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Abstract
The present study investigates the influence of communication patterns of families of origin on conflict behaviors of adult children in their romantic relationships. Based on self‐reports of 260 participants, differences in conflict behaviors were observed for persons stemming from consensual, pluralistic, protective, and laissez‐faire families. The differences involved mutually positive and mutually negative behaviors, as well as in the complementary behaviors of avoiding, threatening, and resisting. These results support hypotheses predicting a socializing influence of the family of origin's communication patterns on adult children's communication in subsequent romantic relationships. In addition, by associating the different family types with different socialization outcomes, this study farther demonstrates the importance of assessing family types in investigations of family communication and of interpersonal conflict.
