The Influence of Parenting Styles on an Adolescent’s Emotional Intelligence and Self-Esteem

Family is the primary institution in terms of which individuals are first formed, interwoven and psychologically constructed. The quality of the parenting, especially the way through which the parental authority is implemented, has far reaching consequences in terms of emotional and psychological growth of children. According to Baumrind (1971) and Buri (1991), parental authority is a three-style variable that includes authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive that has a different level of influence on the emergent self-concept and affective competencies. A combination of parental effect and the emotional intelligence (EI) have been recognised as a key construct that improves understanding of how individuals perceive, control and utilise emotions personally and interpersonally. Self-esteem as one of the fundamental aspects of psychological well-being is a subjective evaluation by an individual of his or her personal value and ability. The present study explored the relationships between parental authority style, EI, and self-esteem in a group of young adults. Parental authority was operationalized using the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), which was created by Buri (1991); EI was measured using the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS), which was created by Hyde, Pethe, and Dhar (2002); self-esteem was measured using the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES). The sample size was 80 participants aged between 18 and 30 years old. Findings showed significant positive correlations between parental forms of authority and EI, and between EI and self-esteem, which statistically supported the assumption that the types of parenting to which individuals are to be exposed at young age may influence the expression of affective competencies, as well as perceived self-esteem in adolescent years.