Research paper - Can different parenting styles affect decision making when it comes to social pressure

Can different parenting styles affect decision making when it comes to social pressure

Decision making is a crucial tool that no one can avoid. From governments to families, to individuals, each one of us do take decisions whether important or insignificant. Does decision making depend on age? It seems our society accept that decision depends on age. Although everybody can make and should be allowed to make decisions, but at a certain age most adolescent are not trusted to make very important decisions. The ability for one to make quick-concise decisions especially when under pressure is very important. Unfortunately, most adolescents are almost always under pressure from society to make decision whether they have the ability to make the decision or not. This is clearly seen when it comes to voting, alcohol, accommodation, just to mention a few. If age is tied to when adolescents can make decisions, can they be trusted to make very important decisions automatically when they get to that age. This is when adults are to be involved in adolescent developing the skill of make decision that will help rescue them from the pressure that comes the society.

According to Brian C. Patridge, parents’ involvement in the decision making of adolescent is based on the emotional involvement as well as the inability to see long term consequences with the decision they make (Patridge, 2010). He states that the burden that parents have as involving or making their children make better decisions in the future but imitating their style of decision making also plays a huge role on why parents are involved the decision making of adolescents (Patridge,2010). This means parents are involved because they do believe adolescents might not have yet developed ability to separate impulsivity.

Parents’ involvement in a decision making of adolescents comes with its own controversies. Such as; being a parent doesn’t necessarily mean one has to master the act of making the right decision because everyone has at a point made terrible decisions. Making decisions is quite different from the right decision. Nathan fox, a participant in a research concerning how parenting affects neural response, states that “different parenting styles orchestrates a range of negative results associated with behavioral inhibition" (Fox, 564). This means that the parenting style used by parents has a big role on the social interaction software individuals which includes decision making.

Also, parenting style can cause social redraw which can lead to socioemotional difficulties. A research made on social withdrawal and parenting style outlined that “parenting of children who are withdrawn from society, mostly have parents that have tendency to using parenting styles that are bit harsh, oversoliticitous combined with overprotection (Zarra, 2014).

Social pressure is a big question most teenagers experienced but never have an actual answer to how to solve. The issue is that most people do not understand what social pressure is and the impact it has on our society.  Social pressure is a combination of different influences that teen experience. It includes peer pressure, academic pressure and socioeconomic pressure (Gustavo 2017). Peer pressure is probably the most common pressure teenagers experience, but it does not mean teenager do not experience other forms of pressure, particularly academic pressure. Social pressure can then be defined as the influence exerted on an individual by the society; it being friends, the community, or even social media against their will (Gustavo 2017). It

could be a rational argument, a persuasion or even conformity. This demand placed on teens mean they have to develop excellent decision skills in order not to be victims of social pressure. There is no doubt that social pressure has ruined and it’s still ruining the lives of hundreds of teenagers. A lot of campaign has been made to eradicate this cancer in our society. However, there are positives to social pressure. For example; healthy competition can cause students to improve on their grades. This means that the key is not to totally advocate against social pressure or discourage the pressure that comes from the society but to help teenagers develop exceptional decision skills to envisage long term effects of the decisions they make.

            The most influential people in the life of a teenager is the parents. Parents have a huge responsibility of helping teenagers become not good but exceptional decision makers. This means that the parenting style employed by the parents have huge consequences in the development of teenagers into adulthood. The ability to differentiate between what is right and what is wrong is developed at a very early age, but this ability can be flawed when teenagers are pressured, stressed out or are just seeking for attention and approval from peers (Melanie 2009). For instance, a 16-year-old might know that smoking is bad for their health but might be less adept at choosing not to smoke when surrounded by coaxing peers.

The difference between what teenagers know and what they actually do can be elucidated in terms of “cold and hot situations” (Fiorenzo, 2013). Cold situations are decisions made when teens are in less stressed environment. During these periods, teenagers are able to think critically and envisage long–term effects of their decisions as such they make well-

reasoned and rational decisions (Fiorenzo, 2013).  Decisions made during high emotional or stressful environment can termed as “hot situations” (Fiorenzo, 2013). During this period, the long-term effects are usually not considered, and decisions are based on impulses and emotions rather than well- thoughtful reasons. The challenge then is to be able to still make great decision in spite of the “hot environment” teenagers may find themselves.

 Fig. 1: The regions of the human brain. from www.shutterstock.com

In addition to this, the frontal lobe of an individual is not fully developed until early o mid 20s. The frontal lobe is responsible for decision making, critical thinking and problem solving. “In the last decade, a growing body of longitudinal neuroimaging research has demonstrated that adolescence is a period of continual brain growth and change, challenging longstanding assumptions that the brain was largely finished by puberty” (Amanda, 2015). This shows that as we grow our frontal lobe also rows throughout our adolescence. This finding has prompted interest in questioning the ability of teens to make reasonable judgement. The frontal cortex, gray matter volumes reaches it peak at the age of 11 in girls and 12 in boys ().

