Authoritative Parenting and Emotional Intelligence in Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Big Five Personality Traits

Abstract

Parenting style plays a significant role in shaping adolescents' psychological and emotional development. This study examined the relationship between authoritative parenting and emotional intelligence among adolescents, with Big Five personality traits investigated as mediating mechanism. Using a cross-sectional survey research design, data were collected from 400 secondary school students across 12 educational institutions in Abbottabad, Mansehra, and Haripur, with equal representation across sector (public/private) and gender, through convenience sampling. Authoritative parenting was measured using the Authoritative parenting was measured using the Urdu translation (Babree, 1997) of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ; Buri, 1991), personality traits using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Chisti & Kamal, 2002), and emotional intelligence using the Scale of Emotional Intelligence (Batool & Hayat, 2018). Results indicated that authoritative parenting significantly predicted emotional intelligence, and that this relationship was partially mediated by personality traits, suggesting that parenting style shapes emotional intelligence both directly and through its influence on personality development. These findings highlight authoritative parenting as a key contributor to adolescents' emotional competence, and identify personality development as a pathway through which the family environment shapes emotional intelligence.