Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Communication and shared family identity in mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships: Implications for relational outcomes and future family functioning
Abstract
In this study of daughters-in-law’s (N = 622) perceptions of their relationships with mothers-in-law, I take an intergroup approach in presenting shared family identity as integral to successful family functioning. In this way, I assert that daughters-in-law who feel a greater sense of shared family identity with their mothers-in-law will not only have satisfying relationships, but will also intend to maintain a positive, giving relationship in the future. Through structural equation modeling, shared family identity and relational satisfaction were examined as potential mediators between predictor variables of family/cultural influence and outcome variables of daughter-in-law intentions regarding future in-law behaviors. Results indicate that both shared family identity and relational satisfaction are positively associated with all assessed outcomes of daughter-in-law intentions toward the following: instrumental caregiving for the mother-in-law, emotional caregiving for the mother-in-law, maintenance of the grandparent/grandchild bond, and awarding the mother-in-law custodial grandparenting rights. In addition, mother-in-law communication, the spouse’s influence via his encouragement of a mother-in-law/daughter-in-law bond and his perceived relational satisfaction with his mother, spousal loyalties to the daughter-in-law instead of the mother-in-law, and cultural orientations toward family all play a role in daughter-in-law evaluation or categorization of this relationship. Taken together, these results suggest the communicative and relational factors that influence mother-in-law/daughter-in-law functioning while demonstrating the importance of shared family identity and relational satisfaction in maintaining a harmonious and giving in-law relationship over time. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings at the familial, scholarly, and public policy level.
Subject Area
Social psychology|Individual & family studies
Recommended Citation
Rittenour, Christine E, "Communication and shared family identity in mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships: Implications for relational outcomes and future family functioning" (2009). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3350455.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3350455