The influence of parenting styles on the academic performance of black high school students

English: Numerous studies have suggested that a number of domestic and familial variables are associated with school performance. High school students who described their parents as authoritative (in the sense that their parents are deeply committed to their welfare, are responsive to their needs including educational ones, are ready to show enthusiasm about their academic successes and accomplishments, and are willing to spend time (within limits) in joint enterprises of the child's needs) perform academically better and become more engaged in school than their counterparts from nonauthoritative homes. The present study intended to investigate whether adolescents' perception of their parents' behaviour towards their academic performance contributes anything additionally in the explanation of variance of high school performance to that explained by scholastic intelligence and gender. The General Scholastic Aptitude Test (GSAT) scores and class examination results of the pupils were obtained and these data with the information obtained from Mboya's Perceived Parental Behaviour Inventory (PPBI) questionnaire constituted the data base of this study. The sample included 240 adolescents (105 boys and 135 girls) from four black high schools in Thaba Nchu. In the hierarchical (multiple) regression,' the predictor variables were entered in the equation in the following order: Non-verbal General Scholastic Aptitude Test Scores (GSAT-N), Verbal General Scholastic Aptitude Test Scores (GSAT-V), Gender (Gen), Gen x GSAT-N, Gen x GSAT-V and parental style. There was a very low correlation of 0,099 between an involved parenting style and academic performance. The amount of variation in academic performance explained by scholastic aptitude test scores is about 16%. Gender explains an additional 0,7%. Interaction terms between gender and both GSAT-V and GSAT-N jointly explain an additional variation of 0,9% and parental style explains only about 0,1% of the variation in academic performance. The finding that parental style did not explain any appreciable variance in academic performance additionally to that explained by scholastic aptitude possibly may be due to the emergence of the role of peer pressure in adolescence.