essay on family studies

Family Studies: Various Approaches Essay (Article)

Family today is the focus of many subjects studied by various social sciences. Family is complicated and multidimensional. This creates dozens of different approaches and ways to view and study it. As a result, there are constant debates and discussions of the most appropriate perspectives on the subject of family. Since it is normally a group of people, family is studied from the perspective of social interactions between its members.

At the same time, family cannot be and should not be isolated from the outer world, as it takes part in various social relations and gets under the influence of many processes of local and global character. Besides, families today have wide diversity, they may belong to various social classes, ethnic and racial groups, cultures and religions, besides, family members and their relationships are influenced by such social factors as age, health status, sexual orientation and gender. The articles by Daly, McDowell and Fang explore various approaches towards studying family.

The first article reviewed for this paper is called “Family Theory Versus the Theories Families Live By”, it is written by Kerry Daly. The author of the article is interested in exploring family and its inner and outer relationships through the positive forms and negative spaces. Gender relationships, parenthood, divorce and domestic violence are positive forms of the study of family. There forms are easy to recognize, they are known for more or less basic number of factors, so these issues can be projected or predicted.

Negative spaces explored in the article are the sides and issues of the family that are not easy to perceive, the areas Daly is the most interested in are the factors of intuition, folklore and myth, activities of consumption and the time and space aspect of families (Daly, 772). The author of the article notes that theoretic studies of family and practice of family life are very different.

Many scholars do not realize it because of family connections and communication in their personal lives. It is also mentioned that in order to deal with family matters, a person must not rely on theoretic expert knowledge, but on personal experiences. Negative spaces in family studies occur because of lack of connecting brides between theory and practice. According to Daly, the focus and research of negative spaces in family sciences in crucial because it will allow the experts to change and improve the theory of family.

Daly suggests studying family through the perspective of culture, because it is a flexible and rapidly changing field, besides it contains such negative spaces as religion and belief. This negative space also includes the notions of feelings and emotions such as love, which is almost never viewed from the point of scientific approach. The negative space of consumption in the family is responsible for leisure, work, and professional self-identification. Thing a family owns shape it and its inner and outer relationships.

The article “Feminist-Informed Critical Multiculturalism: Considerations for Family Research” by McDowell and Fang is focused on studying family taking into consideration critical multicultural approaches. The researchers of this article conclude that this approach helps to make the connections between relationships within the family and its connections with sociopolitical structures.

This way family is not studied in isolation from all the processes that may influence it, but is viewed as a moving and developing subject. Flexibility of the notion of a family is the main obstacle for the scholars. McDowell and Fang believe that studying family within critical multiculturalism is one of the most objective ways of establishing awareness of multiple issues that occur within the family and raising conscious knowledge about its progress and impacts (563).

Multiculturalism allows viewing the subject of study within the power dynamics and various influences. This approach provides the scholars with diverse opportunities of revealing new aspects of this field. The authors of the article believe that theorizing of family as a study has been culturally influenced by the scholars exploring it. Basically, the practice of family study is changeable and diverse, but its theory is also shaped by the cultural background and values of the people that research it.

The subjects raised in both articles are very similar. Daly explores negative spaces of family study trying to find special approach to take into consideration abstract and indefinite factors, at the same time McDowell and Fang intend to identify the most flexible approach in order to study the most flexible subject so that the constantly moving and changing paradigm of family can be explored within the perspective of all the factors and influences that alter and shift it. This way is likely to help reduce negative spaces within the family studies and allow the scholars approach the aspects of family that have not been explored properly yet.

In conclusion, family is a rather difficult subject to explore. It undergoes various influences and creates multiple patterns. In order to be able to study it without ignoring its flexibility and the uniqueness the scholars developed approaches that would take into consideration as many factors that influence the family as possible.

Works Cited

Daly, Kerry. “Family Theory Versus the Theories Families Live By”. Journal of Marriage and Family , 65.4 (2003): 771-784. Print.

McDowell, Teresa, Sherry Fang. “Feminist-Informed Critical Multiculturalism : Considerations for Family Research”. Journal of Family Issues, 28 (2007): 549-566. Print.

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Family, culture, and communication.

V. Santiago Arias V. Santiago Arias College of Media and Communication, Texas Tech University
and Narissra Maria Punyanunt-Carter Narissra Maria Punyanunt-Carter College of Media and Communication, Texas Tech University
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.504
Published online: 22 August 2017

Through the years, the concept of family has been studied by family therapists, psychology scholars, and sociologists with a diverse theoretical framework, such as family communication patterns (FCP) theory, dyadic power theory, conflict, and family systems theory. Among these theories, there are two main commonalities throughout its findings: the interparental relationship is the core interaction in the familial system because the quality of their communication or coparenting significantly affects the enactment of the caregiver role while managing conflicts, which are not the exception in the familial setting. Coparenting is understood in its broader sense to avoid an extensive discussion of all type of families in our society. Second, while including the main goal of parenting, which is the socialization of values, this process intrinsically suggests cultural assimilation as the main cultural approach rather than intergroup theory, because intercultural marriages need to decide which values are considered the best to be socialized. In order to do so, examples from the Thai culture and Hispanic and Latino cultures served to show cultural assimilation as an important mediator of coparenting communication patterns, which subsequently affect other subsystems that influence individuals’ identity and self-esteem development in the long run. Finally, future directions suggest that the need for incorporating a nonhegemonic one-way definition of cultural assimilation allows immigration status to be brought into the discussion of family communication issues in the context of one of the most diverse countries in the world.

parental communication
dyadic power
family communication systems
cultural assimilation

Introduction

Family is the fundamental structure of every society because, among other functions, this social institution provides individuals, from birth until adulthood, membership and sense of belonging, economic support, nurturance, education, and socialization (Canary & Canary, 2013 ). As a consequence, the strut of its social role consists of operating as a system in a manner that would benefit all members of a family while achieving what is considered best, where decisions tend to be coherent, at least according to the norms and roles assumed by family members within the system (Galvin, Bylund, & Brommel, 2004 ). Notwithstanding, the concept of family can be interpreted differently by individual perceptions to an array of cultural backgrounds, and cultures vary in their values, behaviors, and ideas.

The difficulty of conceptualizing this social institution suggests that family is a culture-bound phenomenon (Bales & Parsons, 2014 ). In essence, culture represents how people view themselves as part of a unique social collective and the ensuing communication interactions (Olaniran & Roach, 1994 ); subsequently, culture provides norms for behavior having a tremendous impact on those family members’ roles and power dynamics mirrored in its communication interactions (Johnson, Radesky, & Zuckerman, 2013 ). Thus, culture serves as one of the main macroframeworks for individuals to interpret and enact those prescriptions, such as inheritance; descent rules (e.g., bilateral, as in the United States, or patrilineal); marriage customs, such as ideal monogamy and divorce; and beliefs about sexuality, gender, and patterns of household formation, such as structure of authority and power (Weisner, 2014 ). For these reasons, “every family is both a unique microcosm and a product of a larger cultural context” (Johnson et al., 2013 , p. 632), and the analysis of family communication must include culture in order to elucidate effective communication strategies to solve familial conflicts.

In addition, to analyze familial communication patterns, it is important to address the most influential interaction with regard to power dynamics that determine the overall quality of family functioning. In this sense, within the range of family theories, parenting function is the core relationship in terms of power dynamics. Parenting refers to all efforts and decisions made by parents individually to guide their children’s behavior. This is a pivotal function, but the quality of communication among people who perform parenting is fundamental because their internal communication patterns will either support or undermine each caregiver’s parenting attempts, individually having a substantial influence on all members’ psychological and physical well-being (Schrodt & Shimkowski, 2013 ). Subsequently, parenting goes along with communication because to execute all parenting efforts, there must be a mutual agreement among at least two individuals to conjointly take care of the child’s fostering (Van Egeren & Hawkins, 2004 ). Consequently, coparenting serves as a crucial predictor of the overall family atmosphere and interactions, and it deserves special attention while analyzing family communication issues.

Through the years, family has been studied by family therapists, psychology scholars, and sociologists, but interaction behaviors define the interpersonal relationship, roles, and power within the family as a system (Rogers, 2006 ). Consequently, family scholarship relies on a wide range of theories developed within the communication field and in areas of the social sciences (Galvin, Braithwaite, & Bylund, 2015 ) because analysis of communication patterns in the familial context offers more ecological validity that individuals’ self-report measures. As many types of interactions may happen within a family, there are many relevant venues (i.e., theories) for scholarly analysis on this subject, which will be discussed later in this article in the “ Family: Theoretical Perspectives ” section. To avoid the risk of cultural relativeness while defining family, this article characterizes family as “a long-term group of two or more people related through biological, legal, or equivalent ties and who enact those ties through ongoing interactions providing instrumental and/or emotional support” (Canary & Canary, 2013 , p. 5).

Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide an overview of the most relevant theories in family communication to identify frustrations and limitations with internal communication. Second, as a case in point, the United States welcomes more than 50 million noncitizens as temporary visitors and admits approximately 1 million immigrants to live as lawful residents yearly (Fullerton, 2014 ), this demographic pattern means that nearly one-third of the population (102 million) comes from different cultural backgrounds, and therefore, the present review will incorporate culture as an important mediator for coparenting, so that future research can be performed to find specific techniques and training practices that are more suitable for cross-cultural contexts.

Family: Theoretical Perspectives

Even though the concept of family can be interpreted individually and differently in different cultures, there are also some commonalities, along with communication processes, specific roles within families, and acceptable habits of interactions with specific family members disregarding cultural differences. This section will provide a brief overview of the conceptualization of family through the family communication patterns (FCP) theory, dyadic power theory, conflict, and family systems theory, with a special focus on the interparental relationship.

Family Communication Patterns Theory

One of the most relevant approaches to address the myriad of communication issues within families is the family communication patterns (FCP) theory. Originally developed by McLeod and Chaffee ( 1973 ), this theory aims to understand families’ tendencies to create stable and predictable communication patterns in terms of both relational cognition and interpersonal behavior (Braithwaite & Baxter, 2005 ). Specifically, this theory focuses on the unique and amalgamated associations derived from interparental communication and its impact on parenting quality to determine FCPs and the remaining interactions (Young & Schrodt, 2016 ).

To illustrate FCP’s focus on parental communication, Schrodt, Witt, and Shimkowski ( 2014 ) conducted a meta-analysis of 74 studies (N = 14,255) to examine the associations between the demand/withdraw family communication patterns of interaction, and the subsequent individual, relational, and communicative outcomes. The cumulative evidence suggests that wife demand/husband withdraw and husband demand/wife withdraw show similar moderate correlations with communicative and psychological well-being outcomes, and even higher when both patterns are taken together (at the relational level). This is important because one of the main tenets of FCP is that familial relationships are drawn on the pursuit of coorientation among members. Coorientation refers to the cognitive process of two or more individuals focusing on and assessing the same object in the same material and social context, which leads to a number of cognitions as the number of people involved, which results in different levels of agreement, accuracy, and congruence (for a review, see Fitzpatrick & Koerner, 2005 ); for example, in dyads that are aware of their shared focus, two different cognitions of the same issue will result.

Hereafter, the way in which these cognitions are socialized through power dynamics determined socially and culturally by roles constitutes specific interdependent communication patterns among family members. For example, Koerner and Fitzpatrick ( 2006 ) provide a taxonomy of family types on the basis of coorientation and its impact on communication pattern in terms of the degree of conformity in those conversational tendencies. To wit, consensual families mostly agree for the sake of the hierarchy within a given family and to explore new points of view; pluralistic families allow members to participate equally in conversations and there is no pressure to control or make children’s decisions; protective families maintain the hierarchy by making decisions for the sake of achieving common family goals; and laissez-faire families, which are low in conversation and conformity orientation, allow family members to not get deeply involved in the family.

The analysis of family communication patterns is quintessential for family communication scholarly work because it influences forming an individual’s self concept in the long run. As a case in point, Young and Schrodt ( 2016 ) surveyed 181 young adults from intact families, where conditional and interaction effects between communication patterns and conformity orientation were observed as the main predictors of future romantic partners. Moreover, this study concluded that FCPs and interparental confirmation are substantial indicators of self-to-partner confirmation, after controlling for reciprocity of confirmation within the romantic relationship. As a consequence, FCP influences children’s and young adults’ perceptions of romantic behavior (e.g., Fowler, Pearson, & Beck, 2010 ); the quality of communication behavior, such as the degree of acceptation of verbal aggression in romantic dyads (e.g., Aloia & Solomon, 2013 ); gender roles; and conflict styles (e.g., Taylor & Segrin, 2010 ), and parental modeling (e.g., Young & Schrodt, 2016 ).

This suggests three important observations. First, family is a very complex interpersonal context, in which communication processes, specific roles within families, and acceptable habits of interactions with specific family members interact as subsystems (see Galvin et al., 2004 ; Schrodt & Shimkowski, 2013 ). Second, among those subsystems, the core interaction is the individuals who hold parenting roles (i.e., intact and post divorced families); the couple (disregarding particular sexual orientations), and, parenting roles have a reciprocal relationship over time (Le, McDaniel, Leavitt, & Feinberg, 2016 ). Communication between parenting partners is crucial for the development of their entire family; for example, Schrodt and Shimkowski ( 2013 ) conducted a survey with 493 young adult children from intact (N = 364) and divorced families (N = 129) about perceptions of interparental conflict that involves triangulation (the impression of being in the “middle” and feeling forced to display loyalty to one of the parents). Results suggest that supportive coparental communication positively predicts relational satisfaction with mothers and fathers, as well as mental health; on the other hand, antagonist and hostile coparental communication predicted negative marital satisfaction.

Consequently, “partners’ communication with one another will have a positive effect on their overall view of their marriage, . . . and directly result[ing in] their views of marital satisfaction” (Knapp & Daly, 2002 , p. 643). Le et al. ( 2016 ) conducted a longitudinal study to evaluate the reciprocal relationship between marital interaction and coparenting from the perspective of both parents in terms of support or undermining across the transition to parenthood from a dyadic perspective; 164 cohabiting heterosexual couples expecting their first child were analyzed from pregnancy until 36 months after birth. Both parents’ interdependence was examined in terms of three variables: gender difference analysis, stability over time in marriage and coparenting, and reciprocal associations between relationship quality and coparenting support or undermining. The findings suggest a long-term reciprocal association between relationship quality and coparenting support or undermining in heterosexual families; the quality of marriage relationship during prenatal stage is highly influential in coparenting after birth for both men and women; but, coparenting is connected to romantic relationship quality only for women.

Moreover, the positive association between coparenting and the parents’ relationship relates to the spillover hypothesis, which posits that the positive or negative factors in the parental subsystem are significantly associated with higher or lower marital satisfaction in the spousal subsystem, respectively. Ergo, overall parenting performance is substantially affected by the quality of marital communication patterns.

Dyadic Power

In addition, after analyzing the impact of marital interaction quality in families on marital satisfaction and future parental modeling, it is worth noting that marital satisfaction and coparenting are importantly mediated by power dynamics within the couple (Halstead, De Santis, & Williams, 2016 ), and even mediates marital commitment (e.g., Lennon, Stewart, & Ledermann, 2013 ). If the quality of interpersonal relationship between those individuals who hold parenting roles determines coparenting quality as well, then the reason for this association lies on the fact that virtually all intimate relationships are substantially characterized by power dynamics; when partners perceive more rewards than costs in the relationship, they will be more satisfied and significantly more committed to the relationship (Lennon et al., 2013 ). As a result, the inclusion of power dynamics in the analysis of family issues becomes quintessential.

For the theory of dyadic power, power in its basic sense includes dominance, control, and influence over others, as well as a means to meet survival needs. When power is integrated into dyadic intimate relationships, it generates asymmetries in terms of interdependence between partners due to the quality of alternatives provided by individual characteristics such as socioeconomic status and cultural characteristics such as gender roles. This virtually gives more power to men than women. Power refers to “the feeling derived from the ability to dominate, or control, the behavior, affect, and cognitions of another person[;] in consequence, this concept within the interparental relationship is enacted when one partner who controls resources and limiting the behavioral options of the other partner” (Lennon et al., 2013 , p. 97). Ergo, this theory examines power in terms of interdependence between members of the relationship: the partner who is more dependent on the other has less power in the relationship, which, of course, directly impact parenting decisions.

As a case in point, Worley and Samp ( 2016 ) examined the balance of decision-making power in the relationship, complaint avoidance, and complaint-related appraisals in 175 heterosexual couples. Findings suggest that decision-making power has a curvilinear association, in which individuals engaged in the least complaint avoidance when they were relatively equal to their partners in terms of power. In other words, perceptions of one another’s power potentially encourage communication efficacy in the interparental couple.

The analysis of power in intimate relationships, and, to be specific, between parents is crucial because it not only relates to marital satisfaction and commitment, but it also it affects parents’ dyadic coping for children. In fact, Zemp, Bodenmann, Backes, Sutter-Stickel, and Revenson ( 2016 ) investigated parents’ dyadic coping as a predictor of children’s internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and prosocial behavior in three independent studies. When there is a positive relationship among all three factors, the results indicated that the strongest correlation was the first one. Again, the quality of the marital and parental relationships has the strongest influence on children’s coping skills and future well-being.

