Parenting is known as one of the most important life experiences that greatly changes people on an emotional, social and intellectual levels. Parenting is a complex concept that includes determinants such as motivation to have children, taking and accepting responsibilities, caring for children`s well-being, focusing on values and goals that can be realized in the parental role. Numerous factors influence the process of growing up and socialization of the child in the family, and some of the most important are the parenting style, as well as the use of punishments and the way of punishing children. Child-rearing styles are determined by several dimensions of parental behavior (parental support, restrictive control, and permissiveness). Physical (corporal) punishment is defined as any punishment in which physical force is used and whose intention is to cause pain or discomfort. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between parenting motivation, parenting styles, and physical punishment of children. The study participants were parents (N = 90) of children aged 2 to 10 years. Parents completed a questionnaire containing sociodemographic questions, the Motivation Parenting Scale, the Parental Behavior Questionnaire, and the Physical Violence Scale. The expression of each of the four types of motivation for parenting and the differences in that expression with regard to their gender and education were examined. The results showed that the surveyed parents of children aged 2 to 10 years have the most pronounced altruistic motivation for parenthood and that there are statistically significant differences in the expression of certain types of motivation between the two groups of participants with regard to education. Also, the connection between different types of motivations for parenting, the dimensions of parental behavior and the frequency of corporal punishment of children was examined. A significant correlation was obtained between the dimension of restrictive control and fatalistic and narcissistic motivation for parenthood as with two types of instrumental motivation (self-affirmation and prolongation of the family line). A statistically significant positive correlation between the dimension of restrictive control and the frequency of corporal punishment and physical abuse of children was found. No significant correlations were found between other dimensions of parental behavior (parental support, permissiveness) and scales of physical violence.