In plain language
How do parents help their children develop values of their own? Psychologists distinguish between authoritative parenting (warm and involved, with clear expectations and reasons given for rules), authoritarian parenting (demanding obedience without explanation), and permissive parenting (warm but with few demands). This study asked which of these styles best helps adolescents genuinely internalize values — that is, come to see values as important, pursue them freely rather than out of pressure, and act on them successfully.
The researchers followed young Australians through a key transition: leaving high school. Perceived parenting styles were measured in Grade 7 (749 students) and Grade 12 (468 students), and three aspects of valuing — the importance placed on intrinsic and extrinsic values, whether values felt freely chosen or pressured, and success in living them — were measured in Grade 12 and again one year after school.
Authoritative parenting stood out as the style most consistently linked to healthy values development. Mothers’ authoritative parenting as early as Grade 7 predicted young adults who rated their values as more important and pursued them more autonomously a year after leaving school. In contrast, authoritarian parenting predicted feeling pressured about values, and permissive fathering predicted a decline in the importance of intrinsic values. The findings suggest that warmth combined with structure and respect for autonomy — even in early adolescence — pays off years later as young people build their own value systems.
Key findings
- Mothers’ authoritative parenting in Grade 7 predicted increased importance and more autonomous (freely chosen) regulation of values one year after leaving school, even after controlling for Grade 12 values.
- Fathers’ authoritative parenting in Grade 7 predicted decreased importance of extrinsic values (such as wealth, image, and popularity) post-school.
- Fathers’ permissive parenting in Grade 7 predicted poorer values internalization — decreased importance of intrinsic values post-school (standardized beta = -.14).
- Authoritarian parenting in Grade 12 predicted more controlled, pressured values regulation after school, particularly for extrinsic values.
- Felt pressure around values — especially intrinsic values — decreased significantly in the year after high school, consistent with young people gaining freedom to choose and act on personally important values.
- Average importance of intrinsic and extrinsic values was stable from Grade 12 to post-school, with earlier values explaining about 9% to 25% of the variance in later values.
How to cite
APA
Williams, K. E., & Ciarrochi, J. (2019). Perceived parenting styles and values development: A longitudinal study of adolescents and emerging adults. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 30(2), 541-558. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12542
BibTeX
@article{williams2019perceived,
author = {Williams, Kathryn E. and Ciarrochi, Joseph},
title = {Perceived Parenting Styles and Values Development: A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents and Emerging Adults},
journal = {Journal of Research on Adolescence},
year = {2019},
volume = {30},
number = {2},
pages = {541--558},
doi = {10.1111/jora.12542}
}
Related work
- All publications by Joseph Ciarrochi (searchable, with free PDFs)
- Process-Based Therapy & Idionomic Analysis
Author: Joseph Ciarrochi (ORCID 0000-0003-0471-8100). Free copy hosted with permission for scholarly use. Please cite the published version via the DOI above.