From the overview of the two previous theories on family, it is worth addressing two important aspects. First, parenting requires an intensive great deal of hands-on physical care, attention to safety (Mooney-Doyle, Deatrick, & Horowitz, 2014 ), and interpretation of cues, and this is why parenting, from conception to when children enter adulthood, is a tremendous social, cultural, and legally prescribed role directed toward caregiving and endlessly attending to individuals’ social, physical, psychological, emotional, and cognitive development (Johnson et al., 2013 ). And while parents are making decisions about what they consider is best for all family members, power dynamics play a crucial role in marital satisfaction, commitment, parental modeling, and overall interparental communication efficacy in the case of postdivorce families. Therefore, the likelihood of conflict is latent within familial interactions while making decisions; indeed, situations in which family members agree on norms as a consensus is rare (Ritchie & Fitzpatrick, 1990 ).

In addition to the interparental and marital power dynamics that delineates family communication patterns, the familial interaction is distinctive from other types of social relationships in the unequaled role of emotions and communication of affection while family members interact and make decisions for the sake of all members. For example, Ritchie and Fitzpatrick ( 1990 ) provided evidence that fathers tended to perceive that all other family members agree with his decisions or ideas. Even when mothers confronted and disagreed with the fathers about the fathers’ decisions or ideas, the men were more likely to believe that their children agreed with him. When the children were interviewed without their parents, however, the majority of children agreed with the mothers rather than the fathers (Ritchie & Fitzpatrick, 1990 ). Subsequently, conflict is highly present in families; however, in general, the presence of conflict is not problematic per se. Rather, it is the ability to manage and recover from it and that could be problematic (Floyd, 2014 ).

One of the reasons for the role of emotions in interpersonal conflicts is explained by the Emotion-in-Relationships Model (ERM). This model states that feelings of bliss, satisfaction, and relaxation often go unnoticed due to the nature of the emotions, whereas “hot” emotions, such as anger and contempt, come to the forefront when directed at a member of an interpersonal relationship (Fletcher & Clark, 2002 ). This type of psychophysical response usually happens perhaps due to the different biophysical reactive response of the body compared to its reaction to positive ones (Floyd, 2014 ). There are two dimensions that define conflict. Conflict leads to the elicitation of emotions, but sometimes the opposite occurs: emotions lead to conflict. The misunderstanding or misinterpretation of emotions among members of a family can be a source of conflict, as well as a number of other issues, including personality differences, past history, substance abuse, mental or physical health problems, monetary issues, children, intimate partner violence, domestic rape, or maybe just general frustration due to recent events (Sabourin, Infante, & Rudd, 1990 ). In order to have a common understanding of this concept for the familial context in particular, conflict refers to as “any incompatibility that can be expressed by people related through biological, legal, or equivalent ties” (Canary & Canary, 2013 , p. 6). Thus, the concept of conflict goes hand in hand with coparenting.

There is a myriad of everyday family activities in which parents need to decide the best way to do them: sometimes they are minor, such as eating, watching TV, or sleeping schedules; others are more complicated, such as schooling. Certainly, while socializing and making these decisions, parents may agree or not, and these everyday situations may lead to conflict. Whether or not parents live together, it has been shown that “the extent to which children experience their parents as partners or opponents in parenting is related to children’s adjustment and well-being” (Gable & Sharp, 2016 , p. 1), because the ontology of parenting is materialized through socialization of values about every aspect and duty among all family members, especially children, to perpetuate a given society.

As the findings provided in this article show, the study of family communication issues is pivotal because the way in which those issues are solved within families will be copied by children as their values. Values are abstract ideas that delineate behavior toward the evaluation of people and events and vary in terms of importance across individuals, but also among cultures. In other words, their future parenting (i.e., parenting modeling) of children will replicate those same strategies for conflict solving for good or bad, depending on whether parents were supportive between each other. Thus, socialization defines the size and scope of coparenting.

The familial socialization of values encompasses the distinction between parents’ personal execution of those social appraisals and the values that parents want their children to adopt, and both are different things; nonetheless, familial socialization does not take place in only one direction, from parents to children. Benish-Weisman, Levy, and Knafo ( 2013 ) investigated the differentiation process—or, in other words, the distinction between parents’ own personal values and their socialization values and the contribution of children’s values to their parents’ socialization values. In this study, in which 603 Israeli adolescents and their parents participated, the findings suggest that parents differentiate between their personal values and their socialization values, and adolescents’ values have a specific contribution to their parents’ socialization values. As a result, socialization is not a unidirectional process affected by parents alone, it is an outcome of the reciprocal interaction between parents and their adolescent children, and the given importance of a given value is mediated by parents and their culture individually (Johnson et al., 2013 ). However, taking power dynamics into account does not mean that adolescents share the same level of decision-making power in the family; thus, socialization take place in both directions, but mostly from parents to children. Finally, it is worth noticing that the socialization of values in coparenting falls under the cultural umbrella. The next section pays a special attention to the role of culture in family communication.

The Role of Culture in Parenting Socialization of Values

There are many individual perceived realities and behaviors in the familial setting that may lead to conflict among members, but all of them achieve a common interpretation through culture; indeed, “all family conflict processes by broad cultural factors” (Canary & Canary, 2013 , p. 46). Subsequently, the goal of this section is to provide an overview of the perceived realities and behaviors that exist in family relationships with different cultural backgrounds. How should one approach the array of cultural values influencing parental communication patterns?

An interesting way of immersing on the role of culture in family communication patterns and its further socialization of values is explored by Schwartz ( 1992 ). The author developed a value system composed of 10 values operationalized as motivational goals for modern society: (a) self-direction (independence of thought and action); (b) stimulation (excitement, challenge, and novelty); (c) hedonism (pleasure or sensuous gratification); (d) achievement (personal success according to social standards); (e) power (social status, dominance over people and resources); (f) conformity (restraint of actions that may harm others or violate social expectations); (g) tradition (respect and commitment to cultural or religious customs and ideas); (h) benevolence (preserving and enhancing the welfare of people to whom one is close); (i) universalism (understanding, tolerance, and concern for the welfare of all people and nature); and (j) security (safety and stability of society, relationships, and self).

Later, Schwartz and Rubel ( 2005 ) applied this value structure, finding it to be commonly shared among over 65 countries. Nevertheless, these values are enacted in different ways by societies and genders about the extent to which men attribute more relevance to values of power, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, and self-direction, and the opposite was found for benevolence and universalism and less consistently for security. Also, it was found that all sex differences were culturally moderated, suggesting that cultural background needs to be considered in the analysis of coparental communication when socializing those values.

Even though Schwartz’s work was more focused on individuals and societies, it is a powerful model for the analysis of the role of culture on family communication and parenting scholarships. Indeed, Schwartz et al. ( 2013 ) conducted a longitudinal study with a sample of 266 Hispanic adolescents (14 years old) and their parents that looked at measures of acculturation, family functioning, and adolescent conduct problems, substance use, and sexual behavior at five time points. Results suggest that higher levels of acculturation in adolescents were linked to poorer family functioning; however, overall assimilation negatively predicted adolescent cigarette smoking, sexual activity, and unprotected sex. The authors emphasize the role of culture, and acculturation patterns in particular, in understanding the mediating role of family functioning and culture.

Ergo, it is crucial to address the ways in which culture affects family functioning. On top of this idea, Johnson et al. ( 2013 ) observed that Western cultures such as in the United States and European countries are oriented toward autonomy, favoring individual achievement, self-reliance, and self-assertiveness. Thus, coparenting in more autonomous countries will socialize to children the idea that achievement in life is an outcome of independence, resulting in coparenting communication behaviors that favor verbal praise and feedback over physical contact. As opposed to autonomy-oriented cultures, other societies, such as Asian, African, and Latin American countries, emphasize interdependence over autonomy; thus, parenting in these cultures promotes collective achievement, sharing, and collaboration as the core values.

