Week 9: L1: Family (kin) Rships Flashcards
0
Q
Family rules
A
- parents: to nurture and protect offspring
- offspring: to love, trust and respect parents
- siblings: to look out for each other
1
Q
Psychological approach to family
A
- family refers to a network of communal rships characterized by degrees of interdependence
- in communal rships, people expect to have their needs met by others, and to meet others needs
- expectations of kin tend to diminish with degree of blood-relatedness
2
Q
Parental rejection
A
- parents should treat their family equally
- Brody (1998) - 65% of 189 m/f reported family favoritism, 24% reported dis-favoritism
• dis-favoritism - related to lower family cohesion, higher family disengagement/conflict - dis-favorited: experience more frequent and intense shame and fear
3
Q
Scape-goating (Dare, 1993)
A
- some offspring are risky investments or jeopardize own or siblings reproductive success
- tendency to invest more in genetically related children than non-genetically related children
4
Q
Birth order (Sulloway, 1996)
A
- First-born: Tend to be conservative, the “kin-keepers”
- last-born: relatively indulged
- middle borns: more likely to rebel and perceive dis-favoritism than first or last borns
5
Q
Sex of offspring
A
- historical preference for make children
- in current western cultures may be more proximal factors I.e. how many male/female children already in family.
6
Q
Favouritism stats and reasons (Fitness, 2004)
A
- 70% reported a family fav • 48% self, 35% bro, 17% sis - 58% 1st born claim fav - 62% last born claim fav - 32% mid claim fav Reasons - birth order - sex (ESP if only b/g - "Goodness" - similarity to parent - illness/disability / specialness
7
Q
Black sheep stats and reasons
A
- 21% self
- 13% bro
- 16% sis
- 25% unc
- 25% inlaw, cousin, dist relative
- 38% middle borns
- 7% 1st born
- 18% last borns
Reasons - Self-black sheep = 100% cited differences
- sister black sheep = 72% cited difference
- 25% = rejection of family, 3% = badness
8
Q
Black sheep - males
A
- brothers: 71% badness, 29% difference
- uncles: 70% badness, 20% strangeness, 10% difference
9
Q
Role of difference and badness for black sheep
A
- difference: important, proximal cue to genetic unrelatedness
- badness: diminish own and siblings reproductive success; emphasis throughout accounts on the notion of family as an entity towards which members owe allegiance
10
Q
Treatment of black sheep
A
Rejecting behaviors
- exclusion or ostracism of black sheep (42%)
- cold, distant, chilly polite (16%)
- criticism, nagging, mean behaviour (33%)
- negative consequences throughout life
11
Q
Buffering effects of kin? For black sheep
A
- neg corr found b/w the amount of contact with extended family when growing up and the likelihood of reporting a favorite (r=.29) or black sheep (r=.47) anywhere in family
- underscores the importance of extended kin relationships and friendship networks for raising children and building happy families
12
Q
Growing happy families
A
- importance of emotional expressiveness: communicates needs, enables others to meet those needs
Three types of neg emotional expression - hard (power-asserting): elicits defensiveness
- soft (vulnerable): caring and empathy
- flat (not interested)
13
Q
Emotional climates in families
A
- set by most powerful members of family
- emotional contagion: emotions pervade families
- may be highly dysfunctional (climates of anger, hostility, anxiety, depression)
- depressed/angry parents: negative effects for children
14
Q
Emotional socialization
A
- children are also taught about emotions in the family
- cultural aspects - individualistic cultures encourage expression of power-related emotions; collectivist cultures encourage expression of harmony-related emotions
- gender differences mirror this distinction
