Open Access

ARTICLE

How parenting styles shape marital attitudes: The mediating role of para-social relationships

Lan Luo¹, Yun Shen¹, Zuntao Gu², Linbing Wang¹, Shijian Sun^3,*

1 Psychological Counseling and Guidance Center, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
2 Industry-Academia-Research Service Center, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China
3 Asset Management Office, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, 330004, China

* Corresponding Author: Shijian Sun. Email:

Journal of Psychology in Africa 2025, 35(5), 713-721. https://doi.org/10.32604/jpa.2025.066529

Received 10 April 2025; Accepted 25 September 2025; Issue published 24 October 2025

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined how parenting styles influence college students’ romantic attitudes through para-social relationships. A total of 571 college students (females = 71.2%) completed the Short-form Parenting Style Scale, the Para-social Relationship Scale, and the Questionnaire on College Students’ View of Marriage and Love. Mediation was examined with bootstrap-corrected structural equation modelling (5000 resamples). Results indicated that maternal rejection (indirect effect β = −0.019, 95% CI = −0.055–−0.001, p < 0.05) and overprotection (indirect effect β = −0.02, 95% CI = −0.055–−0.001, p < 0.05) indirectly undermined college students’ marriage views by intensifying para-social relationships, whereas paternal warmth directly fostered a positive marriage view (β = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.062–0.369, p < 0.01). Therefore, to foster healthy romantic and marital attitudes among youth, families should provide emotional support, while society should promote balanced and realistic social interactions.

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Keywords

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