The Mediating Role of Mental Toughness in the Relationship between Parenting Styles and Flourishing

he aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of mental toughness in the relationship between of parenting styles and flourishing. Three hundred and fifty five MA students were selected from Shiraz University by random multistage cluster sampling. The participants completed the Parental Authority Questionnaire (Buri, 1991), the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (Clough et al., 2002), and the Flourishing Scale (Diener et al., 2010). The results of structural equation modeling using AMOS software indicated that the relation of authoritarian parenting style to flourishing was positive and significant. The relationship between authoritative parenting style and mental toughness was positive and significant, and the relation of permissive parenting style to mental toughness was negative and significant. Authoritarian parenting style had direct relation on flourishing and authoritative parenting style and permissive parenting style had indirect relation on flourishing through mental toughness. The implications of the findings were discussed in terms of their applications to parents and promoting flourishing in individuals.