Parent-in-Law Privacy Management: An Examination of the Links Among Relational Uncertainty, Topic Avoidance, In-Group Status, and In-Law Satisfaction

Abstract

The present study used dual reasoning from communication privacy management theory and relational uncertainty to investigate how parents-in-law protected privacy boundaries within the parent- and child-in-law dyad. More specifically, the links among relational uncertainty, topic avoidance, family in-group status, and satisfaction were explored. Study 1 (N = 59) provided descriptive data on categories of parent-in-law relational uncertainty. These categories generated a measure of parent-in-law relational uncertainty employed in Study 2 (N = 104). Findings from Study 2 revealed intriguing interactions among family in-group status, relational uncertainty, and topic avoidance. In addition, relational uncertainty was negatively associated with family in-group status and parent-in-law satisfaction.