Browsing by Author "La Vita, Wendy"
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- ItemThe relationship between parenting style and prosocial behaviour of preadolescents in a South African context(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12) La Vita, Wendy; Greeff, A. P.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Prosocial behaviour plays an important role in preadolescents’ development of social skills. Research has established that parenting styles are important correlates of the youth’s prosocial behaviour. The current study examined the associations between different types of parenting styles (i.e. authoritarian, authoritative, permissive), which historically have influenced the prosocial behaviour of children. The present study aimed to identify aspects of parenting style that are associated with prosocial behaviour, situated within the sphere of Baumrind’s parenting styles typology (1981). The study was conducted at two secondary schools in the Athlone District in the Western Cape, South Africa. A cross-sectional design was used to conduct the study with a sample of 120 preadolescents (35 boys (29%), and 87 girls (71%), mean age 13.5 years). Data was collected using the parenting styles dimensions questionnaire (PSDQ) and the revised prosocial tendencies measure (PTM-R). These are self-reporting measures that were used to assess the parenting style of the participants’ mothers and fathers. Quantitative analyses revealed the following factors to be statistically significantly correlated with prosocial behaviour in preadolescents in this sample: The quantitative findings were reported in terms of two constructs, namely parenting style (with corresponding parenting characteristics) and the dimensions of prosocial behaviour. Maternal authoritarian parenting was significantly positively associated with one type of prosocial behaviour, namely dire. The parenting characteristics, connection and regulation, displayed by mothers are both positively correlated with anonymous prosocial behaviour. Paternal authoritative parenting is significantly and positively associated with one type of prosocial behaviour, namely public. The results for fathers reflect a significant positive correlation between the parenting style characteristics, connection and punitive and public and anonymous prosocial behaviour. However, the fathers’ parenting characteristic, namely autonomy granting, was significantly negatively correlated with altruistic prosocial behaviour. No significant correlations were found between parenting style and permissive parenting. The results reflect a relationship between the parenting styles (and the characteristics of the parenting styles) and certain types of prosocial behaviour by the participants in this study. These findings suggest that authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles influence the prosocial behaviour of preadolescents in a low socio-economic community in South Africa. Furthermore, the results suggest that change relating to parenting style and the associated parenting characteristics, e.g., authoritative parenting and connection, may influence prosocial behaviour in preadolescents in the future. The results can also be used by community development practitioners to conduct parenting workshops to inform parents about the different parenting styles and the related characteristics. The findings of the current study might contribute to the development of prosocial behaviour in youth living on the Cape Flats in the Western Cape Province, South Africa.