DEVELOPMENTAL

PSYCHOLOGY

SUBMITTED TO:
PROF. Margarita Bauyon, M.A

SUBMITTED BY:
Zeppelin S. Dela Cruz
II - AB PSYCHOLOGY

Introduction

Diana Blumberg Baumrind (born August 23, 1927) is

a clinical and developmental psychologist known for her research on
parenting styles and for her critique of the use of deception in psychological
research.
Baumrind was born into a Jewish community in New York City, the first of
two daughters of Hyman and Mollie Blumberg. She completed her B.A. in
Psychology and Philosophy at Hunter College in 1948, and her M.A. and
Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.[1] Her doctoral
dissertation was entitled "Some personality and situational determinants of
behavior in a discussion group".[2]
After being awarded her doctorate she served as a staff psychologist
at Cowell Memorial Hospital in Berkeley. She was also director of two U. S.
Public Health Service projects and a consultant on a California state project.
From 1958-1960 she also had a private practice in Berkeley.[3]
She is a developmental psychologist at the Institute of Human
Development, University of California, Berkeley.[4] She is known for her
research on parenting styles[5][6] and for her critique of deception in
psychological research, especially Stanley Milgram's controversial
experiment.[7][8][9]
Her parenting styles were based on two aspects of parenting that are found
to be extremely important. The first was "Parental responsiveness", which
refers to the degree the parent responds to the child's needs. The second
was "Parental demandingness" which is the extent to which the parent
expects more mature and responsible behavior from a child. Using these two
dimensions, she recognizes three different parenting styles:

Authoritarian ("Too Hard"): the authoritarian parenting style is

characterized by high demandingness with low responsiveness. The
authoritarian parent is rigid, harsh, and demanding. Abusive parents
usually fall in this category (although Baumrind is careful to emphasize
that NOT all authoritarian parents are abusive).

Permissive ("Too Soft"): this parenting style is characterized by low

demandingness with high responsiveness. The permissive parent is overly
responsive to the child's demands, seldom enforcing consistent rules. The
"spoiled" child often has permissive parents.

Authoritative ("Just Right"): this parenting style is characterized by

high demandingness with huge responsiveness. The authoritative parent
is firm but not rigid, willing to make an exception when the situation
warrants. The authoritative parent is responsive to the child's needs but
not indulgent. Baumrind makes it clear that she favors the authoritative
style.

Baumrind has studied the effects of corporal punishment on children, and

has concluded that mild spanking, in the context of an authoritative (NOT
authoritarian) parenting style, is unlikely to have a significant detrimental
effect, if one is careful to control for other variables such as socioeconomic
status. She observes that previous studies demonstrating a correlation
between corporal punishment and bad outcomes failed to control for
variables such as socioeconomic status. Low-income families are more likely
to employ corporal punishment compared with affluent families. Children
from low-income neighborhoods are more likely to commit violent crimes
compared with children from affluent neighborhoods. But when appropriate
controls are made for family income and other independent variables,
Baumrind believes that mild corporal punishment per se does not increase
the likelihood of bad outcomes. This assertion has in turn attracted criticism
and counter-points from other researchers in the same publication, for
example: Whether harmful or not, there is still no consistent evidence of
beneficial effects

CONVERSATION
I asked one of my friend about how she raised her son based on Diana
Baumrind Parenting Theory.
Question 1:
What is your parenting style?
Answer 1:
Authoritative.
Question 2:
Do you feel you are too strict or too lenient, or well balanced?
Answer 2:

I feel, it's well balanced.

Question 3:
How do you discipline your children?
Answer 3:
By telling him what is right o do and what is wrong. I limit myself when it
comes to scolding him because I don't want him to feel too emotional.
Question 4:
Do you buy your child everything they ask for?
Answer 4:
No, because I don't want to spoil him.
Question 5:
How much time do you spend away from your child?
Answer 5:
I spend time away from him when I need to go to school.
Question 6:
What is more important to you, a clean house, or spending time with your
child?
Answer 6:
I prefer both.

Reflection
Using an authoritarian parenting style hinders childrens capacity to verbalize
what they want and need within the family system and hinders
communication between parents and children about the reason for certain
rules and expectations. When parents implement an authoritarian parenting
style, the family is operating under what I would call a closed system,
meaning that there is no room for discussion, options, alternatives, or
negotiation between parents and their children. Parents who use an
authoritarian parenting style send the message that children must cooperate
with their parents because I said so by implementing techniques such
as shaming, withdrawal of love, or arbitrary punishments.
An authoritarian parenting style may get children to be compliant on a shortterm basis. However, children will not feel that there is a democracy in the
household. As a result, they may be compliant due to fear of being punished.
In addition, children will perceive that their feelings dont count, which
encourages them to feel powerless.
An authoritarian parenting style can create insecure attachment patterns in
children, which prevents the emotional bond necessary that creates
trust between parents and children that their physical and emotional needs
will be met. As a result, children are more vulnerable to low selfesteem, depression, and anxiety, which are among the most
common mental health issues among adolescents.
Parents who choose an authoritarian parenting style most likely were not
securely attached as children themselves, which increases the chances of
passing on insecure attachment patterns to children.