In addition to these four family types just discussed, other researchers have continued efforts to understand the variability that exists in other family forms. One of our authors of this text, Paul Schrodt, did a study in 2006 that sought to better understand the complex and dynamic makeup of stepfamilies. The study extended previous stepfamily research by classifying stepchildren according to their beliefs and experiences with key dimensions of stepfamily life, and by examining differences in perceptions of communication competence and mental health among different stepfamily types.
Participants included 586 stepchildren from four different states who completed a series of survey measures. Results of cluster and discriminant analyses revealed five discrete types of stepfamilies, including bonded, functional, ambivalent, evasive, and conflictual stepfamilies. Taken as a whole, bonded and functional stepfamilies were viewed as more competent, better functioning stepfamilies than those classified as ambivalent, evasive, and conflictual. Read below for a more detailed explanation of each type. But estimates of validity for the typology revealed significant differences in self-reported communication competence and mental health among the five stepfamily types, as well as significant differences in perceptions of mothers’ and stepparents’ communication competence. To no surprise, practitioners and researchers alike may find it important to note that communication skills are critical to facilitating better stepfamily functioning and stepparents can learn to communicate in ways that are appropriate, socially skilled, patient, flexible, but yet be assertive.
Flashcards
Cisgender
refers to a person whose gender identity corresponds with that person’s sex assigned at birth
Cisnormativity
or the beliefs, practices, and communication patterns that privilege cisgender people at the expense of transgender and gender variant others, by exploring how cisgender women use communication to cisgender family
Complementary others
are individuals who fulfill reciprocal role functions
Dual-career couple
refers to a partnership in which each person pursues a full-time career and expects to advance up the career ladder
Dual-earner couple
both partners are employed, but one or both of the partners work in careers that do not offer a career ladder or the promise of professional advancement
Familism
or the subordination of the personal interests and goals of an individual to the values and demands of the family, dominates life in many Latino families who value family commitment and unity
Family roles
recurring patterns of behavior developed through the social interactions that family members enact in order to fulfill family functions
Gender role expectations
which refer to the behaviors that family members anticipate masculine and feminine individuals will enact to fulfill family responsibilities
Kinship maintenance
One complex and often overlooked maintenance function involves managing and nurturing kinship ties within the extended family network
Role appropriation
a three-part, over-lapping process of adopting a particular role via role expectations, role enactments, and role negotiations
Role conflict
occurs when competing demands are made on an individual in the fulfillment of multiple social roles
Role enactment
describes all of the communication behaviors an individual uses to perform a role
Role expectations
refer to the models and norms that a society provides for how certain family roles should be enacted
Role models
persons whose behavior serves as a guide for others
Role negotiation
a process whereby they interact and socially construct and structure their reality and give meaning to their roles
Significant others
are those persons you view as important and who provide you with models from which you develop role expectations
Spillover
a process that occurs when responsibilities from one domain of life (e.g., work) carry over into another domain of life (e.g., family)
