family, 324

nuclear family, 325

extended family, 326

stepfamily, 326

cohabiting couples, 326

single-parent family, 326

family stories, 327

Family Communication Patterns Theory, 330

conversation orientation, 330

conformity orientation, 330

consensual families, 332

pluralistic families, 332

protective families, 333

laissez-faire families, 333

Communication Privacy Management Theory, 339

family privacy rules, 339

triangulation, 342

parental favoritism, 343

interparental conflict, 348

spillover hypothesis, 348

You can watch brief, illustrative videos of these terms and test your understanding of the concepts online in VideoCentral: Interpersonal Communication at bedfordstmartins.com/reflectrelate.

Defining Family

• Given the diversity in contemporary family structures, scholars define family in very inclusive ways. Families come in myriad forms, including nuclear, extended, step-, cohabiting couples, and single-parent.
• Families solidify their sense of identity by sharing family stories. These narrative accounts of birth, courtship, and survival bind children, parents, and other relatives together.

Communicating in Families

• Regardless of the structure of a family, Family Communication Patterns Theory suggests that most families’ communication is determined by two dimensions: conversation orientation and conformity orientation.
• These two dimensions often lead to four family communication patterns: consensual, pluralistic, protective, and laissez-faire. Such families have very different communication beliefs and practices that shape the interpersonal relationships among family members.

351Maintaining Family Relationships

• Three of the most important strategies for maintaining family relationships are positivity, assurances, and self-disclosure. Technology is making it easier for families to communicate such maintenance strategies, especially when distance separates them.
• The ways family members deal with dialectical tensions can be understood through Communication Privacy Management Theory. These boundaries are defined by family privacy rules: the conditions governing what family members can talk about, how they can discuss such topics, and who should have access to family-relevant information.

Family Relationship Challenges

• A common challenge in stepfamily transition is triangulation. Such loyalty conflicts can make individuals feel “torn” between family members.
• Parental favoritism can include both intangible and tangible forms of affection, and often drives a wedge between siblings in addition to other long-term effects.
• Dealing with interparental conflict is one of the hardest family communication challenges. Such fights can have long-term and devastating effects on the parents and the children as explained by the spillover hypothesis.

• Curious about what would make an appropriate family story? Review the suggestions for telling family stories on pages 328–329.
• Want to know your family’s communication pattern? Review page 331.
• How can you integrate positivity, openness, and assurances into your face-to-face and online family communication and, in doing so, better maintain your family relationships? Check out the suggestionson page 336.
• What can you do to balance the tension between autonomy and connection in your family relationships? Follow the suggestions on pages 337–338.
• How can you improve your family privacy rules? Revisit the discussion on page 340.
• Interested in easing the transition to a stepfamily? Check out the suggestions on pages 342–343.
• Want to know how to assess favoritism in a family? Try the Self-Quiz on pages 345 and 348.
• Dealing with interparental conflict is never easy. You can try to help manage such fights by reviewing the advice on page 348.
• Curious about how to communicate in a new stepfamily and deal with parents who are constantly fighting? Try the Making Relationship Choices exercise on pages 346–347.