An Examination of Everyday Talk in Stepfamily Systems

Authors

Paul Schrodt, Texas Christian UniversityFollow
Dawn O. Braithwaite, University of Nebraska–LincolnFollow
Jordan Soliz, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Stacy Tye-Williams, Iowa State UniversityFollow
Aimee Miller, Augustana CollegeFollow
Emily Lamb Normand, Olivet Nazarene UniversityFollow
Meredith Marko Harrigan, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK-GeneseoFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2007

Citation

Published in Western Journal of Communication 71: 3 (July 2007), pp. 216–234. doi:10.1080/10570310701510077

Comments

Copyright © 2007 Western States Communication Association; published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Used by permission.

Abstract

This study explored frequencies of everyday talk in stepfamilies and the extent to which such frequencies of talk differed according to family relationship type. Participants included a parent, stepparent, and stepchild from 114 stepfamilies. Across relationship types, stepfamily members reported catching up, joking around, and recapping the day’s events most frequently and interrogating family members least frequently. Significant differences in frequencies of everyday talk across different relational dyads emerged for all three members of the stepfamily system. However, relatively few differences emerged in stepchildren’s reported frequencies of everyday talk with their stepparents and their nonresidential parents.