Fathers’ parenting style and academic achievement of emerging adults in Lebanon: Mediating roles of psychological control, self-esteem, and self-construal

Abstract

Middle Eastern fathers tend to be characterized as authoritarian and psychologically controlling, in particular with their daughters, to attain collectivistic cultural goals. We examined the association between fathers’ authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles and academic achievement of Druze Arab, emerging adult sons and daughters in Beirut, Lebanon. Fathers’ psychological control and emerging adults’ individualistic and collectivistic self-construal and self-esteem were examined as mediators. Emerging adult sons and daughters (18 to 24 years of age; N = 600) completed measures of parenting styles; achievement-oriented and dependency-oriented psychological control; self-esteem; and individualistic and collectivistic self-construal. Academic achievement was measured by grade point average obtained from official university records. We found that Lebanese emerging adult sons and daughters clearly distinguished between the strong propensity of authoritarian fathers to use psychologically controlling practices of shaming, guilt-induction, and love-withdrawal and the tendency of authoritative fathers to strongly refrain from these psychologically controlling practices. Authoritarian fathering as well as fathers’ use of psychological control related to both sons’ and daughters’ lower self-esteem and for daughters to lower academic achievement. Authoritative fathering as well as authoritative fathers’ tendency to refrain from psychological control related to high self-esteem and academic achievement. Our findings suggest that Middle Eastern parents should refrain from authoritarian parenting and psychological control, to nurture their child’s achievement, autonomy, and relatedness.