Family communication about race and culture: Do White families talk about race?

ABSTRACT

Using survey methodology, we examined communication satisfaction, openness, and socialization strategies related to conversations White parents had with their young adult chIldren about race, ethnicity, and culture. By soliciting the views of young adults, we aimed to understand a generation that has witnessed both racial advancement and regression during their lifetimes, while remaining on the precipice of a majority-minority shift in ethnic demographics. Family communication patterns theory guided this research. The results of this study illustrated the frequency of ethnic-racial socialization messages recalled or not recalled by today’s young adults. Our results also demonstrated that while White families do discuss race, their socialization process differed from that of ethnic minoritized populations. Data analyses revealed conversation-orientation and conformity-orientation were related to parental openness and communication satisfaction during conversations about race, as well as the degree to which White parents utilized specific strategies to teach their children how to think about or engage with other races, ethnicities, and cultures.

KEYWORDS:

• Family communication patterns theory
• openness
• race
• satisfaction
• socialization strategies
• White families

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We tested for potential interaction effects between conversation-orientation and conformity-orientation during our multiple linear regression analysis. The results indicated a non-significant interaction for parental openness, t = −1.6489, p = .0999, R2 ^– change = .0029 as well as a non-significant interaction for satisfaction, t = −.7599, p = .4477, R2 ^– change = .0006.

2. We tested for a potential interaction effect between conversation-orientation and conformity-orientation; the results indicated a non-significant interaction for parental socialization, t = −1.2485, p = .2125, R2 ^– change = .0027.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

A. L. Padron Eberline

A. L. Padron Eberline is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research examines critical and cultural communication both rhetorically and within intercultural discourse.

C. K. Shue

C. K. Shue (PhD, Ohio University, 1997) is a Professor of Communication Studies at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Her research evaluates communication processes in the healthcare setting with an emphasis on physician training and improving patient care.