Title: Authoritarian parenting: What happens to the kids?
Headings: Authoritarian parenting: What happens to the kids?
Authoritarian parenting: What happens to the kids?
© 2010-2017 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved
Authoritarianism and the alternatives
How does authoritarianism measure up?
Behavior problems
Mounting  evidence that heavy-handed tactics make kids worse
Social skills and resourcefulness
Kids from authoritarian families are less resourceful, less socially-adept, and more likely to become involved in bullying.
The United States
China
Cyprus
Turkey
South America and Spain
The Netherlands
Emotional problems
What about school?
Experimental research suggests that authoritarian approaches interfere with learning.
Other studies report correlations between authoritarianism and lower school achievement.
Counter evidence: Are the effects less harmful when parents are less educated? Or live in disadvantaged neighborhoods? Or Chinese?
And morality?
More information
References: Authoritarian parenting

Content: I suspect the effects of authoritarianism depend on how harsh, cold, or punitive the parent is. For instance, some research suggests that corporal punishment is linked with higher rates of depression and anxiety among children. It also seems likely that culture plays a role. If kids perceive authoritarianism as normal and mainstream, they may be less distressed by it (Dwairy 2004). What about school? Experimental research suggests that authoritarian approaches interfere with learning. In a fascinating study of kindergarteners, Melissa Kamins and Carol Dweck have shown that a common tactic of authoritarian caregiving--shaming a child for poor performance-- can make kids perform more poorly on problem-solving tasks (Kamins and Dweck 1999). Moreover, experiments suggest that people learn better from positive feedback than from negative feedback, and this may be especially true for kids (Schmittmann et al 2006; van Duijvenvoorde et al 2008). Other studies report correlations between authoritarianism and lower school achievement.