These cultural orientations can be observed in parents’ definitions of school readiness and educational success; for Western parents, examples include skills such as counting, recognizing letters, or independently completing tasks such as coloring pictures, whereas for more interdependent cultures, the development of obedience, respect for authority, and appropriate social skills are the skills that parents are expecting their children to develop to evaluate school readiness. As a matter of fact, Callaghan et al. ( 2011 ) conducted a series of eight studies to evaluate the impact of culture on the social-cognitive skills of one- to three-year-old children in three diverse cultural settings such as Canada, Peru, and India. The results showed that children’s acquisition of specific cognitive skills is moderated by specific learning experiences in a specific context: while Canadian children were understanding the performance of both pretense and pictorial symbols skillfully between 2.5 and 3.0 years of age, on average, Peruvian and Indian children mastered those skills more than a year later. Notwithstanding, this finding does not suggest any kind of cultural superiority; language barriers and limitations derived from translation itself may influence meanings, affecting the results (Sotomayor-Peterson, De Baca, Figueredo, & Smith-Castro, 2013 ). Therefore, in line with the findings of Schutz ( 1970 ), Geertz ( 1973 ), Grusec ( 2002 ), Sotomayor-Peterson et al. ( 2013 ), and Johnson et al. ( 2013 ), cultural values provide important leverage for understanding family functioning in terms of parental decision-making and conflict, which also has a substantial impact on children’s cognitive development.

Subsequently, cultural sensitivity to the analysis of the familial system in this country needs to be specially included because cultural differences are part of the array of familial conflicts that may arise, and children experience real consequences from the quality of these interactions. Therefore, parenting, which is already arduous in itself, and overall family functioning significantly become troublesome when parents with different cultural backgrounds aim to socialize values and perform parenting tasks. The following section provides an account of these cross-cultural families.

Intercultural Families: Adding Cultural Differences to Interparental Communication

For a country such as the United States, with 102 million people from many different cultural backgrounds, the presence of cross-cultural families is on the rise, as is the likelihood of intermarriage between immigrants and natives. With this cultural diversity, the two most prominent groups are Hispanics and Asians, particular cases of which will be discussed next. Besides the fact that parenting itself is a very complex and difficult task, certainly the biggest conflict consists of making decisions about the best way to raise children in terms of their values with regard to which ethnic identity better enacts the values that parents believe their children should embrace. As a result, interracial couples might confront many conflicts and challenges due to cultural differences affecting marital satisfaction and coparenting.

Assimilation , the degree to which a person from a different cultural background has adapted to the culture of the hostage society, is an important phenomenon in intermarriage. Assimilationists observe that children from families in which one of the parents is from the majority group and the other one from the minority do not automatically follow the parent from the majority group (Cohen, 1988 ). Indeed, they follow their mothers more, whichever group she belongs to, because of mothers are more prevalent among people with higher socioeconomic status (Gordon, 1964 ; Portes, 1984 ; Schwartz et al., 2013 ).

In an interracial marriage, the structural and interpersonal barriers inhibiting the interaction between two parents will be reduced significantly if parents develop a noncompeting way to communicate and solve conflicts, which means that both of them might give up part of their culture or ethnic identity to reach consensus. Otherwise, the ethnic identity of children who come from interracial marriages will become more and more obscure (Saenz, Hwang, Aguirre, & Anderson, 1995 ). Surely, parents’ noncompeting cultural communication patterns are fundamental for children’s development of ethnic identity. Biracial children develop feelings of being outsiders, and then parenting becomes crucial to developing their strong self-esteem (Ward, 2006 ). Indeed, Gordon ( 1964 ) found that children from cross-racial or cross-ethnic marriages are at risk of developing psychological problems. In another example, Jognson and Nagoshi ( 1986 ) studied children who come from mixed marriages in Hawaii and found that the problems of cultural identification, conflicting demands in the family, and of being marginal in either culture still exist (Mann & Waldron, 1977 ). It is hard for those mixed-racial children to completely develop the ethnic identity of either the majority group or the minority group.

The question of how children could maintain their minority ethnic identity is essential to the development of ethnic identity as a whole. For children from interracial marriage, the challenge to maintain their minority ethnic identity will be greater than for the majority ethnic identity (Waters, 1990 ; Schwartz et al., 2013 ) because the minority-group spouse is more likely to have greater ethnic consciousness than the majority-group spouse (Ellman, 1987 ). Usually, the majority group is more influential than the minority group on a child’s ethnic identity, but if the minority parent’s ethnicity does not significantly decline, the child’s ethnic identity could still reflect some characteristics of the minority parent. If parents want their children to maintain the minority group’s identity, letting the children learn the language of the minority group might be a good way to achieve this. By learning the language, children form a better understanding of that culture and perhaps are more likely to accept the ethnic identity that the language represents (Xin & Sandel, 2015 ).

In addition to language socialization as a way to contribute to children’s identity in biracial families, Jane and Bochner ( 2009 ) indicated that family rituals and stories could be important in performing and transforming identity. Families create and re-create their identities through various kinds of narrative, in which family stories and rituals are significant. Festivals and rituals are different from culture to culture, and each culture has its own. Therefore, exposing children to the language, rituals, and festivals of another culture also could be helpful to form their ethnic identity, in order to counter problems of self-esteem derived from the feeling of being an outsider.

To conclude this section, the parenting dilemma in intercultural marriages consists of deciding which culture they want their children to be exposed to and what kind of heritage they want to pass to children. The following section will provide two examples of intercultural marriages in the context of American society without implying that there are no other insightful cultures that deserve analysis, but the focus on Asian-American and Hispanics families reflects the available literature (Canary & Canary, 2013 ) and its demographic representativeness in this particular context. In addition, in order to acknowledge that minorities within this larger cultural background deserve more attention due to overemphasis on larger cultures in scholarship, such as Chinese or Japanese cultures, the Thai family will provide insights into understanding the role of culture in parenting and its impact on the remaining familial interaction, putting all theories already discussed in context. Moreover, the Hispanic family will also be taken in account because of its internal pan-ethnicity variety.

An Example of Intercultural Parenting: The Thai Family

The Thai family, also known as Krob Krua, may consist of parents, children, paternal and maternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, grandchildren, in-laws, and any others who share the same home. Thai marriages usually are traditional, in which the male is the authority figure and breadwinner and the wife is in charge of domestic items and the homemaker. It has been noted that Thai mothers tend to be the major caregivers and caretakers in the family rather than fathers (Tulananda, Young, & Roopnarine, 1994 ). On the other hand, it has been shown that Thai mothers also tend to spoil their children with such things as food and comfort; Tulananda et al. ( 1994 ) studied the differences between American and Thai fathers’ involvement with their preschool children and found that American fathers reported being significantly more involved with their children than Thai fathers. Specifically, the fathers differed in the amount of socialization and childcare; Thai fathers reported that they obtained more external support from other family members than American fathers; also, Thai fathers were more likely to obtain support for assisting with daughters than sons.

Furthermore, with regard to the family context, Tulananda and Roopnarine ( 2001 ) noted that over the years, some attention has been focused on the cultural differences among parent-child behaviors and interactions; hereafter, the authors believed that it is important to look at cultural parent-child interactions because that can help others understand children’s capacity to socialize and deal with life’s challenges. As a matter of fact, the authors also noted that Thai families tend to raise their children in accordance with Buddhist beliefs. It is customary for young Thai married couples to live with either the wife’s parents (uxorilocal) or the husband’s parents (virilocal) before living on their own (Tulananda & Roopnarine, 2001 ). The process of developing ethnicity could be complicated. Many factors might influence the process, such as which parent is from the minority culture and the cultural community, as explained in the previous section of this article.

This suggests that there is a difference in the way that Thai and American fathers communicate with their daughters. As a case in point, Punyanunt-Carter ( 2016 ) examined the relationship maintenance behaviors within father-daughter relationships in Thailand and the United States. Participants included 134 American father-daughter dyads and 154 Thai father-daughter dyads. The findings suggest that when quality of communication was included in this relationship, both types of families benefit from this family communication pattern, resulting in better conflict management and advice relationship maintenance behaviors. However, differences were found: American fathers are more likely than American daughters to employ relationship maintenance behaviors; in addition, American fathers are more likely than Thai fathers to use relationship maintenance strategies.

As a consequence, knowing the process of ethnic identity development could provide parents with different ways to form children’s ethnic identity. More specifically, McCann, Ota, Giles, and Caraker ( 2003 ), and Canary and Canary ( 2013 ) noted that Southeast Asian cultures have been overlooked in communication studies research; these countries differ in their religious, political, and philosophical thoughts, with a variety of collectivistic views and religious ideals (e.g., Buddhism, Taoism, Islam), whereas the United States is mainly Christian and consists of individualistic values.

The Case of Hispanic/Latino Families in the United States

There is a need for including Hispanic/Latino families in the United States because of the demographic representativeness and trends of the ethnicity: in 2016 , Hispanics represent nearly 17% of the total U.S. population, becoming the largest minority group. There are more than 53 million Hispanics and Latinos in the United States; in addition, over 93% of young Hispanics and Latinos under the age of 18 hold U.S. citizenship, and more than 73,000 of these people turn 18 every month (Barreto & Segura, 2014 ). Furthermore, the current Hispanic and Latino population is spread evenly between foreign-born and U.S.-born individuals, but the foreign-born population is now growing faster than the number of Hispanic children born in the country (Arias & Hellmueller, 2016 ). This demographic trend is projected to reach one-third of the U.S. total population by 2060 ; therefore, with the growth of other minority populations in the country, the phenomenon of multiracial marriage and biracial children is increasing as well.

