Your daughter will inevitably resent you in the short-term, but the long-term benefits for both of you are undoubtedly worth it. A study done by a team of researchers at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom proves that lofty expectations are synonymous with successful young women: “Behind every successful woman is a nagging mom? Teenage girls more likely to succeed if they have pushy mothers.”
Girls whose parents have high expectations are less likely to become pregnant in their teens and perform better at school
Ericka Rascon-Ramirez, the head researchers, studied the lives of 15,770 girls for the course of 6 years. They were first interviewed at the ages of 13 and 14. It was found that higher parental expectations actually lowered the likelihood of teenage pregnancy.
“It is worth highlighting that the measure of expectations considered in this study, reflects a combination of aspirations and beliefs about the likelihood of attending Higher Education reported by the main parent, who in the majority of cases, is the mother.”
As much as nagging parents annoy teenagers, their influence is undoubtable.
This study also found that nagging parents led to positive results in the academic performance is teenage girls, especially if they weren’t pretty much academic. As the researchers explain, these girls don’t have any teachers of friends to motivate them, so the impact of a nagging/ pushy parent seems more pronounced.
In addition, even when teenage girls try to act independently, ignoring their parents` expectations, the nagging still has an influence on their performance.
“What our parents expected about our school choices was a major determinant of our decisions about conceiving a child or not during our teenage years”
“In many cases, we succeeded in doing what we believed was more convenient for us, even when this was against our parents’ will,” Rascon-Ramirez.“But no matter how hard we tried to avoid our parents’ recommendations, it is likely that they ended up influencing, in a more subtle manner, choices that we had considered extremely personal.
“What our parents expected about our school choices was, very likely, a major determinant of our decisions about conceiving a child or not during our teenage years.”
So, what this study has shown is that when mothers demand a lot from their daughters, they are more likely to avoid elements that compromise success, such as teen pregnancy, abandoning academics, or unemployment.
The bottom line is that contrary to popular belief, reminding your children to wash the dishes or do their homework over and over again doesn’t only teaches them to tune out your voice. It actually makes them more successful in life later on! After all, all the doors slams, tantrums, and eye rolls are worth it!
Sources: http://irelease.org, sg.theasianparent.com
