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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 114 (2014) 766 – 770

4th World Conference on Psychology, Counselling and Guidance WCPCG-2013

PARENTING STYLES AND THEIR RELATION TO

TEENAGERS’PERSONALITY PROFILE IN SINGLE MOTHER
FAMILIES: A CASE STUDY
Faizah Bte Abdul Ghania *, Syuaibatul Islamiah bt Roeswardib Azian bt Abd Azizc
a
Fakulti Pendidikan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 81310 Skudai, Johor,Malaysiar bSMK, Dato’ Usman Awang, Johor Bahru,
Malaysia, cAkademi Bahasa, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

Abstract

This study aims to identify the parenting style and its relationship with the personality profile of adolescents in single mothers’
families in Sekolah Dato 'Usman Awang, Taman Perling, Johor Bharu. This study involved the use of questionnaire on a total of
82 respondents. a total of 82 The questionnaire was subdivided into three parts. Part A covers the background of the respondents
and their mother; part B involves the Parental Behavior Inventory (PBI) which measures the parenting style of single mothers,
while part C measures participants’ personality profile using Big Five Personality Test (BFI). Data were analysed using
Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS 16.0). Descriptive analysis is used to answer objectives 1 and 2 by using
frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation, while inferential analysis is used to answer the third objective of the
correlation method. The findings showed that parenting style which is most widely practiced in single-parent families is the
authoritative parenting style with M = 1.33, or 39.70%, followed by authoritarian with M = 1:03 or 30.75% and permissive with
M = 0.99 or 29.55%. In addition, the study also showed the Agreeableness personality is the most dominant personality with M =
2.99, or 21.27%, followed by Extraversion personality with M = 2.80, or 20:33% and Openness to Experience with M = 2.79, or
20:26%. The analysis also reveals that authoritarian parenting style has a significant relationship with Openness to Experience
and Conscientiousness personality profiles. However, there is no significant relationship between authoritative and permissive
parenting style of single mothers with all other personality profile.

© 2013
© 2013 The
The Authors.
Authors.Published
Publishedby
byElsevier
ElsevierLtd.
Ltd.
Selection and
Selection andpeer-review
peer-reviewunder
underresponsibility
responsibilityofofAcademic
Prof. Dr. World
Tülay Education
Bozkurt, Istanbul KulturCenter.
and Research University, Turkey
Keywords: Parenting style, Personality Profile, Teenagers, Single Mother;

1. Introduction

Marriage is a sacred bond between men and women and it is sanctioned by every religion in the world. In Islam,
marriage is also considered as an act of worship and part of religion. Through marriage, a nuclear family consisting
of father, mother and children will emerge. Different forms, compositions and structures of families may influence
the personality development of children in different ways.

Each individual family has to play his or he respective role in ensuring that family will live in harmony. In the
event of a breach of the obligation, it could negatively affect the marriage and lead to divorce. Additionally, in
today’s challenging global environment fraught with challenges, the family institution may easily become unstable,

* Corresponding Author: Faizah Abdul Ghani . Tel.: +0197710249

[email protected]

1877-0428 © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.12.782
 Faizah Bte Abdul Ghani et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 114 (2014) 766 – 770 767

which again could result in divorces. Thus divorces and single mothers are becoming more prevalent in our society.
Having to shoulder family responsibilities alone, families headed by single mothers are considered to be facing
multiple problems especially in terms of managing their finance and children.
2. Background of the Study
The challenges single mothers face as head of the family are very arduous because they are not only
breadwinners, but they are also the managers cum educators of their children. Among the major challenges faced by
single mothers include financial problems, emotional stress, psychological and physical problems in educating and
loving the children and also the negative stigma from the society. Being a single mother is therefore a traumatic life
experience (Wan Halim, 1995).

Amongst the challenges, stress is perhaps at the top of the list. This is because single mother have to bear many
grave responsibilities, which include providing financial resources, managing the household and raising the children
(Rani, 2006), as well as gaining full employment in meeting the needs of life (Hittner, 1998).

