I don't know yet tbh. Research apparently shows outcomes are worse on all accounts with physical punishment in the picture, and I generally place research above the circumstancial, unfalsiable evidence that people leverage when they talk about such a controversial topic.
One thing that muddies this discussion's waters is that nobody will ever agree on what constitutes (reasonable) physical punishment. Some of the hardest defenders of it talk about smacks on the ass while others have in mind a couple of slaps, whippings with a belt, a punch in the face or a kick in the stomach, strangling or an armlock.
Same goes for the behaviors that motivate the punishment. Some people will have in mind what they consider to be serious offenses like harming somebody else or talking back, while others will feel perfectly justified in beating a kid that didn't set the table right or forgot to flush.
So since nobody talks about the same things really, on top of which different cultures also add another distorting lens, plus the unfalsiable evidence I brought up earlier ("weeeell, I was beaten/not beaten and I turned out just...", "I knew a guy that was beaten/not beaten, and he...") and the long-held emotions attached to the subject matter, the convo just ends up being chatter.
If or when I ever gear up to become a parent, besides the parenting classes I want to take, I'll do an even deeper dive on the research that exists on the subject and I'll talk to professionals about it. Then I'll regroup with my wife and go from there.
