Do attitudinal and behavioral ratings of family members vary across familial configurations?

Adolescence, Fall, 1994 by Thomas S. Parish, James R. Necessary

Students' self-ratings and evaluations of mothers seemed not to vary across any and all family types. That this is also so in most other studies (e.g., Parish, 1987a, 1988; Raschke & Raschke, 1979), seems to suggest that most alternate familial configurations may not be problematic for all concerned.

Regarding fathers' and mothers' perceived loving actions toward one another, the findings from the present study certainly suggest that intact families tend to offer the most stable and loving parental relationship for their children. However, parents in the other alternate familial configurations may wish to consider what they are doing, the possible impact of their actions, and how they can adjust them in order to foster a more loving environment (see Parish, 1987b; Parish, Dostal, & Parish, 1981; Raschke & Raschke, 1979).

REFERENCES

Glasser, W. (1980). We are as we act. Comments offered by Dr. Glasser as part of a live Telenet broadcast from Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS.

Parish, T. S. (1987a). The effects of family structure and birth order on college students' ratings of self and parents. College Student Journal, 21(4), 366-369.

Parish, T. S. (1987b). The family and environment. In V. Van Hasselt, & M. Hersen (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology. Elmsford, NJ: Pergamon Press, pp. 168-181.

Parish, T. S. (1988). Children's self-concepts: Are they affected by parental divorce and remarriage? Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2(4), 559-562.

Parish, T. S. Bryant, W. & Shirazi, A. M. (1976). The Personal Attribute Inventory. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 42, 715-720.

Parish, T. S., & Dostal, J. (1980). Evaluations of self and parent figures by children from intact, divorced and reconstituted families. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9, 347-351.

Parish, T, S., Dostal, J., & Parish, J. G. (1981). Evaluations of self and parents as a function of intactness of family and family happiness. Adolescence, 16, 203-210.

Parish, T. S., & Kappes, B. (1980). The impact of father loss on the family. Social Behavior and Personality, 8, 107-112.

Parish, T. S., & Necessary, J. R. (1993). Perceived actions of parents and attitudes of youth. Adolescence, 28, 185-188.

Parish, T. S., & Taylor, J. (1979). The impact of divorce and subsequent father absence on children's and adolescents' self-concepts. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 8, 427-432.

Raschke, H., & Raschke, V. (1979). Family conflict and children's self-concepts: A comparison of intact and single-parent families. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41, 367-374.

Rosendahl, F., & Wells, J. (1983). Use of the semantic differential to evaluate long-term effects of loss of parent on concepts of the family. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 143, 269-278.

James R. Necessary is an Assistant Professor, Department of Business Education and Office Administration at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.