PERCEIVED PATERNAL PARENTING STYLE AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

Demanding parents greatly affecting the general development of their children including mental health. This study aims to study the perceived paternal parenting style and subjective well-being of undergraduates with the mediation effect of emotional intelligence. This is aligned with the third Sustainable Development Goal: good health and well-being. The study explores how paternal parenting styles, including authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive approaches, relate to emotional intelligence and subjective well-being among undergraduate students in Klang Valley, Malaysia. It addresses cultural influences, the evolving role of fathers in caregiving, and aims to fill the gap in research regarding the impact of paternal parenting styles on emotional intelligence and subjective well-being. A total of 388 undergraduates from Klang Valley were selected to participate in this study using cluster sampling. Correlation analysis revealed that undergraduates who perceived paternal parenting style as 1) authoritative is positively correlated to emotional intelligence (r = .393, p < .01) and subjective well-being (r = .371, p < .01); 2) authoritarian is negatively correlated to emotional intelligence (r = -.136, p < .01) and subjective well-being (r = -.205, p < .01); 3) permissive is negatively correlated to emotional intelligence (r = -.238, p < .01) and subjective well-being (r = -.195, p < .01). Findings also revealed that emotional intelligence as a partial mediator between perceived authoritative paternal parenting style and subjective well-being as the indirect effect shown a significant result (β = .168, t = 3.865, p <0.001). In conclusion, the importance of paternal parenting style towards children’s emotional intelligence and subjective well-being shall be highlighted to the stakeholders.