Understanding the relationship between prosocial behaviours and parenting styles in young adults

Pages: 180-185
Vanita Sondhi, Arpana Beniwal, and Shagun Ganotra (Department of Applied Psychology, Vivekananda College, University of Delhi, Delhi)

The area of prosocial behavior is very important as it is through these behaviors that the child becomes a contributing member of the society. The purpose of the present study was to assess the extent to which different parental styles, i.e., Involvement, Strictness/Supervision, and Psychological Autonomy predict the six different types of prosocial behaviors including Altruistic, Anonymous, Dire, Emotional, Compliant and Public. The sample was selected using purposive sampling and consisted of 96 female participants in the age group 18 to 21, residing in urban areas of Delhi. The participants were first administered the background measure, following which they completed Prosocial Tendency Measure and then the Parenting Style Index. Regression analysis indicated that the three parenting styles were related to Emotional Prosocial behaviors of which involvement by the parent in the young adult’s life was the most significant predictor. Parenting styles were also related to Compliant Prosocial behaviors with supervision/strictness by the parent in the young adult’s life being the most significant predictor. None of the parenting styles could however predict the other prosocial behaviors, i.e., altruistic, anonymous, dire, and public.