Therefore, family communication scholarship has an increasing necessity to include cultural particularities in the analysis of the familial system; in addition to the cultural aspects already explained in this article, this section addresses the influence of familism in Hispanic and Latino familial interactions, as well as how immigration status moderates the internal interactions, reflected in levels of acculturation, that affect these families negatively.

With the higher marriage and birth rates among Hispanics and Latinos living in the United States compared to non-Latino Whites and African American populations, the Hispanic familial system is perhaps the most stereotyped as being familistic (Glick & Van Hook, 2008 ). This family trait consists of the fact that Hispanics place a very high value on marriage and childbearing, on the basis of a profound commitment to give support to members of the extended family as well. This can be evinced in the prevalence of extended-kind shared households in Hispanic and Latino families, and Hispanic children are more likely to live in extended-family households than non-Latino Whites or blacks (Glick & Van Hook, 2008 ). Living in extended-family households, most likely with grandparents, may have positive influences on Hispanic and Latino children, such as greater attention and interaction with loving through consistent caregiving; grandparents may help by engaging with children in academic-oriented activities, which then affects positively cognitive educational outcomes.

However, familism is not the panacea for all familial issues for several reasons. First, living in an extended-family household requires living arrangements that consider adults’ needs more than children’s. Second, the configuration of Hispanic and Latino households is moderated by any immigration issues with all members of the extended family, and this may cause problems for children (Menjívar, 2000 ). The immigration status of each individual member may produce a constant state of flux, whereas circumstances change to adjust to economic opportunities, which in turn are limited by immigration laws, and it gets even worse when one of the parents isn’t even present in the children’s home, but rather live in their home country (Van Hook & Glick, 2006 ). Although Hispanic and Latino children are more likely to live with married parents and extended relatives, familism is highly affected by the immigration status of each member.

On the other hand, there has been research to address the paramount role of communication disregarding the mediating factor of cultural diversity. For example, Sotomayor-Peterson et al. ( 2013 ) performed a cross-cultural comparison of the association between coparenting or shared parental effort and family climate among families from Mexico, the United States, and Costa Rica. The overall findings suggest what was explained earlier in this article: more shared parenting predicts better marital interaction and family climate overall.

In addition, parenting quality has been found to have a positive relationship with children’s developmental outcomes. In fact, Sotomayor-Peterson, Figueredo, Christensen, and Taylor ( 2012 ) conducted a study with 61 low-income Mexican American couples, with at least one child between three and four years of age, recruited from a home-based Head Start program. The main goal of this study was to observe the extent that shared parenting incorporates cultural values and income predicts family climate. The findings suggest that the role of cultural values such as familism, in which family solidarity and avoidance of confrontation are paramount, delineate shared parenting by Mexican American couples.

Cultural adaptation also has a substantial impact on marital satisfaction and children’s cognitive stimulation. Indeed, Sotomayor-Peterson, Wilhelm, and Card ( 2011 ) investigated the relationship between marital relationship quality and subsequent cognitive stimulation practices toward their infants in terms of the actor and partner effects of White and Hispanic parents. The results indicate an interesting relationship between the level of acculturation and marital relationship quality and a positive cognitive stimulation of infants; specifically, marital happiness is associated with increased cognitive stimulation by White and high-acculturated Hispanic fathers. Nevertheless, a major limitation of Hispanic acculturation literature has been seen, reflecting a reliance on cross-sectional studies where acculturation was scholarly operationalized more as an individual difference variable than as a longitudinal adaptation over time (Schwartz et al., 2013 ).

Culture and Family Communication: the “so what?” Question

This article has presented an entangled overview of family communication patterns, dyadic power, family systems, and conflict theories to establish that coparenting quality plays a paramount role. The main commonality among those theories pays special attention to interparental interaction quality, regardless of the type of family (i.e., intact, postdivorce, same-sex, etc.) and cultural background. After reviewing these theories, it was observed that the interparental relationship is the core interaction in the familial context because it affects children from their earlier cognitive development to subsequent parental modeling in terms of gender roles. Thus, in keeping with Canary and Canary ( 2013 ), no matter what approach may be taken to the analysis of family communication issues, the hypothesis that a positive emotional climate within the family is fostered only when couples practice a sufficient level of shared parenting and quality of communication is supported.

Nevertheless, this argument does not suggest that the role of culture in the familial interactions should be undersold. While including the main goal of parenting, which is the socialization of values, in the second section of this article, the text also provides specific values of different countries that are enacted and socialized differently across cultural contexts to address the role of acculturation in the familial atmosphere, the quality of interactions, and individual outcomes. As a case in point, Johnson et al. ( 2013 ) provided an interesting way of seeing how cultures differ in their ways of enacting parenting, clarifying that the role of culture in parenting is not a superficial or relativistic element.

In addition, by acknowledging the perhaps excessive attention to larger Asian cultural backgrounds (such as Chinese or Japanese cultures) by other scholars (i.e., Canary & Canary, 2013 ), an insightful analysis of the Thai American family within the father-daughter relationship was provided to exemplify, through the work of Punyanunt-Carter ( 2016 ), how specific family communication patterns, such as maintenance relationship communication behaviors, affect the quality of familial relationships. Moreover, a second, special focus was put on Hispanic families because of the demographic trends of the United States, and it was found that familism constitutes a distinctive aspect of these families.

In other words, the third section of this article provided these two examples of intercultural families to observe specific ways that culture mediates the familial system. Because one of the main goals of the present article was to demonstrate the mediating role of culture as an important consideration for family communication issues in the United States, the assimilationist approach was taken into account; thus, the two intercultural family examples discussed here correspond to an assimilationist nature rather than using an intergroup approach.

This decision was made without intending to diminish the value of other cultures or ethnic groups in the country, but an extensive revision of all types of intercultural families is beyond the scope of this article. Second, the assimilationist approach forces one to consider cultures that are in the process of adapting to a new hosting culture, and the Thai and Hispanic families in the United States comply with this theoretical requisite. For example, Whites recognize African Americans as being as American as Whites (i.e., Dovidio, Gluszek, John, Ditlmann, & Lagunes, 2010 ), whereas they associate Hispanics and Latinos with illegal immigration in the United States (Stewart et al., 2011 ), which has been enhanced by the U.S. media repeatedly since 1994 (Valentino et al., 2013 ), and it is still happening (Dixon, 2015 ). In this scenario, “ask yourself what would happen to your own personality if you heard it said over and over again that you were lazy, a simple child of nature, expected to steal, and had inferior blood? . . . One’s reputation, whether false or true, cannot be hammered, hammered, hammered, into one’s head without doing something to one’s character” (Allport, 1979 , p. 142, cited in Arias & Hellmueller, 2016 ).

As a consequence, on this cultural canvas, it should not be surprising that Lichter, Carmalt, and Qian ( 2011 ) found that second-generation Hispanics are increasingly likely to marry foreign-born Hispanics and less likely to marry third-generation or later coethnics or Whites. In addition, this study suggests that third-generation Hispanics and later were more likely than in the past to marry non-Hispanic Whites; thus, the authors concluded that there has been a new retreat from intermarriage among the largest immigrant groups in the United States—Hispanics and Asians—in the last 20 years.

If we subscribe to the idea that cultural assimilation goes in only one direction—from the hegemonic culture to the minority culture—then the results of Lichter, Carmalt, and Qian ( 2011 ) should not be of scholarly concern; however, if we believe that cultural assimilation happens in both directions and intercultural families can benefit both the host and immigrant cultures (for a review, see Schwartz et al., 2013 ), then this is important to address in a country that just elected a president, Donald Trump, who featured statements racially lambasting and segregating minorities, denigrating women, and criticizing immigration as some of the main tenets of his campaign. Therefore, we hope that it is clear why special attention was given to the Thai and Hispanic families in this article, considering the impact of culture on the familial system, marital satisfaction, parental communication, and children’s well-being. Even though individuals with Hispanic ancentry were in the United States even before it became a nation, Hispanic and Latino families are still trying to convince Americans of their right to be accepted in American culture and society.

