Regulatory Focus as a Mediator between Perceived Parenting Style and Friendship Intimacy in Chinese Emerging Adulthood

In this study, we examined the relationship continuity between parent–child relationships and friendships. Based on the theoretical framework of the internal working model, the study aimed to investigate the mediating role of regulatory focus in the relationship between adult children’s perceptions of parenting styles and friendship intimacy in the Chinese cultural context. The sample included 400 emerging adults aged 18–25 years from Taiwan. Using structural equation modeling, we found that both perceived authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles directly contributed to intimacy in emerging adults’ friendships—authoritative parenting contributed to higher levels of friendship intimacy, whereas authoritarian parenting contributed to lower levels of friendship intimacy. Authoritative parenting was positively associated with both promotion and prevention focus, and authoritarian parenting was positively associated with prevention regulatory focus. Only promotion regulatory focus was positively linked to friendship intimacy. Moreover, authoritative parenting was found to indirectly contribute to higher friendship intimacy through the mediating effect of promotion regulatory focus. These results expanded our understanding of regulatory focus theory in the field of intimate relations and explained how regulatory focus plays a role in the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between perceived parenting and emerging adult friendship intimacy.