In 1972, McLeod and Chaffee studied the different methods families used to watch media, and raised the theory of Family Communication Patterns. Later, Fitzpatrick and Ritchie (1994) further studied and enriched the theory. There are two key factors that influence family communication: conversation orientation and conformity orientation (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002).
A consensual family is high in both conversation and conformity orientations; a pluralistic family is high in conversation orientation and low in conformity; a protective family is low in conversation orientation and high in conformity; a laissez-faire family is low in conversation and conformity orientations (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002).
What influences do different family types cast on children? One study showed that children had negative emotions when entering college, if they were raised in a conformity-orientation-family (DorranceHall et al., 2017). This is because when parents force their children to obey what the parents think is right, the support and encouragement children feel from parents would decrease (Koerner& Maki, 2004).
If a family scores higher in conversation orientation, a child in that family will be more likely to discuss sensitive topics with their parents, such as sex and alcohol (Booth-Butterfield& Sidelinger, 1998). Children can also handle better in a relationship if they are raised in more conversation-orientation family (Koesten, 2004).
By Nancy Li
References
Booth-Butterfield, M., & Sidelinger, R. (1998). The influence of family communication on the college-aged child: Openness, attitudes and actions about sex and alcohol. Communication Quarterly, 46(3), 295–308.
Dorrance Hall, E., McNallie, J., Custers, K., Timmermans, E., Wilson, S. R., & Van den Bulck, J. (2017). A cross-cultural examination of the mediating role of family support and parental advice quality on the relationship between family communication patterns and first-year college student adjustment in the United States and Belgium. Communication Research, 44(5), 638–667.
Fitzpatrick, M. A., & Ritchie, L. D. (1994). Communication schemata within the family. Human Communication Research, 20(3), 275-301.
Koerner, A. F., & Fitzpatrick, M. A. (2002). Toward a theory of family communication. Communication theory, 12(1), 70-91.
Koerner, A. F., & Maki, L. (2004). Family communication and social support. International Assosiation for Relationship Research Conference, 1–39.
Koesten, J. (2004). Family communication patterns, sex of subject, and communication competence. Communication Monographs, 71(2), 226–244.