Most single mothers also suffer from emotional stress because they need a life partner to share love and affection
(Nor Ainun; 1997). A recent study found that in order to attain mental health single mother need counselling and
professional assistance two to three times more frequently than the norm ( Cairney, Boyle, Lipman, and Racine;
2004).
.
Despite burdened with financial problems and stress, single mothers have to shoulder the responsibility of
educating and caring for their children. However, Nor Ainun (1997) found that the ability of single mothers to
educate their children is generally low. Most of the children of single mothers are less successful in life because of
the pressures faced. Therefore, the status of single mothers may affect their parenting styles; which might have a
negative impact on the social and psychological development of their children.
3. Problem Statement
In general, children from single parent families are considered problematic because they do not have enough love,
financial resources, education and attention. Billings & Emery Lumann (2000) in Moreno (2010) also explained that
children in scattered families are found to have a lot of stress, and increased risk adjustment, achievement, and
difficult relationship. According Noorfizah Abdul Malek (2001) in Azizi (2008), children from families with low
economic status often have mental problems.

Parenting style plays an important role in the development of children’s behavioural, social acumen, and emotion.
Different parenting styles can lead to different behaviour depending on the personality and temperament of the
children (Abd Rahim, 2006). According to Azizi (2008), the differences or diversity in family structure and
composition can influence different personality development in the children. Therefore, what is the parenting style
adopted by single mother parents in this country? What is the relationship of parenting style with the teenagers’
personality profiles? This study will thus focus on the parenting styles and their relationship with the personality
profiles of teenagers in single mother families in a secondary school in Taman Perling.
4. Methodology
4.1. Research design

This study is a quantitative study in a form of correlational in design. According to Azizi et al. (2007), the
correlation method involves collecting data to determine the relationship between two or more variables that are
scientific. This allows researchers to determine variations that occur in a variable and their relation to variations that
occur in other variables. In this study the correlation method is used to determine the correlation between parenting
styles with teenagers’ personality profile in single mother families. Personality Questionnaire 'Big-Five' (BFI) and
Parental Behavior Inventory (PBI) were used to obtain feedback from the participant.

4.2. Sample and population

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The population is a large group of individuals or populations from whom we get the data or information on the
research work is obtained (Najib, 1999). Based on the selected school’s record, 103 students were identified as the
populations of children of single mothers in SMK Dato 'Usman Awang, Taman Perling, Johor Bahru. Based on the
sample size determination table (Krejcie, RVdan Morgan, DW, 1970), and using a simple random sampling
technique, a total of 80 children of the single mothers in Sekolah Menengah Dato 'Usman Awang, Taman Perling
were selected as the sample population. Although the minimum sample for the study respondents was 80, the
researchers of this study have increased the sample by two more respondents. A total of 82 samples would generate
a more accurate value.
5. Findings
Data involving the demographic of the respondents and the respondents’ mother were analysed. The data
collected showed that majority of the respondents are females (52.4%), with the remaining 47.6% males. The
respondents were aged between 13 and14 years old. In terms of ethnicity, 57.3% of respondents are Malay
students, while 20.7% respectively are Chinese and Indians students. For the number of siblings, 39% of the
respondents have between 4 and 5 siblings. In terms of academic achievement, 36.6% of the respondents achieved
moderate academic achievement, 34.1% of the respondents attained poor academic performance, and 29.3%
obtained good academic achievement.

