Paternal religiosity and parenting style: Influence on the quality of daughter\u27s friendships

Research shows that parenting styles fall into three basic categories: authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive (Baumrind, 1971). Also, a high amount of parental involvement has been found to exert a positive influence on children’s academic performance and personality development (Heaven & Ciarrochi, 2008). This study examines the hypothesis that a daughter who reports that her father figure only allows her to develop highly regulated friendships will have a more negative perception of her father figure than a girl who is given more freedom in developing friendships. Secondly, the study examines the hypothesis that a daughter who reports highly regulated friendships will be more likely to perceive her father figure as highly involved in a religious organization than a daughter who reports loosely regulated friendships. Finally, the study examines the hypothesis that a girl who reports loosely regulated relationships with friends will make closer friendships than a girl who forms highly regulated relationships. For this study, 35 girls enrolled in a Psychology class at the University of Northern Iowa completed three brief scales: one measured the perceived parenting style of the participant’s father figure, one measured the quality of the participant’s friendships, and one measured the perceived amount of religious involvement on the part of the participant’s immediate family. Unfortunately, the low number of participants in the study prevented adequate statistical power to support analysis of the findings