The role of failure mindsets on the association between parenting styles and children’s emotional regulation

Abstract

The present study explored the role of mindsets, especially one’s views towards failure, on parenting styles and child emotion regulation in Hong Kong. Two hundred and fifty one parent of children aged between 6-12 years old completed an online questionnaire regarding their own views towards the mailability of abilities, failure as a debilitating or enhancing experience , parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian and permissive) and emotion regulation among their children. Associations were found between mindset and specific parenting styles as well as emotion regulation among children. Findings indicated that fixed and failure mindsets could be used to predict parenting styles. Both fixed and failure-as-debilitating mindsets did not moderate the relationship between parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian and permissive) and child emotion regulation. Results suggested the complexity of the relationship between parenting styles and child emotion regulation and the existence of other factors other than mindsets might be influencing the relationship. The influence of mindset on parenting styles suggested an important factor for practitioners to consider when constructing treatment programs targeted at enhancing parenting efficacy.