Regulatory focus is the concept introduced by Higgins (1997). He distinguishes promotion focus (a concern with advancement, growth and accomplishment) and prevention focus (a concern with protection safety and responsibility). Higgins assumes that parental behavior is the most important socialization factor that influences strength of regulatory foci and the dominant focus for every individual. The aim of this research was to test this hypothesis by examining the relation between parenting of both parents and promotive and preventive focus of their children. Participants were 130 Zagreb University students (87% female) who reported on their regulatory foci and earlier parenting behaviors of their parents. The results show that recalled parental behaviour accounts for significant variance of preventive regulatory focus in young adulthood, with Monitoring and Negative discipline of mothers and Acceptance, Psychological control and Permisiveness of fathers as significant predictors. Promotive regulatory focus was significantly predicted by mother’s Acceptance and Negative discipline. Better parental practices, especially mothers’, were related to more pronounced self regulation, regardless of its focus. Analyzed differences between behaviors of parents of individuals with different dominant focus have shown that better parental practices are related to more pronounced prevention than promotion focus. The results partially confirm the theoretically proposed assumption of parental influence on development of regulatory foci.

regulatory focus, self-regulation, parenting