Do all parents follow the same parenting style? You would have to be pretty naive to think so. A different parenting style reflects why society is made up of individuals. Why do people see things differently; or why do people behave differently? It all goes back to the beginning - By understanding a different parenting style will go a long way to understanding why different children behave the way they do.

Parenting styles have been catergorized into four areas:
Authoritarian
Authoritative
Indulgent
Permissive.

The Authoritarian Parents

This may be a different parenting style from other methods of raising children, but it is very similar to a dictatorial method of running a government. Maybe “Totalitarian Parents” would be a better description. Basically these parents are ultra strict and rule heavy, but not in a way that provides safety. Rather, this different parenting style opts to be stifling and constricting providing discipline for personal whim more than anything else.

The Authoritative Parents

This is a different parenting style that borrows heavily from both the Authoritarian and the Indulgent Parenting modules to provide a more balanced approach. Essentially, rules and regulations of behavior are enforced but not in such a many that they becomes restrictive (Authoritarian Parenting Module) nor is it so lax that any pretense of rules is reduced to a joke (Indulgent Parents Module). Consider this one a balancing parenting act.

The Indulgent Parents

Indulgent parents have a different parenting style that is at odds which what is considered the fabric of (mythic, but constantly media projected) American conventional parenting.

Essentially, these types of parents are permissive in nature and have a tendency to be less-rule oriented than other parents. Think of Madonna and you get the general idea.

The Uninvolved Parents

This different parenting style is almost a non-entity. It is parenting without actually parenting. It is a detached, ‘let them do what they want’ method of parenting that seeks to give the parents a way out of actually having to perform responsibilities rather than assertively assume the role of parenting, a role they can not or will not assume.

As stated before, there are no absolutes and parents who prescribe to the aforementioned different styles of parenting will do so at a level different from other parents who share the same style. That is, you may have two authoritarian parents and each has a varying level of exercising the severity of their authority.

As such, this is not meant to be a comprehensive list, but rather an overview to provide some clarity and order to the definition of parenting style.

Parenting can only be described as a somewhat complex activity. There are many specific behaviours working individually to determine a child's outcomes. It's also suggested a child's personality could be almost 90% developed by the time they reach the age of seven. In the end though, rather than any specific behaviour contributing to a child's makeup, the consensus would be more that it's a combination of different behaviours, including a different parenting style.