We are family, or are we? An activity on identifying differences in attachment styles and family communication patterns through music media

ABSTRACT

This piece builds upon literature using media to teach not only college students in economics, social justice, and sociology, but also those college students in family and interpersonal communication as well. I provide a resource aimed to engage and expand students’ understanding thoughtfully of two well-known family communication and interpersonal communication concepts: attachment styles and family communication patterns. The activity uses music to provide tangible examples for students to understand theoretical family and interpersonal communication concepts, as previous research stresses the importance of multimedia tools of inquiry for teaching classroom concepts. A detailed process, guidelines for debriefing, and alternatives are considered for various classroom climates or contexts.

Courses: Family Communication, Interpersonal Communication.

Objectives:

(1) Identify conformity and conversation-oriented families.

(2) Identify secure, preoccupied, dismissive, and anxious-ambivalent family attachment styles.

(3) Demonstrate that attachment styles and family communication patterns are rarely explicitly stated.

Notes

1 I used Verderber and MacGeorge’s (2016) text in my classroom when teaching these theoretical concepts. I cite these resources from where to find further information on attachment styles and family communication patterns.

2 According to the U.S. Copyright Office and official Copyright Law of the United States (2016) in Section 110, the governing body lists exemptions of performances and displays for educational use such that (a) the instructor is supervising, (b) the material is directly related to the content taught, and (c) the transmission of material is to enrolled students. Thus, the use of the songs in this study is protected for fair use in educational settings following the aforementioned guidelines.