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A survey using a convenience sample of undergraduate students was conducted to
investigate the relationships between family communication patterns and a set of
personality characteristics, including self-esteem, self-disclosure, self-monitoring,
desirability of control, social desirability, shyness, and sociability. Results showed
that individuals from conversation-oriented families exhibited greater degrees of
self-disclosure, desire for control, self-esteem, and sociability, whereas those from
conformity-oriented families were more likely to be self-monitoring and shy and
hold lower self-esteem. Implications of these results are also addressed.
KEY CONCEPTS family communication, personality, self-disclosure, self
monitoring, desirability of control, sociability, self-esteem.
In mass communication research, communication climate pertaining to the flow and exchange of information and maintenance of harmony among family members has long been viewed as an important influence on children's attitudes and behaviors. The Family Communication Patterns (FCP) construct (Chaffee, McLeod, & Wackman,1973), first developed as a part of a political socialization study, has inspired numerous studies over the past two decades on the influences of parents' communication styles.
Studies have shown that family communication patterns affect children's susceptibility to persuasion, their aggressiveness, and their interest in politics, knowledge of political affairs, and political campaign activity (e.g., Chaffee & Tims, 1976; McLeod & Chaffee, 1972; McLeod, Fitzpatrick, Glynn, & Fallis, 1982), as well as their media use, interpretation of media content, consumer behavior, and materialism (e.g., Austin, Roberts, & Nass, 1990; Krcmar, 1996,1998; Lull, 1980; Moore & Moschis, 1981; Morgan, Alexander, Shanahan, & Harris, 1990). Although there is abundant empirical evidence demonstrating the important consequences of family communication styles on children, most of these studies have focused on the attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Little research attention has been devoted to examining the influences of family communication styles on individuals' personality development. McLeod, Atkin, and Chaffee (1972) found that children are more aggressive if they grow up in a family environment where free expression of opinion is discouraged. With the exception of this aggression characteristic, family communication research has not yet systematically investigated the influences of family communication patterns on individuals' development of personality characteristics.
According to Allport (1961), personality is "the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his characteristic behavior and thought" (p. 28). Eysenck (1970) defines personality as "a more or less stable and enduring...