EFFECT OF PARENTING STYLES ON DIMENSIONS OF FRIENDSHIP IN SCHOOL GOING ADOLESCENTS IN JAIPUR CITY, INDIA

Abstract

Adolescence is understood as a difficult developmental period in one’s life. Many highly
concentrated demands are made upon youth by society during this period for independence, for
peer and heterosexual adjustments, for educational and vocational preparation and for the
development of a workable set of personal and social values. Adolescents exhibit a strong peer
group need. It is time when the developing individual is extremely anxious about his relationship
with his age mates (Mehta, 2000). Parents play a critical role in shaping the behavior and
personality of the adolescents and based on their characteristics adolescents interact with their
peers. Within this theoretical frame work, this doctoral research was undertaken to study the
effects of parenting styles on dimensions of friendship in school going adolescents in Jaipur City,
India.
The sample comprised of 240 subjects in the age group of 12-18 years, representing early,
middle and late adolescence. Equal numbers of girls and boys were included in the sample. Basic
Profile Inventory, Transactional Styles Inventory-Parent Feedback and Dimensions of Friendship
tests were used to obtain data. Adolescents were asked to give a feedback on how they perceive
the parenting styles of parents.
The results revealed that on the style of ‘nurturing’ larger majority of adolescents (30.83%)
perceived their parents in “high” and “very high” categories, while on the styles on ‘creative’,
‘regulating’, ‘confronting’, ‘task-management’, and ‘adaptive’, adolescents scored their
parenting styles in “low” and “average” categories on the scale. Children perceived their parents
as highly nuturant but low on other styles. On ‘task-management’ and ‘adaptive’ styles, there
were highly significant differences reported in the genders. Girls found their parents higher on
the above two parenting styles as compared to the boys.
The results revealed that on the style of ‘nurturing’ larger majority of adolescents (30.83%)
perceived their parents in “high” and “very high” categories, while on the styles on ‘creative’,
‘regulating’, ‘confronting’, ‘task-management’, and ‘adaptive’, adolescents scored their
parenting styles in “low” and “average” categories on the scale. Children perceived their parents
as highly nuturant but low on other styles. On ‘task-management’ and ‘adaptive’ styles, there
were highly significant differences reported in the genders. Girls found their parents higher on
the above two parenting styles as compared to the boys.
Results on the dimensions on friendship revealed that on the dimensions on ‘enjoyment’,
‘acceptance’, ‘respect’, ‘mutual assistance’, and ‘spontaneity’, larger majority of adolescents
IJARR, 2(11), 2017; 17-24
17
International Journal of Advanced Research and Review
www.ijarr.in
EFFECT OF PARENTING STYLES ON DIMENSIONS OF FRIENDSHIP
IN SCHOOL GOING ADOLESCENTS IN JAIPUR CITY, INDIA
Gunjan Jain1 and Meena Mathur2
1Gunjan Jain is a Ph.D. scholar in Human-Development, at the Department of Home-Science, University of
Rajasthan, Jaipur, India. Email: gunjan2108@gmail.com
2Meena Mathur is a Professor (Retd.) in Human-Development, at the Department of Home-Science, University of
Rajasthan, Jaipur, India. Email: meena.chiku@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
Adolescence is understood as a difficult developmental period in one’s life. Many highly
concentrated demands are made upon youth by society during this period for independence, for
peer and heterosexual adjustments, for educational and vocational preparation and for the
development of a workable set of personal and social values. Adolescents exhibit a strong peer
group need. It is time when the developing individual is extremely anxious about his relationship
with his age mates (Mehta, 2000). Parents play a critical role in shaping the behavior and
personality of the adolescents and based on their characteristics adolescents interact with their
peers. Within this theoretical frame work, this doctoral research was undertaken to study the
effects of parenting styles on dimensions of friendship in school going adolescents in Jaipur City,
India.
The sample comprised of 240 subjects in the age group of 12-18 years, representing early,
middle and late adolescence. Equal numbers of girls and boys were included in the sample. Basic
Profile Inventory, Transactional Styles Inventory-Parent Feedback and Dimensions of Friendship
tests were used to obtain data. Adolescents were asked to give a feedback on how they perceive
the parenting styles of parents.
The results revealed that on the style of ‘nurturing’ larger majority of adolescents (30.83%)
perceived their parents in “high” and “very high” categories, while on the styles on ‘creative’,
‘regulating’, ‘confronting’, ‘task-management’, and ‘adaptive’, adolescents scored their
parenting styles in “low” and “average” categories on the scale. Children perceived their parents
as highly nuturant but low on other styles. On ‘task-management’ and ‘adaptive’ styles, there
were highly significant differences reported in the genders. Girls found their parents higher on
the above two parenting styles as compared to the boys.
The results revealed that on the style of ‘nurturing’ larger majority of adolescents (30.83%)
perceived their parents in “high” and “very high” categories, while on the styles on ‘creative’,
‘regulating’, ‘confronting’, ‘task-management’, and ‘adaptive’, adolescents scored their
parenting styles in “low” and “average” categories on the scale. Children perceived their parents
as highly nuturant but low on other styles. On ‘task-management’ and ‘adaptive’ styles, there
were highly significant differences reported in the genders. Girls found their parents higher on
the above two parenting styles as compared to the boys.
Results on the dimensions on friendship revealed that on the dimensions on ‘enjoyment’,
‘acceptance’, ‘respect’, ‘mutual assistance’, and ‘spontaneity’, larger majority of adolescents 

scored in ‘high’ and ‘neutral’ categories, while on the dimensions on ‘trust’, ‘confiding’ and
‘understanding’, adolescents fell in the ‘neutral’ and ‘high’ categories on the scale. It can be
concluded that, on most of the dimensions of friendship, adolescents fell in ‘high’ category. No
subject scored in the ‘lower’ category of the scale. ‘t’ values suggested that the girls were
significantly higher on the dimensions on ‘enjoyment’, ‘trust’, and ‘understanding’ as compared
to boys in the total sample on Dimensions of Friendship Scale.
Significant correlationships were observed between parenting styles and the dimensions of
friendship in school going adolescents.