How often do parents monitor their teen's social media?

Never

60%

Rarely

7%

Sometimes

16%

Often

12%

All the time

5%

           

From the image above, we see that most parent do not check on the amount time their ward is spending on social media. This can lead child to be victims of social pressure without parents being aware.

            There is therefore huge responsibility on the part of parents to help teenagers develop this ability. There are basically four parenting styles that affect adolescents. The first being

authoritarian parenting. Authoritarian parents are strict and control most of the decisions made by adolescents (Swatz el al, 2008). The goal is to give children limited responsibilities. This means that authoritarian parents don not trust children to take or participate in any decision-making process. This parenting style means children have to learn by imitating their parent’s decision-making skills. The laws in such homes are to be obeyed at all cost. In authoritarian home, children are not heard, and parents cannot be challenged. Doing so could lead to immense punishment. Adolescents from authoritarian homes might develop traits such as following rules without questioning (Amanda, 2014). In some adolescents it may lead to low self-esteem as in the teenager might think that they are not smart or bright enough to make important decisions.

Too much control can also lead to teenagers becoming rebellious in the near future, developing resentment toward people in authority.

           

Also, authoritative parenting is another form of parenting. In authoritative home, the goal is to achieve assertiveness and control (Amanda, 2014). Although there are there are rules, communication is encouraged and allowed in such homes. Authoritative parenting as compared to authoritarian parenting, is concerned about how the child feels. Children are not restricted, and the goal is that the child would be able to make very good decision on his or her own.

Teenagers from such a home end up with the ability of making very important decisions on their own at a very early age. They also tend to navigate through life with the ability to envisage consequences that comes with the decision made.

Finally, there is the permissive and uninvolved parenting style. Permissive parenting is when parents involve children when setting rules (Amanda, 2014). Children are consulted before rules are made or enforced. Although rules are established thy are barely enforced. Parents are not assertive but rather lenient. Uninvolved parenting can be intentionally or unintentional. For instance, a parent in prison, or with mental issue might be involved in the developing of their child. Other parent decides not to involve themselves in the daily activities of the teenage; and such treat them as adults. Uninvolved parents have little knowledge on what goes on in the life of the child.

Parents then have huge role of finding the parenting style that will make their child acquire skills to make decision under pressure. My dad always says that you failed as individual but never fail as a father. The best way to prevent being a victim of social pressure Is to instill discipline and confidence. Most teens fall as victims because they have no confidence in their own ability of making rational decision. Instilling discipline and confidence is directly affected by

the parenting style employed. For instance, an authoritarian parent might fracture the confidence of their children by always meting out punishment when things go wrong. Confidence is built by improving on the self-esteem of the teenager. The more self-esteem you have, the more confidence you become. This more than words but involves, praising, encouraging, motivating and positive experiences. It is then the duty of parents to be very much aware and also provide the necessary support to stop the cancer of social pressure.

Work Cited:

PARTRIDGE, BRIAN C.

“Adolescent Psychological Development, Parenting Styles, and Pediatric Decision                           Making.” Journal of Medicine & Philosophy, vol. 35, no. 5, Oct. 2010, pp. 518–525. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/jmp/jhq044.

Guyer, Amanda, et al. “Temperament and Parenting Styles in Early Childhood Differentially Influence Neural Response to Peer Evaluation in Adolescence.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, vol. 43, no. 5, July 2015, pp. 863–874. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10802-015-9973-2.

Zarra, Nezhad, Maryam, et al. “Social Withdrawal in Children Moderates the Association between Parenting Styles and the Children’s Own Socioemotional Development.” Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, vol. 55, no. 11, Nov. 2014, pp. 1260–1269. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/jcpp.12251.

Yiyuan Xu, et al. “Mainland Chinese Parenting Styles and Parent-Child Interaction.” International Journal of Behavioral Development, vol. 29, no. 6, Nov. 2005, pp. 524–531. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/01650250500147121.

Laghi, Fiorenzo, et al. “The Role of Parenting Styles and Alcohol Expectancies in Teen Binge Drinking: A Preliminary Investigation among Italian Adolescents and Their Parents.” Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, vol. 20, no. 2, Apr. 2013, pp. 131–139. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3109/09687637.2012.713409.

Carlo, Gustavo, et al. “Parenting Styles or Practices? Parenting, Sympathy, and Prosocial Behaviors Among Adolescents.” Journal of Genetic Psychology, vol. 168, no. 2, June 2007, pp. 147–176. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3200/GNTP.168.2.147-176.

DOMENECH RODRÍGUEZ, MELANIE M., et al. “Parenting Styles in a Cultural Context: Observations of ‘Protective Parenting’ in First-Generation Latinos.” Family Process, vol. 48, no. 2, June 2009, pp. 195–210. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2009.01277.x.