DefinePK

Abstract

The parent-child relationship has a significant impact on the physical, moral, and psychological development of the child. This study was designed to examine the role of parenting styles in two important moral emotions, i.e., guilt and shame, and gender differences in this respect. A quantitative cross-sectional study design was employed. A sample (N = 300, Age=12-19 years) were selected from institutions of the city of Bagh (Azad Kashmir). Two Self-report measures, i.e. Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) and Guilt-and Shame-Proneness Scale (GASP), were used for data collection. The 2-factor structure of PBI was adopted after Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The analysis of the Mann-Whitney U test depicted that females have a significantly higher level of both guilt and shame. This study also explored that the care of both parents has a significant positive association with guilt among their children; on the other hand, parental control is significantly associated with shame among adolescents. Findings of this study suggest that parenting styles play a crucial role in the guilt and shame proneness of adolescents, and females are more prone to develop guilt and shame. This study can be used as baseline information in the development of counselling and training programs for parents in Pakistan.