With regard to the “So what?” question, assimilation is important to consider while analyzing the role of culture in family communication patterns, power dynamics, conflict, or the functioning of the overall family system in the context of the United States. This is because this country is among the most popular in the world in terms of immigration requests, and its demographics show that one out of three citizens comes from an ethnic background other than the hegemonic White culture. In sum, cultural awareness has become pivotal in the analysis of family communication issues in the United States. Furthermore, the present overview of family, communication, and culture ends up supporting the idea of positive associations being derived from the pivotal role of marriage relationship quality, such that coparenting and communication practices vary substantially within intercultural marriages moderated by gender roles.

Culture is a pivotal moderator of these associations, but this analysis needs to be tethered to societal structural level, in which cultural differences, family members’ immigration status, media content, and level of acculturation must be included in family research. This is because in intercultural marriages, in addition to the tremendous parenting role, they have to deal with cultural assimilation and discrimination, and this becomes important if we care about children’s cognitive development and the overall well-being of those who are not considered White. As this article shows, the quality of familial interactions has direct consequences on children’s developmental outcomes (for a review, see Callaghan et al., 2011 ).

Therefore, the structure and functioning of family has an important impact on public health at both physiological and psychological levels (Gage, Everett, & Bullock, 2006 ). At the physiological level, the familial interaction instigates expression and reception of strong feelings affecting tremendously on individuals’ physical health because it activates neuroendocrine responses that aid stress regulation, acting as a stress buffer and accelerating physiological recovery from elevated stress (Floyd & Afifi, 2012 ; Floyd, 2014 ). Robles, Shaffer, Malarkey, and Kiecolt-Glaser ( 2006 ) found that a combination of supportive communication, humor, and problem-solving behavior in husbands predicts their wives’ cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)—both physiological factors are considered as stress markers (see 2006 ). On the other hand, the psychology of individuals, the quality of family relationships has major repercussions on cognitive development, as reflected in educational attainment (Sohr-Preston et al., 2013 ), and highly mediated by cultural assimilation (Schwartz et al., 2013 ), which affects individuals through parenting modeling and socialization of values (Mooney-Doyle, Deatrick, & Horowitz, 2014 ).

Essay about Family: What It Is and How to Nail It

Humans naturally seek belonging within families, finding comfort in knowing someone always cares. Yet, families can also stir up insecurities and mental health struggles.

Family dynamics continue to intrigue researchers across different fields. Every year, new studies explore how these relationships shape our minds and emotions.

In this article, our dissertation service will guide you through writing a family essay. You can also dive into our list of topics for inspiration and explore some standout examples to spark your creativity.

What is Family Essay

A family essay takes a close look at the bonds and experiences within families. It's a common academic assignment, especially in subjects like sociology, psychology, and literature.

So, what's involved exactly? Simply put, it's an exploration of what family signifies to you. You might reflect on cherished family memories or contemplate the portrayal of families in various media.

What sets a family essay apart is its personal touch. It allows you to express your own thoughts and experiences. Moreover, it's versatile – you can analyze family dynamics, reminisce about family customs, or explore other facets of familial life.

If you're feeling uncertain about how to write an essay about family, don't worry; you can explore different perspectives and select topics that resonate with various aspects of family life.

Tips For Writing An Essay On Family Topics

A family essay typically follows a free-form style, unless specified otherwise, and adheres to the classic 5-paragraph structure. As you jot down your thoughts, aim to infuse your essay with inspiration and the essence of creative writing, unless your family essay topics lean towards complexity or science.

Here are some easy-to-follow tips from our essay service experts:

Focus on a Specific Aspect: Instead of a broad overview, delve into a specific angle that piques your interest, such as exploring how birth order influences sibling dynamics or examining the evolving role of grandparents in modern families.
Share Personal Anecdotes: Start your family essay introduction with a personal touch by sharing stories from your own experiences. Whether it's about a favorite tradition, a special trip, or a tough time, these stories make your writing more interesting.
Use Real-life Examples: Illustrate your points with concrete examples or anecdotes. Draw from sources like movies, books, historical events, or personal interviews to bring your ideas to life.
Explore Cultural Diversity: Consider the diverse array of family structures across different cultures. Compare traditional values, extended family systems, or the unique hurdles faced by multicultural families.
Take a Stance: Engage with contentious topics such as homeschooling, reproductive technologies, or governmental policies impacting families. Ensure your arguments are supported by solid evidence.
Delve into Psychology: Explore the psychological underpinnings of family dynamics, touching on concepts like attachment theory, childhood trauma, or patterns of dysfunction within families.
Emphasize Positivity: Share uplifting stories of families overcoming adversity or discuss strategies for nurturing strong, supportive family bonds.
Offer Practical Solutions: Wrap up your essay by proposing actionable solutions to common family challenges, such as fostering better communication, achieving work-life balance, or advocating for family-friendly policies.

Family Essay Topics

When it comes to writing, essay topics about family are often considered easier because we're intimately familiar with our own families. The more you understand about your family dynamics, traditions, and experiences, the clearer your ideas become.

If you're feeling uninspired or unsure of where to start, don't worry! Below, we have compiled a list of good family essay topics to help get your creative juices flowing. Whether you're assigned this type of essay or simply want to explore the topic, these suggestions from our history essay writer are tailored to spark your imagination and prompt meaningful reflection on different aspects of family life.

So, take a moment to peruse the list. Choose the essay topics about family that resonate most with you. Then, dive in and start exploring your family's stories, traditions, and connections through your writing.

Supporting Family Through Tough Times
Staying Connected with Relatives
Empathy and Compassion in Family Life
Strengthening Bonds Through Family Gatherings
Quality Time with Family: How Vital Is It?
Navigating Family Relationships Across Generations
Learning Kindness and Generosity in a Large Family
Communication in Healthy Family Dynamics
Forgiveness in Family Conflict Resolution
Building Trust Among Extended Family
Defining Family in Today's World
Understanding Nuclear Family: Various Views and Cultural Differences
Understanding Family Dynamics: Relationships Within the Family Unit
What Defines a Family Member?
Modernizing the Nuclear Family Concept
Exploring Shared Beliefs Among Family Members
Evolution of the Concept of Family Love Over Time
Examining Family Expectations
Modern Standards and the Idea of an Ideal Family
Life Experiences and Perceptions of Family Life
Genetics and Extended Family Connections
Utilizing Family Trees for Ancestral Links
The Role of Younger Siblings in Family Dynamics
Tracing Family History Through Oral Tradition and Genealogy
Tracing Family Values Through Your Family Tree
Exploring Your Elder Sister's Legacy in the Family Tree
Connecting Daily Habits to Family History
Documenting and Preserving Your Family's Legacy
Navigating Online Records and DNA Testing for Family History
Tradition as a Tool for Family Resilience
Involving Family in Daily Life to Maintain Traditions
Creating New Traditions for a Small Family
The Role of Traditions in Family Happiness
Family Recipes and Bonding at House Parties
Quality Time: The Secret Tradition for Family Happiness
The Joy of Cousins Visiting for Christmas
Including Family in Birthday Celebrations
Balancing Traditions and Unconditional Love
Building Family Bonds Through Traditions

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Family Essay Example

For a better grasp of the essay on family, our team of skilled writers has crafted a great example. It looks into the subject matter, allowing you to explore and understand the intricacies involved in creating compelling family essays. So, check out our meticulously crafted sample to discover how to craft essays that are not only well-written but also thought-provoking and impactful.

Final Outlook

In wrapping up, let's remember: a family essay gives students a chance to showcase their academic skills and creativity by sharing personal stories. However, it's important to stick to academic standards when writing about these topics. We hope our list of topics sparked your creativity and got you on your way to a reflective journey. And if you hit a rough patch, you can just ask us to ' do my essay for me ' for top-notch results!

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FAQs on Writing an Essay about Family

Family essays seem like something school children could be assigned at elementary schools, but family is no less important than climate change for our society today, and therefore it is one of the most central research themes.

Below you will find a list of frequently asked questions on family-related topics. Before you conduct research, scroll through them and find out how to write an essay about your family.

How to Write an Essay About Your Family History?

How to write an essay about a family member, how to write an essay about family and roots, how to write an essay about the importance of family, related articles.

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Int J Environ Res Public Health

The Role of Family Influence and Academic Satisfaction on Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Happiness

Orhan koçak.

1 Faculty of Health Science, Istanbul University—Cerrahpasa Istanbul, 34320 Istanbul, Turkey; moc.liamg@nagodrehallludba

Namık Ak

2 Faculty of Engineering, Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, 70110 Karaman, Turkey; rt.ude.umk@kakiman

Sezer Seçkin Erdem

3 Vocational School of Technical Sciences, Istanbul University—Cerrahpasa Istanbul, 34320 Istanbul, Turkey; rt.ude.cui@medre (S.S.E.); [email protected] (M.S.)

