Family Communication Patterns

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FAMILY COMMUNICATION PATTERNS, COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AND SOCI-COMMUNICATIVE ORIENTATIVE ORIENTATION: A STUDY OF CHINESE STUDENTS A Thesis Presented to The Graduate Faculty of The University of Akron In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Yuan Huang August, 2010 FAMILY COMMUNICATION PATTERNS, COMMUNICATION APPREHENSION AND SOCI-COMMUNICATIVE ORIENTATIVE ORIENTATION: A STUDY OF CHINESE STUDENTS Yuan Huang Thesis Approved: ________________________________ Advisor Dr. Young Y. Lin Accepted: ________________________________ Interim School Director Dr. Kathleen Endres ________________________________ Faculty Reader Dr. Carolyn M. Anderson ________________________________ Interim Dean of the College Dr. Dudley Turner ________________________________ Faculty Reader Dr. Andrew S. Rancer ________________________________ Dean of the Graduate School Dr. George R. Newkome ________________________________ Date ii ABSTRACT This study sought to explore the relationships among the four types of family communication patterns (Protective, Consensual, Laissez-faire and Pluralistic) and two communication traits: communication apprehension (CA) and socio-communicative orientation (SCO). This study surveyed 136 Chinese college students studying in a MidWest University in the United States, and 118 completed questionnaires for the data analysis. Findings showed that Chinese students from protective and laissez-faire families have a higher level of CA than those from pluralistic families. In terms of SCO, Chinese students from pluralistic families tend to be more assertive than those from laissez-faire families and students from pluralistic families tend to be more responsiveness than those from protective families. This study improves the understanding of the relationships between family communication
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