Effects of parenting styles on gender differences of adolescents’ non-cognitive abilities: an empirical study in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gender differences in non-cognitive abilities are important in explaining the “female advantage” in education. The existing literature, however, has not yet given a clear answer as to why gender differences in non-cognitive skills arise. Based on the theoretical perspective of social interaction, this research analyses how parenting styles affect gender differences in adolescents’ non-cognitive skills during the family education process and discusses the differential patterns of these effects among different social classes. The study found that there are significant gender differences in the non-cognitive skills of Chinese adolescents. Girls’ non-cognitive skills are higher than that of boys, and this gender difference is more obvious among non-elite social class. Parents put stricter constraints on and communicate more frequently with girls than boys, which has a great impact on the gender differences in non-cognitive abilities of teenagers and exert differentiated impact on elite and non-elite class.