Journal of Student Research 2010

183

Parenting Styles and College Students’ Personal Agency

styles could affect a child’s development and encourage or discourage rich experiences in life (Uji, Kitamura, & Nagata, 2009; Baldwin, McIntyre, & Hardaway, 2007; Luyckx, Soenens, Goossens, & Vansteenkiste, 2007; Milevsky, Schlechter, Netter, & Keehn, 2006). Research suggested that parents who exercised the Authoritative parenting style provided their child with appropriate discipline and uniformity along with affection and warmth. Parents who practiced the Authoritarian parenting style tended to be more discipline-oriented rather than showing affection. Parents who practiced the Permissive parenting style provided warmth and affection but little discipline and uniformity. It was found that parents that provided warmth and affection along with discipline and uniformity, Authoritative parents were associated with having children who overall had less depression, higher self-esteem, and higher life satisfaction (Milevsky et al., 2006; Luyckx et al., 2007). The research addressed the interaction between parenting styles and how each affects a child’s emotions, however, the research did not answer key questions on how these parenting styles could affect their child’s sense of personal agency. For the purpose of this study, personal agency is defined as a person’s ability to originate and direct actions for given purposes (Zimmerman, 2006) which are reflected in high self-esteem, confidence and independence. A survey was conducted at a small university in the Midwestern United States. Male and female college students 18 years of age and older were surveyed to investigate this question. The studies reviewed explored the recent literature that focused on elements of adolescents’ personal agency in relation to parental influences. Two of the studies used for the review were completed outside of the United States. These studies were important to the research because they Literature Review