In analysing the personal information of the respondents’ mother, the data revealed that majority of the single
mothers comprised of widows whose husbands had passed away, with 45 respondents (54.9%), followed by
divorcees who had been divorce by their husbands, with 33 respondents. Based on age, majority of the single
mothers are women aged between 51 and 60 years, with total of 37 women (45.1%). For their academic
qualifications, the data showed that majority of the single mothers, totalling 40 respondents (48.8%) are women with
only a primary six education, holding merely a UPSR certificate. In terms of income, majority of the single totalling
40 respondents (48.8%), have a monthly income of between RM500 and RM900. The remaining 32.9% comprising
27 single mother are unemployed and thus do not have a fixed income.
6. Tables
Based on Table 1, a single mother parenting styles were classified into 3 types and the classification of the mean
value is taken to explain the score obtained from the study. The highest score was recorded by an authoritative
parenting style with a mean score of 1.33. The second highest score is an authoritarian parenting style with mean
score of 1.03 and the third score was permissive parenting style with a mean score of 0.99.

Table 1. Distribution of respondents based on single mothers parenting style

Elements Low Average High Mean Standard Deviation

Authhoritarian 2.4% 95.1% 2.4% 1.03 0.18
Authoritative 2.4% 45.1% 52.4% 1.33 0.35
Permissive 3.7% 92.7% 3.7% 0.99 0.18

Based on Table 2, personality traits are classified into five elements and the mean value is taken to explain the
score obtained from the study. The highest personality score is for ‘Agreeableness’ with mean score of 2.99 and
standard deviation of 0.31. The second highest score is ‘Extraversion’ with mean scores of 2.80 and a standard
deviation of 0.37. The third highest score is ‘Openness to Experience’ with a mean score of 2.79 and a standard
deviation of 0.74. The second lowest element is ‘Conscientiousness ‘with a mean score 2.75 and standard deviation
of 0.40. Lastly, ‘Neuroticism’ is the lowest score personality with a mean 2.44 and a standard deviation of 0.39.

Table 2. Personality type for adolescents in single mother families

Items Low Average High Mean Standard Deviation

Openness to Experience 20 60 2 2.79 0.74
Conscientiousness 13 68 1 2.75 0.40
Extraversion 8 74 1 2.80 0.37
Agreeableness 1 80 1 2.99 0.31
Neuroticism 30 52 0 2.44 0.39
 Faizah Bte Abdul Ghani et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 114 (2014) 766 – 770 769

Based on Table 3, the results show that there is a significant relationship between authoritarian parenting style
with openness and conscientiousness personality profiles. However, there is no significant relationship between
authoritative and permissive parenting style of single mother with all other personalities.

Table 3. Relationship between Parenting Styles with Single Mothers’ Children Personality Profile

Openess Conscientiouness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism

Parenting Style
Autoritarian P=0.001, P=0.035, P=0.053, P=0.987, P=0.162,
r=0.369 r=0.233 r=0.215 r=0.002 r=0.162

Autoritative P=0.187, P=0.251, P=0.274, P= 0.471, P=0.052,

r=0.092 r=0.023 r=0.122 r=0.081 r=-0.215

Permissive p=0.725, p=0.446, p=0.581, p= 0.670, p=0.940,

r=-0.039 r=-0.085 r=0.062 r=-0.048 r=-0.008

7. Discussion and Recommendations

The total number of single mother families is increasing in this country from time to time. Therefore, any
relevant further research is recommended for a more comprehensive study on single mothers’ parenting style
across the country and at the same time identifying its relationship of students’ personality profiles and in both
academic achievement and student discipline. Other recommendations are:
i. Single parents must look trying to improve how they communicate with their children and care for the needs of
children both in terms of physiology, safety, love and other requirements that should be given to the children
especially for the youth. This is to ensure that they will have a high esteem which make them feel confident to
communicate and adapt to their friends, society and environment.
ii. Schools and teachers are the second most important agent after the parents or family who serve as educators to
their children as well as the second person who provides guidance and a "role model" to the children in their
development. Therefore, teachers must show itself as a "role-model" is best for an example and inspiration to
students. The teacher must always be positive and open in communicating with students and at the same time
instilling good values in students who are growing up.
iii. Neighbours and surrounding community need to avoid from having negative views and stigmatizing families and
children of single mothers. Instead, such families should be given support and assistance both emotionally and
financially in order for them to be equal footing with other families.

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