While research consistently links authoritative maternal parenting to better affective well-being (AWB), the psychological mechanisms behind this association and the culturally-specific effects of authoritarianism remain underexplored. This study investigated the mediating role of gender role orientations in the relationship between maternal parenting styles and AWB, encompassing both the presence of positive and the absence of negative affect, in a sample of 480 Chinese college students. Structural equation modeling revealed no significant gender differences across the tested variables. The primary findings indicated that both masculinity and femininity partially mediated the positive association between maternal authoritative parenting and positive affect. Masculinity also partially mediated the negative association between authoritative parenting and negative affect. In contrast, maternal authoritarian parenting was only directly associated with higher negative affect. These results highlight the crucial role of an authoritative maternal style, which balances discipline with nurturance, in fostering adaptive gender role orientations. These orientations, in turn, are significant predictors of young adults’ psychological well-being. The findings offer important theoretical insights and practical implications for parenting practices.