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Does Parenting Style Influence the Internalization of Moral Values in Children and Adolescents?

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Abstract

The present study examines the relationship between parenting style and internalization of moral values of children and adolescents. The stratified sample comprised 250 children of 9–16 years from government aided schools of Kolkata. Parental Authority Questionnaire and Moral Values Internalisation Questionnaire were used to assess the parenting style and moral value internalization, respectively. Three types of parenting style (authoritative, authoritarian and permissive) and four types of value regulation (external, introjected, identified and integrated) were assessed in this study. For adolescents, authoritarian parenting style is positively linked to external and introjected regulation and authoritative parenting style is positively associated with identified and integrated regulation. The reverse trend is evident for children. Implications for parenting and moral socialization in families are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge Prof. Anjali Ghosh (Prof of Psychology Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Calcutta) and Prof. Nityananda Sarkar (Prof of Economics Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute Calcutta) for their endless support.

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  1. Cognizant Technology Solutions, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Rita Karmakar

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  1. Rita Karmakar
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Karmakar, R. Does Parenting Style Influence the Internalization of Moral Values in Children and Adolescents?. Psychol Stud 60, 438–446 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-015-0338-2

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