Permissive parenting: A permissive parent shows lots of affection toward his or her child but often seems more like a friend than a parent. They provide few rules and those rules tend to be inconsistent. Child development research has shown that children raised with a permissive style of parenting tend to show lack of self- discipline, poor social skills. Children may be self-involved and demanding as well as insecure due to the lack of consistency and guidelines.