In the early 1960s, when America was on the cusp of social upheaval that would challenge authority at all levels, a University of California, Berkeley, psychologist named Diana Baumrind began a longitudinal study aimed at answering a still timely question: How does our parenting style—including our practice of authority as well as love—affect our children’s development of character and competence?
More than 100 parents and their children participated in Baumrind’s study. When the children were in preschool, middle school, and high school, the researchers spent 50 hours observing each family’s parent-child interactions at home and in the lab, and interviewed parents about those interactions. In addition, the research team observed each child’s peer interactions at school. Finally, they interviewed every child individually when they were in middle school and again in high school.