Mehmet Sinan

Mustafa z. younis.

4 College of Health Sciences, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS 39217, USA; moc.liamg@99sinuoy

Abdullah Erdoğan

Associated data.

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to that they are a part of a developing dataset which will be used in the future for different studies.

Careers are a reality of life that need to be considered as multi-dimensional in today’s modern societies. Choosing a career is a complex process that coincides with high school and university ages, creating psycho-social stress. Considering the literature, the effects of different environmental factors have been revealed in separate studies. This study examines both individual and environmental factors together. By adopting a quantitative research method, we collected cross-sectional data through online questionnaires from 1130 university students. The association of family influence and academic satisfaction with happiness through career decision self-efficacy was meaningful using gender, age, income, and parents’ education as control variables. Family influence and academic satisfaction were positively correlated with career decision self-efficacy and happiness. In conclusion, we found that family influence and support, students’ work, and academic satisfaction are positively significant in terms of the career process and happiness. It was understood that the career reality should be considered with a holistic view that includes family, school, and work experience.

1. Introduction

Career expectations have become an essential concept in professional life and have been defined by many researchers with different perspectives. Among these definitions, different definitions range from career being the sum of work, family, and school processes to being a lifestyle [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. In addition, a common definition is that a career is a process that continues during an individual’s developmental period and throughout life [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Based on these definitions, a career is a component of all processes before, during, and after the choice of profession, including making an effort to be successful, and succeeding during these periods using various resources.

The turning point for choosing a career usually starts during the pre-university or university era. In this period, when individuals experience difficulties in both their psychological and social lives, asking them to make decisions that will affect their entire lives will increase individuals’ stress and prevent them from making sound decisions [ 6 ]. During the high school years, individuals who do not yet fully know themselves and cannot identify their advantages, shortcomings, opportunities, and the dangers that their choices will cause may have to choose a profession and career that is not suitable for them later on. This will negatively affect the happiness levels of individuals and reduce their life satisfaction [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Individuals will consider some factors which have the power to affect them both positively and negatively, such as peer environment, guidance services, school experiences, and their family.

In this study, we focused on university students because university is a turning point for career decision making in Turkey. It was assumed that some demographic variables, family influence, and academic satisfaction would be associated with career decision self-efficacy and happiness based on the ecological concept which was developed by Bronfenbrenner [ 11 ]. The ecological concept considers a holistic approach to family influence, academic success, work experiences, parents’ education, and income level in the career process and is a notable part of the study. How students’ work experiences affect their career processes and their possible contribution to future working lives and labor market knowledge will be discussed. We found a significant positive impact of family influence and academic satisfaction on career decision self-efficacy and happiness in accordance with the ecological concept. Additionally, a significant mediation impact of career decision self-efficacy in the relationship between family influence, academic satisfaction, and happiness was observed. A moderating impact of parents’ education between academic satisfaction and happiness, and also career decision self-efficacy and happiness, was found. In all analyses, gender, age, class level, income level, parents’ education level (mean), and working status of participants were used as control variables.

1.1. Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy (CDSE)

The process called career decision making is a critical period that affects the future of individuals together with their families. Career choice will determine the individual’s quality of life. Remarkably, for people who spend most of their lives in their jobs, career choice is a factor that directly affects happiness [ 12 , 13 ].

Choosing a profession that an individual wants to do and making an effort to prepare for that profession is called the career process [ 14 ]. The most important factors in an individual’s decision are their strengths and weaknesses. When choosing a career path, individuals will decide on their preferences, considering the effects of their physical and mental abilities, their academic skills, and economic situation [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Even though it is sometimes beneficial for better career opportunities, changing career path after studying at university is both challenging and wasteful of resources [ 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Therefore, for their career choice, individuals should be supported and show compatibility between their characteristics and their needs and expectations [ 13 , 15 ].

Career decision making is one of the issues that needs to be emphasized when planning for the future [ 15 ]. Happiness and relationships with people will be directly affected by the possible problems of individuals who have problems related to their career decision [ 13 ]. It is difficult and complicated to make an important decision for life before university. Individuals should compare their social, physical, and mental characteristics with their chosen profession’s features to facilitate the career decision process and examine possible problems in advance that may arise later [ 22 ]. Therefore, self-efficacy is crucial in making career decisions. Career decision self-efficacy is defined as the degree of belief that individuals can perform the career process successfully [ 23 ].

Many factors, such as friendships, expectations from a profession and employment, societal perception, academic satisfaction, personal characteristics of the individual, and their family’s influence, affect the career decision process [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. These systems have complex relationships with each other, and they can affect each other. While the studies conducted in this field mainly focus on the individual factors, namely their abilities, values, and interests, environmental factors, especially the family and education, are also keystones of this process [ 28 , 29 ].

1.2. Family Influence and Academic Satisfaction on Career Decision Self-Efficacy

Our study was based on the ecological concept in which family influence and income, parents’ education, participation in working life, and academic satisfaction are essential elements [ 11 , 28 , 30 ]. The ecological concept has four basic systems, which are micro, mezzo, eco, and macro, which affect the individual in the career choice process [ 31 ]. The microsystem is individual, the mezzosystem is family and peers, the ecosystem is relatives and neighbors, and the macrosystem is ideological groups [ 30 ]. Additionally, another theory is used in the literature called the social cognitive theory of careers developed by Lent et al. [ 32 ], which focuses on academic success and family support [ 33 , 34 ]. Additionally, many other theories include family influence and academic output in their models [ 20 , 25 , 35 , 36 , 37 ].

Each family and culture follows a development process of its own, and therefore there will be differences among individuals [ 36 , 38 , 39 ]. The existence of these traditional, cultural, and social differences is an advantage for societies. However, these differences are expected to positively affect young people’s career decisions and happiness [ 6 ]. In the literature, family support is associated with many variables. It was determined that family influence significantly affects professional improvement, and as the support felt by young people increases, their professional improvement increases in parallel [ 34 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. Additionally, a negative relationship was found between the social support level of the family and professional indecision since individuals are preoccupied by their families’ recommendations [ 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ]. It was found that family support is a significant factor in the expectation of professional outcomes [ 47 , 48 ]. Studies show that the career decision-making process is positively affected by an increase in the level of social support perceived from parents [ 49 , 50 ]. Family support has a significant effect on overcoming occupational barriers as well as gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status [ 51 , 52 ]. The influence of the family on the child is an undeniable fact. From the child’s development to character formation and career processes, the family is influential [ 53 , 54 , 55 ]. In light of the literature, we can consider that family influence is very effective on CDSE since the family transfer their knowledge and experiences, give financial support, teach their societal values, and give help during tough times in terms of career and other issues to their children.

Family influence has a positive effect on career decision-making self-efficacy.

Research shows that individuals’ career decision-making self-efficacy is mostly influenced by their families and academic satisfactions. Families are very influential in shaping their children’s interests and values, developing self-concepts, and giving positive and negative perspectives on professions [ 1 , 35 , 56 ]. In addition, academic satisfaction is another factor that impacts career decision-making self-efficacy, and experiences, skills, and competencies learned in school can preferably be turned into career decision self-efficacy. Career decisions of university students will be affected by the following experiences at school: The quality of the education they receive from the school, whether the education they receive meets their needs when they graduate, their perceptions about how the education at the school will affect their career, their satisfaction with the department and their sense of belonging, whether they have any hopes to find a job after graduation, and how satisfied they are with the applied vocational education they received from the school [ 27 , 34 , 57 , 58 , 59 ].

Academic satisfaction has a positive effect on career decision-making self-efficacy.

Baumrind et al. (2010) divided parental attitudes into democratic, authoritarian, and highly permissive. Democratic parents cause positive changes in high school adolescents’ career decisions [ 60 , 61 ]. According to Bi et al. (2018) [ 62 ], parental attitudes are divided into demandingness and responsiveness. With demands contrary to children’s self-perception, children are expected to do tasks that they cannot do or have difficulty doing. With responsiveness, the expectations of parents of their children are in line with their level and understanding. In this way, parents know and trust their children and believe they can do the task [ 63 , 64 ]. The attitudes of parents are related to their education level. Education levels of parents are effective in guiding children in every subject and making career decisions. In some countries in Europe, it was found that parents’ education also increases the education and career decision self-efficacy levels of their children [ 65 , 66 ]. Parents’ education affects their knowledge of the profession and life, their experiences, their horizons, and ultimately their decisions for themselves and their children. It is seen that well-educated families make an effort to prepare a better future for their children by taking advantage of this knowledge and experience [ 53 , 67 , 68 , 69 ]. Therefore, the influence of the family is expected to affect the child’s CDSE.

Parents’ education has a positive effect on career decision-making self-efficacy.

