What Kind of Parent Are You? 6 Parenting Style Quizzes

Every mom and dad has their own unique parenting style. Do you know what yours is?

An online parenting style quiz is a quick way to discover your dominant parenting style.

We all want what’s best for our children. After all, our greatest desire is for them to reach their highest potential.

As it turns out, we can support our children by how we raise them.

Numerous research studies, such as an article published in the Journal of Education and Educational Development, show that parenting styles have a major impact on how well children adjust to society as they grow older.

Table of Contents

The 4 Parenting Styles

In general, there are four styles of parenting. These four categories were first identified in the 1960s through the work of research psychologist Diane Baumrind.

Here are the parenting styles and a brief description of each:

Authoritarian – Parents who use this style expect total obedience from their children. Autonomy is not encouraged. Punishment is used instead of discipline. As a consequence, children raised by authoritarian parents usually grow up with low self-esteem and a higher risk for aggression and hostility.
Authoritative – Authoritative parents encourage their children to comply with rules they’ve established. The rules are usually reasonable and open for discussion between the parents and children. In this style, children’s autonomy is respected and encouraged.

Children’s feelings and opinions are validated, with plenty of praise and reward systems to encourage good behavior. At the same time, parents assert their authority in having the final word in decision-making. Children who are raised by authoritative parents usually grow up to be responsible, with a healthy sense of self-worth.
Permissive/Indulgent – Parents who use this style often take on the role of a friend rather than that of a parent. They encourage open communication with their children, but don’t usually put in a lot of effort to correct negative behavior.

Permissive parents tend to only step in when their children are in serious trouble. There is inconsistency in enforcing rules and consequences for violating the rules. Children of permissive parents tend to have issues with authority, struggle academically, and have low self-esteem and depression when they grow up.
Uninvolved/Neglectful – Uninvolved parents tend to be unresponsive to their children. They are also often indifferent to their children’s needs. Usually, these parents may be experiencing mental disorders as a result of abuse when they were children. The children of neglectful parents tend to be more impulsive, engage in delinquent behavior, and experience more mental issues.

Read on for our recommendations of the best online quizzes for determining your parenting style.

Regardless of your results after taking any of the quizzes below, you can always make adjustments in your parenting style in order to provide the best possible environment where your children can thrive.

1. Psych Central's Parenting Style Online Quiz

This quiz consists of 15 questions. It takes 4–5 minutes to complete.

Each question is a statement about parenting. You are required to choose whether you strongly disagree or strongly agree with the statements.

Once you’re done, you submit your answers in order to get the results of the quiz.

The results show your scores for three categories to determine your parenting style:

Authoritarian (whether you’re an authoritarian or a democratic parent)
Flexibility (whether you’re specific or flexible)
Permissive (whether you’re strict or lenient)

Descriptions accompany each category, giving quiz-takers some pointers on how their parenting style can be applied in actual scenarios.

2. Active Parenting Publishers' Online Quiz

The quiz has two parts: Beliefs and Actions.

The Beliefs section helps parents identify their beliefs about what parenting is all about. Meanwhile, the Actions section is more focused on the current situation in the family.

Each part has 15 questions or scenarios that quiz-takers rate according to whether they strongly disagree with the statement (1) or strongly agree with it (5).

The quiz takes an average of 10 minutes, and results are presented immediately after you’re done. It identifies your most dominant parenting style and your second most dominant parenting style.

A breakdown of your answers is also presented, with an interpretation of the overall results. This quiz has both online and printable versions.

3. Boulder County Parenting Style Questionnaire

This questionnaire is designed for parents raising teenagers who want to know about their parenting style.

It consists of 10 questions, with a list of choices for the answers. Instead of ranking a certain statement about parenting style, this quiz provides multiple choices where you need to choose the scenario or answer that resonates with you.

This quiz takes an average of 15 minutes to complete. A scoring instruction rubric is provided, as well as an interpretation of the results. Finally, there is also a section in the questionnaire about tips for raising a safe and happy teen.

4. S.K.I.P.'s Parenting Style Test

The S.K.I.P. website is associated with the New Zealand government and provides useful resources for children and parents.

This quiz acknowledges that each parent has a unique style of taking care of their children. They categorize the parenting styles as:

Tree
Rock
Paper

The eight questions are scenarios where you choose from among three options to decide the course of action that resonates best with you.

Once you’re done, you are presented with the results of the quiz. You are given your parenting style and a quick description of that style in action.

It takes 5 minutes or less to answer the set of questions in this quiz.

what is my parenting style quiz | psych central parenting style quiz | free printable parenting style quiz — An online parenting style quiz is a quick way to discover your dominant parenting style.

5. Psychology Today's Parenting Style Test

To determine your parenting style using this quiz, you need to answer 42 questions. These questions fall into two categories: self-assessment and scenario-type questions.

Quiz-takers rate each statement based on whether they strongly agree or strongly disagree.

It takes an average of 25 minutes to complete this quiz.

6. Learning Who You Are as a Parent

This quiz has 10 questions that require self-reflection in order to get the most appropriate answer. For each item, quiz-takers must choose their answers from three to four options (labeled A, B, C, and D).

These answer options contain statements that reflect possible values held by a parent. A couple of sentences expound on the statement to give clarity and help the quiz-taker choose the most appropriate answer.

To get the results, you simply have to count the number of A’s, B’s, C’s, and D’s from the quiz. Each letter represents a parenting style. For example, having mostly C’s means that one predominantly has an authoritative parenting style.

The quiz lasts from 15 to 20 minutes.

Final Thoughts

Parenting is a big challenge, especially since the way children are raised has a huge impact on how they’ll function in society and thrive in the future.

We hope that you were able to choose the best parenting style quiz from our recommendations.

If you need more resources about parenting, you might want to check out the following posts:

Finally, if you want to level up your parenting skills, then check out this resource that will show you how to get your kids to listen WITHOUT yelling, nagging, or losing control.