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    Stepfamily Expectations: Expected and Actual Communication between Stepchildren and Stepparents

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    Rainforth_ku_0099M_15878_DATA_1.pdf (880.2Kb)
    Issue Date
    2018-05-31
    Author
    Rainforth, Paige
    Publisher
    University of Kansas
    Format
    95 pages
    Type
    Thesis
    Degree Level
    M.A.
    Discipline
    Communication Studies
    Rights
    Copyright held by the author.
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    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.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/27935
    Collections
    • Communication Studies Dissertations and Theses [275]
    • Theses [3906]

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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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