The Role of Parenting in Relational Aggression and Prosocial Behavior among Emerging Adults

Abstract

This study investigated the role of remembered parenting styles and parental psychological control in the prediction of relational aggression and prosocial behavior in a college student sample (N = 323). Participants’ retrospective ratings of how they were parented were related to relational aggression and prosocial behavior; however, somewhat different relationships emerged for African American and White participants. Permissive parenting, authoritative parenting, and parental psychological control predicted relational aggression. Participant race and all 3 parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) predicted prosocial behavior. Participant race moderated the relationship between psychological control and prosocial behavior. Specifically, parental psychological control was inversely related to prosocial behavior for African American, but not White, participants.

KEYWORDS:

• college students
• parenting
• prosocial behavior
• psychological control
• race differences
• relational aggression

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This article is based on the first author’s master’s project.