Skip to main content

Journal Reflection Chapter 12 - Relationships with Family Members

 A family is a network of people who share their lives over long periods of time, are bound by blood, marriage, or commitment, consider themselves family, and share a significant history and anticipated future (McCornack and Morrison 327). Families often possess a strong sense of family identity and share intense complex emotional bonds. There are several different types of families and family dynamics. How families communicate is dependent upon the family communication pattern. The family communication pattern is influenced by two dimensions: conversation orientation and conformity orientation. Conversation orientation is the "degree to which family members are encouraged to discuss a variety of topics" (McCornack and Morrison 334). Conformity orientation is the "degree to which families believe communication should emphasize similarity or diversity" (McCornack and Morrison 334). Dependent on where your family stands on these two dimensions will decide your family communication pattern. There are four family communication patterns: consensual families, pluralistic families, protective families, and Laissez-faire families (McCornack and Morrison 335). Understanding the communication pattern specific to your family is important.

For example, my family communication pattern is pluralistic. The pluralistic family communication pattern consists of high conversation and low conformity. Because I understand this, I am able to navigate conflict with my family better. To conclude, understanding your family communication pattern is important in order to better navigate and maintain healthy familial relationships. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Journal Reflection Chapter 10 - Managing Conflict and Power

According to the textbook, "conflict is the process that occurs when people perceive that they have incompatible goals or that someone is interfering in their ability to achieve their objectives" (McCornack&Morrison, 2019, p.260). Most conflicts can be characterized by four features: begin with perception, involve clashes in goals or behaviors, is a process, and it is dynamic (McCornack&Morrison, 2019, p.260). Conflict is inevitable however, understanding these four features can help to recognize conflict thus allowing you to handle conflict more appropriately. It is also important to understand you deal with conflict. Understanding your conflict style allows you to analyze how you deal with conflict.  For example, after taking the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument assessment my highest scores were in compromising (sharing) and avoiding withdrawal. This means, I either compromise with others in a conflict or I avoid conflict altogether. After learning this I fee...
Post a Comment
Read more

Journal Reflection Chapter 4 - Experiencing and Expressing Emotions

According to the textbook , emotions, feelings, and moods are all different. Firstly, e motion is the most personal and interpersonal human experience (McCornack & Morrison, 2019, p.92 ). "Emotion is an intense reaction to an event that involves interpreting event meaning, becoming physiologically aroused, labeling the experience as emotional, managing reactions, and communicating through emotional displays and disclosures" (McCornack & Morrison, 2019, p.93 ) . Emotion to me is something that lasts about a day. If I am sad I will feel that sadness for most of the day if not the whole day. It is not an intense sensation but it does affect my day. It lingers. In contrast, feelings are very short-lived, cause limited arousal, and can occur multiple times a day. For example, a classmate compliments your outfit. Lastly, moods are "low-intensity states" and do not create significant arousal (McCornack & Morrison, 2019, p.95 ) . In my opinion, they are like the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Journal Reflection Chapter 2 - The Importance of Self-Understanding

The concept of self-understanding is a valuable component of interpersonal communication. Understanding the interactions one has with others starts with understanding oneself. "The self is an evolving composite of self-awareness, self-concept, and self-esteem" (McCornack & Morrison, 2019, p.31). The  way that someone perceives themselves will have a direct impact on the way they communicate with others and the way in which others will perceive them. If someone has a negative self-concept accompanied by low self-esteem then others will pick up on that through the way they communicate or the lack thereof which can be damaging to the individual and those around them. "Low self-esteem individuals experience negative emotions and depressions more frequently, [than those with high self-esteem], resulting in destructive feedback loops"  (McCornack & Morrison, 2019, p.34) .  For example, I have experienced low self-esteem as I'm sure others can relate to. During...
Post a Comment
Read more