Family Communication Patterns

Mass communication researchers interested in family communication have traditionally assumed that family norms are shared by all family members, and apparent disagreement about family norms has been ascribed to instrument unreliability. A survey of 308 adolescent children and their parents, using a revised Family Communication Pattern (RFCP) instrument, yields evidence of systematic patterns of agreement and disagreement between mothers and fathers as well as between parents and children. Seventh-grade children are more likely to share their mothers' views on concept-orientation and their father's views on socio-orientation; by the 11th grade the opposité pattern holds. These results suggest that future work on family communication cannot ignore the influence of intrafamilial patterns of agreement and disagreement on communication norms defining the family.