Communicating in the Family: An Examination of the Relationship of Family Communication Climate and Interpersonal Communication Motives

Abstract

This article reports the results of two studies designed to explore the role of family communication climate (FCC) on parent-child communication choices. The first study explored how FCC as well as parent and child age and gender affected the reasons why parents talk to their children. The second study explored the influence of parents and children's perceptions of FCC on the children's motives for communicating with others. In Study 1, parents (n = 258) completed questionnaires assessing their FCC, their interpersonal communication motives (ICM) for communicating with a target child, and demographics. In Study 2, parent-child pairs (n = 202 pairs) completed questionnaires assessing FCC, ICM, and demographics. Results from these two studies led to the conclusion that FCC had a strong influence on the ICM of both parents and children. Differences in communication climate were linked to marked differences in parents' motives for talking with their children. As predicted, conversation-oriented families communicated with their children for relationally-oriented motives (affection, pleasure, relaxation) and conformity-oriented families communicated with their children for personal-influence motives (control and escape) and to show affection. Children's conversation or conformity schemata influenced their motives for talking with others. Implications for using FCC when studying parent-child interaction are discussed.