Emily Centeno, & Dr. Argero Zerr
Parenting styles often vary across cultures, including how parents enforce different parenting styles depending on the gender of their child. For example, a study by Mandara et al. (2010) investigated how African American mothers socialize their sons and daughters differently, finding that later-born boys had fewer chores and argued more with their mother. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is a relationship between parenting styles, ethnicity, and child gender. We hypothesize that parents who identify as Hispanic/Latinx will be more authoritarian and parents who identify as white will be more permissive. We also hypothesize that parents will have a more authoritarian parenting style with girls and a more permissive parenting style with boys. Participants included 171 parents of children between the ages of 2 and 17 who reside in California who were recruited online through social media, including Facebook, and flyers in the local community. A total of 84% of parents surveyed were female and 16% were male, with ages ranging between 21 and 56 and an average age of 38. The ethnic background of participants were 48% White, 30% Hispanic/Latinx, 4% Black/African American, 8% Asian, 1% Pacific Islander, 2% other, and 8% multi-ethnic. Parenting styles were measured using the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (Robinson et al., 2001). An independent-sample t-test compared parenting styles across child gender and ethnicity. Results found that there was no significant difference in parenting styles between Hispanic/Latinx parents and White parents, on Authoritarian t(127 ) = 1.17, p = .25, d = .19, Permissive t(120) = .40, p = .69, d = .07, or Authoritative t(118) = .10, p = .92, d = .02 parenting style subscales. Additional analyses will examine parenting styles across sons and daughters. Future research in this area is important because understanding different parenting styles between boys and girls can encourage healthier emotional and physical development.