What a great question. Are you just launching into parenthood? If so, I wish you the best. Authoritarian: This style of parenting has been the norm for most of history. The parent sets rigid rules and expects compliance or else. This worked well in relatively unchanging, agrarian societies of the past. The "expert" parent showed the child how to sow the seeds, weed the fields. Since things changed little at all, rules passed down generation to generation promoted survival. This style doesn't work well in modern society. Things are changing very rapidly, yet this breeds children with rigid ideas of what to do in every situation. Non-compliance is generally net with corporal punishment, teaching violent retaliation for any breach of rigid rules in a society where peaceful solutions to conflict are now valued. Permissive: These parents demand little of their children and let them work out conflicts mostly on their own. Children raised under this model are often creative and adaptable to new settings, but may also be selfish and short tempered. Because such parents set low expectations for their children, they may suffer from low self esteem. In families with more than one child, where no limits are set, the bully wins. Children may learn from this that aggression is the way to achieve their desires. Assertive: This is usually classed as "assertive, democratic". Such parents lay out basic guidelines for their children. They explain to the child the reasons for the limits they set. Children are expected to learn to take responsibility and achieve goals. Punishment is explained and is generally not corporal. This parenting style breeds children who are self assured. They feel empowered to debate limits, but will accept them. They are adaptive and creative, well suited for today's world.