18. My parental unit(s) were concerned about me eating healthy or organic food, unrelated to any allergies.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
19. Before initiating a punishment, my parental units would consult me first.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
20. My parental unit(s) were concerned about the issues I dealt with growing up.
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
21. My parental unit(s) were involved in the activities I participated in growing up. (Ex: Coach, Leader, Chaperone, etc.)
    1. 1 – Strongly Disagree
    2. 2 – Disagree
    3. 3 – Neutral
    4. 4 – Agree
    5. 5 – Strongly Agree
22. I am pleased with my parental unit(s) style of parenting.
    1. Yes
    2. No
23. My most recent college GPA is in the range of:
    1. 00-1.00
    2. 01-2.00
    3. 01-3.00
    4. 01-4.00