The Multivocality of Meaning Making: An Exploration of the Discourses College-Aged Daughters Voice in Talk about Their Mothers

Abstract

The mother-daughter relationship is argued to be one of the most significant relationships in the family system. As such, it is important to investigate how daughters engage in meaning making regarding this relationship. The researchers used relational dialectics theory (Baxter, 2011; Baxter & Montgomery, 1996) to illuminate the interplay of discourses college-aged women voice as they talk with others about their relationships with their mothers. Framed within the dialectic of closeness and distance, inductive analysis revealed a total of six discourses at play in daughters' meaning making processes. Three discourses (i.e., friendship, parenthood, and independence) were voiced when daughters discussed times they felt closest to their mothers. The other three discourses (i.e., containment, impropriety, and separation) were evident in daughters' talk about times they felt distanced from their mothers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The data described in this manuscript comes from a larger body of data on mother-college aged daughters' communication. Papers from this data set were previously presented at the April, 2009 meeting of the Eastern Communication Association and the November, 2009 meeting of the National Communication Association.