The Relationship Between Perceived Parenting and Machiavellian Orientation in Young Adults

This study is done to investigate the relationship between perceived parenting and Machiavellian orientation in young adults. The participants are a sample of 150 (47 male and 103 female) English speaking subjects out of which 18% are from a psychology background. Perceived parenting is measured using the Parenting Scale (perceived) given by R. L. Bharadwaj and Behavior Orientation Scale (BOS) is used to measure the Machiavellian orientation. The relationship is obtained using Pearson correlation. The correlation of five out dichotomous dimensions of perceived parenting- rejection and acceptance of mother, carelessness and protection of mother, carelessness and protection of father, neglect and indulgence of mother and marital conflict and marital adjustment with Machiavellian orientation resulted as negative and statistically significant. All the other dimensions are negatively correlated but are not statistically significant. T- test is conducted to assess if there is any significant difference between the Machiavellianism of male and female participants are non-significant. Regression results show that only the dimension of carelessness vs protection of father is a significant predictor of Machiavellian orientation of the individual. Overall, the study indicates that more extensive research is required where other sociodemographic factors are also considered to understand how perception of parenting can influence the type of behaviors, attitudes and beliefs formed by an individual and carried into their adulthood. Maladaptive behaviors generated in childhood can transform into self-destructive or harmful behavior towards others in the future and an adequate parenting model seems to have the power to prevent this.