The Influence of Parenting Styles on Learning Motivation and Academic Self-Efficacy

Main Article Content

Yunhan Li

Keywords

parenting styles, learning motivation, academic self-efficacy

Abstract

Parenting style is widely studied in adolescents academic development. However existing research focuses mainly on direct correlations. The mediating pathways, developmental differences, and cultural moderators have yet to be sufficiently verified. This review systematically examines how parenting styles influence learning motivation and academic self-efficacy. It synthesizes peer-reviewed articles and analyzes mediating mechanisms including self-efficacy, coping styles, and basic psychological need satisfaction. It also compares findings across age groups and cultural contexts. The result shows that warm and autonomy-supportive parenting enhances intrinsic motivation and academic confidence. Overly controlling or permissive parenting has negative effects. These effects operate through the mediators. At the same time parenting influence is stronger in middle school than in university. In collectivist cultures, parental control may have different meanings and may be less harmful than Western findings suggest. Most existing studies use cross-sectional designs, so causal conclusions remain limited. Future research needs longitudinal studies. It should examine fathers and mothers separately and compare different cultural contexts directly.

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