Stepfamily Expectations: Expected and Actual Communication between Stepchildren and Stepparents

Abstract

This study is grounded in Expectancy Violations Theory and examined the relationships among expectations that stepchildren have for stepparent communicative behaviors, expectation violations, stepparent conflict, and stepparent satisfaction.Participants (N = 94) included young adults from stepfamilies who had formed while they were in high school. Analyses revealed that stepchildren experienced significantly more warmth, affection, and discipline behaviors from their stepparents than they had anticipated before getting to know him/her. Stepchildren who negatively perceived stepparent warmth, control, emotional support, and routine behaviors were more likely to report increased stepparent conflict. Stepchildren who positively perceived stepparent warmth, control, affection, emotional support, discipline, and routine behaviors were more likely to report increased stepparent satisfaction.These results indicate that certain stepparent behaviors, and stepchildren's evaluations of the expectation violation for those behaviors, may be associated with stepchildren's reports of stepparent conflict and stepparent satisfaction. As such, the current study poses suggestions for how stepparents may address stepchildren's expectations for their behavior.