{"id":532,"date":"2024-12-13T13:41:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T13:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/familycommunication\/?page_id=532"},"modified":"2025-11-24T11:41:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T11:41:48","slug":"chapter-8","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/routledgelearning.com\/familycommunication\/chapter-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019 and stepparents\u2019 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cisgender<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
refers to a person whose gender identity corresponds with that person\u2019s sex assigned\u00a0 at birth<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Cisnormativity<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
or the beliefs, practices, and communication patterns that privilege cisgender\u00a0 people at the expense of transgender and gender variant others, by exploring how cisgender\u00a0 women use communication to cisgender family<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Complementary others<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
are individuals who\u00a0fulfill\u00a0reciprocal role functions<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Dual-career couple\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
refers to a partnership in which each person pursues a full-time career and\u00a0 expects to advance up the career ladder<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Dual-earner couple<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
both partners are employed, but one or\u00a0both of the partners\u00a0work in careers\u00a0 that do not offer a career ladder or the promise of professional advancement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Familism<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
or the subordination of the personal interests and goals of an individual to the values\u00a0 and demands of the family, dominates life in many Latino families who value family\u00a0 commitment and unity<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Family roles<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
recurring patterns of\u00a0behavior\u00a0developed through the social interactions that family\u00a0 members enact\u00a0in order to\u00a0fulfill\u00a0family functions<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Gender role expectations<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
which refer to the\u00a0behaviors\u00a0that family members\u00a0anticipate\u00a0masculine\u00a0 and feminine individuals will enact to\u00a0fulfill\u00a0family responsibilities<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Kinship maintenance<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
One complex and often overlooked maintenance function involves\u00a0 managing and nurturing kinship ties within the extended family network<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Role appropriation<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
a three-part, over-lapping process of adopting a particular role via role\u00a0 expectations, role enactments, and role negotiations<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Role conflict<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
occurs when competing demands are made on an individual in the\u00a0fulfillment\u00a0of\u00a0 multiple social roles<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Role enactment<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
describes\u00a0all of\u00a0the communication\u00a0behaviors\u00a0an individual uses to perform a\u00a0 role<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Role expectations<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
refer to the models and norms that a society provides for how certain family\u00a0 roles should be enacted<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Role models<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
persons whose\u00a0behavior\u00a0serves as a guide for others<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Role negotiation<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
a process whereby they interact and socially construct and structure their reality\u00a0 and give meaning to their roles<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Significant others<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
are those persons you view as important and who provide you with models\u00a0 from which you develop role expectations<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Spillover<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n