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Have Authoritarian Parenting Practices and Roles Changed in the Last 50 Years?
Author(s) -
Trifan Tatiana Alina,
Stattin Håkan,
TiltonWeaver Lauree
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/jomf.12124
Subject(s) - authoritarianism , developmental psychology , psychology , anger , social psychology , political science , democracy , politics , law
This study examined changes in authoritarian parenting practices and family roles in Sweden over the last 50 years. Data came from 3 cohorts (1958, 1981, and 2011) of young to middle‐age adults living in a suburb of Stockholm who answered questions about how they were raised (N 1958 = 385, N 1981 = 207, N 2011 = 457). The results showed a dramatic decrease in parents' directive control. Also, over time, parents increasingly allowed children to express anger toward them. Parents' roles changed from stereotyped versions of fathers as decision makers and mothers as caregivers to both parents sharing decisions and garnering respect from children. Overall, the results suggest that authoritarian parenting practices have declined dramatically and moved toward more egalitarian family environments. Virtually all these changes in parental practices and parental roles happened between the last 2 cohorts.