Abstract
Our study examined the relationships of relational pronouns used in parental conversation to the quality of early family interactions, as indexed by Family Alliance (FA). We hypothesized that more positive family interactions were associated with the use of more we-pronouns (e.g., we, us, our; we-ness) and fewer I- and you-pronouns (e.g., I, me, you, your; separateness) by both mothers and fathers. Our statistical model using a multilevel modeling framework and two levels of analysis (i.e., a couple level and an individual level) was tested on 47 non-referred families (n = 31 primiparous families; child’s age, M = 15.75 months, SD = 2.73) with we-ness and separateness as outcomes and FA functions as between-dyads variables. Analyses revealed that we-ness within the parental couple was only positively associated with family affect sharing while separateness was negatively associated with different FA functions (e.g., communication mistakes). Our main finding suggested that the kinds of personal pronouns used by parental couples when discussing children’s education would be associated to the emotional quality of the family interactions.
Highlights
Mother: “Concerning our son’s education, we try to teach him values.” Father: “Our values.” Mother: “Yes, our values—and to do our best”.These comments were made during a parental conversation on family, childrearing and education in our study
The aim of this research was to determine whether personal pronouns utilized during a parental conversation were related to early family interactions, indexed here by Family Alliance (FA)
Our findings provided substantial evidence that we-ness and separateness were two distinguishable constructs and, de facto, did not constitute a continuum because of (a) the weak percentage of shared variance between we-ness and separateness and (b) their associations with different FA functions
Summary
Mother: “Concerning our son’s education, we try to teach him values.” Father: “Our values.” Mother: “Yes, our values—and to do our best”.These comments were made during a parental conversation on family, childrearing and education in our study. Mother: “Concerning our son’s education, we try to teach him values.”. Mother: “Yes, our values—and to do our best”. These comments were made during a parental conversation on family, childrearing and education in our study. The parents used we-pronouns to refer to important aspects of family life, whereas other parents might have concentrated more on their personal opinions and used youand me-pronouns. Was such pronoun use fortuitous, or was it related to the degree of early family engagement and coordination? The aim of the current paper was to examine the association between pronouns used during parental conversations and quality of early family interactions Was such pronoun use fortuitous, or was it related to the degree of early family engagement and coordination? The aim of the current paper was to examine the association between pronouns used during parental conversations and quality of early family interactions
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