Profile: Children's favorite television families: A descriptive analysis of role interactions

Abstract

This study compares the interaction behaviors of television families from the 1989‐1990 season with those of an earlier analysis of interactions of families in the late 1970s. An analysis of six episodes of the five family prime‐time programs selected most often as favorites by 381 elementary school children reveals that conflictual interactions occur twice as much as in the past, although one program in the sample (Married. . .with Children) accounts for almost half of all conflicts. Conflictual interactions occur most often between spouses and in dyads containing a male child.