How Parental Identity and Behaviors Contribute to the Well-being of Parents in an Ultra-Orthodox Society

The Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) sector is religiously conservative, insular, strictly adheres to Judaism, and considers raising children a central value. This study broadens the research on this sector by examining how conservativeness, parental identity, and parenting behaviors predict parental well-being. Parenting behaviors were assessed by the Parenting Pentagon Model (PPM), which includes five constructs that provide a comprehensive picture of parenting: Partnership, Leadership, Love, Independence, and Rules. Participants were 355 Haredi parents (279 mothers, 76 fathers), who completed questionnaires addressing primary study variables. The parents reported being more conservative than open, having a fairly strong parental identity, more optimal behaviors on the PPM, and fairly high levels of well-being. A regression analysis showed that having a child with a disability, conservativeness, parental identity, and the PPM all explained significant variance in parental well-being. A greater understanding of this sector can lend insight into other insular, conservative sectors around the world.