1.3. Family Influence and Academic Satisfaction on Career Decision Self-Efficacy and Happiness

Happiness has evolved into a multifaceted idea that has captured humanity’s interest, especially in psychology and philosophical sciences. Happiness has been psychologically divided into four essential dimensions. There is happiness based on life satisfaction, happiness based on common sense, happiness based on perceived desire satisfaction, and happiness based on enjoyment [ 70 ]. The important thing here is the effect of working life, namely career choice, on happiness [ 71 , 72 ].

Career selection is a dynamic process affected by a variety of value judgments, desires, and beliefs. Individuals select their careers based on factors such as their preferences in the profession, morals, and the level of satisfaction they would get, as well as their personal characteristics [ 73 , 74 ]. If individuals work in a suitable profession, it will inevitably provide physiological and psychological satisfaction [ 13 ]. However, if individuals have to work in an unsuitable profession due to not making the right decisions during the career choice process, psychological problems may arise in individuals and professional failure and inefficiency. Thus, the happiness levels of individuals will decrease in life. Additionally, modern life is shaped by the influence of family, friends, and career. However, family is the most fundamental factor among them and affects the others as well. In this sense, the positive effect of the family will allow children to make better decisions in terms of school, friends, and career processes and increase their happiness [ 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 ].

Family influence has a positive effect on happiness .

Reaching happiness is meaningful and valuable in most societies. It was observed that many individuals regard happiness as the primary goal, and that is why most people seek happiness [ 80 , 81 ]. Many branches of science have studied happiness and determined that happiness is affected by many factors, such as geographical location, social support, career, health, gender, and education. In a study by Dean and Gibbs [ 82 ], academically satisfied students were more optimistic about their careers and future, as academic satisfaction ensures that students’ positions in the labor market are guaranteed in some way. Furthermore, students with academic satisfaction will have a better place in society and a better chances in employment, increasing their happiness [ 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 ].

Academic satisfaction has a positive effect on happiness.

Education, in every way, is the most critical investment in people’s futures. Although individuals need to have a good education, their parents’ education also contributes to the future of both themselves and their children [ 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 ], as educated parents will try to make a positive contribution to their children’s lives in general and their education and professional life in particular. They will use their knowledge, experience, opportunities, and financial resources to enable their children to have a better future, job, career, and opportunities. Some parents have high expectations while supporting their children, causing some children to be more stressed and unhappy, while some are happier [ 94 , 95 , 96 ].

Parents’ education has a positive effect on happiness.

In the modern period, life revolves around careers. That is why individuals’ happiness is closely related to their careers. When examined from an individual perspective, factors affecting happiness are family and friends, income, working life, and education status in the modern world [ 97 , 98 , 99 , 100 , 101 ]. Therefore, happiness is affected by career choice and profession, and career choice is impacted by family influence, academic satisfaction, and parents’ education and income level. According to the literature, it is seen that family influence, academic satisfaction, parents’ education, family income, and students’ work experiences affect career decision self-efficacy (CDSE), and CDSE affects students’ happiness [ 65 , 66 , 102 , 103 , 104 ]. Therefore, there is a mediating effect of CDSE in the relationship between dependent variables and happiness. According to the literature, the following hypotheses were determined.

There is a positive mediating effect between family influence and happiness through career decision-making self-efficacy.

There is a positive mediating effect between academic satisfaction and happiness through career decision-making self-efficacy.

There is a positive mediating effect between parents’ education and happiness through career decision-making self-efficacy.

There is a positive mediating effect between income and happiness through career decision-making self-efficacy.

There is a positive mediating effect between type of work contract and happiness through career decision-making self-efficacy.

The intellectual capacity of parents has an essential place in the development process of children [ 105 , 106 ]. As explained above, when parents have a higher education level, this positively affects the academic and social development of children [ 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 107 , 108 ]. In this sense, there may be a moderation effect as the parents’ education level can be significant leverage in their children’s future. That is why we thought that parents’ education levels might have a moderating effect on the impact of the students’ family influence, the career decision-making competence of the students, and on the effect of academic satisfaction levels of the students on the happiness of students, as educated families are more knowledgeable, experienced, and competent in terms of life, education, professions, and career paths. In some cases, the high education level of the parents causes high expectations of the children. This situation shows a decrease in the happiness of some children who cannot meet these high expectations [ 41 , 95 ].

There is a moderating effect of parents’ education between CDSE and happiness.

There is a moderating effect of parents’ education between FIS and happiness.

There is a moderating effect of parents’ education between academic satisfaction and happiness.

To test these hypotheses, direct analyses were made between family influence, academic satisfaction, and career decision-making self-efficacy and happiness scales at the first stage. Afterward, direct effects were analyzed between five independent variables and the career decision-making self-efficacy and happiness. Finally, it was examined whether career decision-making self-efficacy has a mediating role between family influence, academic satisfaction, income level, type of work contract, parents’ education, and happiness, as shown in Figure 1 .

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Research conceptual model.

2.1. Study Design, Participants, and Procedure

We aimed to examine the effect of family influence, academic satisfaction, family income, parents’ education, and the type of work contract on the career decision-making self-efficacy and happiness of university students. When the studies in the literature were examined, we noticed that there is a need for studies related to environmental factors. Examining the family influence on academic satisfaction, which are the most critical environmental factors that affect an individual’s career decision self-efficacy, and also the impact on the happiness of individuals within the scope of the study, is essential.

The study design was cross-sectional, and a convenience sampling procedure was employed [ 109 ]. In order to detect if a common factor biased the results, we used Harman’s single factor test, and the score was less than 50% [ 110 ]. Therefore, common method bias does not affect the data and results. This study aimed to analyze the findings after establishing the relationship and impact rather than generalizing them.

The field study was carried out in different departments of universities in Istanbul using an online questionnaire. In the research group of the study, 1130 university students were determined by a simple random sampling method and participated voluntarily. Between 15 January and 25 February 2020, the survey was performed. Before completing the questionnaire, participants were briefed about the study’s methodology and objectives. Additionally, participants’ consent was taken prior to being asked to answer. The participants’ identifying details remained unknown since they were not requested. A necessary technical arrangement was made to ensure that the questions were answered only once. Participants were free to respond whenever they wanted. We maintained the data’s confidentiality and privacy. The research was carried out adhering to the Helsinki Declaration guidelines.

2.2. Data Analyses

After data collection through an online survey program, they were exported to MS Excel for cleaning and then imported into IBM SPSS 25 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). For demographics, the frequencies, averages, and standard deviations were determined by descriptive methods. After the factor analysis of all measures to ensure construct validity, correlations and regressions were performed. To perform multiple regression analysis, family influence, academic satisfaction, family income, parents’ education, and the type of work contract were defined as independent variables, happiness as the dependent variable, and career decision-making self-efficacy as a mediator variable in accordance with Figure 1 . SPSS 22 for direct analysis and PROCESS Macro for SPSS (Model 4 and 15) software [ 111 ] for mediation and moderation analysis were used. To graph moderation effects and two-way interactions, a simple slope test was performed. The level of statistical significance was set at α > 95%.

2.3. Measures

2.3.1. sociodemographic characteristics.

Sociodemographic characteristics were asked for in the personal information form included in the study’s questionnaire. There were questions about university students’ gender, age, school types, departments, grade levels, education levels of their mothers and fathers, working status of their mothers and fathers, perception of socio-economic status, profession, and employment perceptions for their future. The questions about parents’ education were averaged by computing a single variable. Additionally, two dichotomous variables were generated for the type of work contract question to understand different groups’ feelings. For this purpose, full-time working students (coded 1) and others (coded 0), and part-time working students (coded 1) and others (coded 0) were re-evaluated.

2.3.2. Family Influence Scale

The family influence scale in career development is a measurement tool developed to measure the family’s impact on the career development of individuals and is based on information about individuals. It was developed by [ 112 ] and adapted to Turkish culture by Akın et al. (2012) [ 113 ]. The scale, which consists of 22 items, includes statements such as “My family expects my profession to be in line with family values/beliefs” and “It is difficult for my family to support my professional decisions financially”. The scale includes a six-point Likert-type scale ranging from (1) Never Disagree (6) to Agree Fully. The total score for the scale is calculated. The higher the score, the higher the family influence on career development. The one-dimensional Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the present study was determined as 0.851.

2.3.3. Academic Satisfaction

Academic satisfaction was measured with four items that reflect the importance of academic satisfaction from the university department. The questions included “Are you happy with your department?”, “Will your department support finding a job?”, “How will your department contribute to your career?”, and “How appropriate is the knowledge you received in the department?”. A 5-point Likert-type scale was used, and a higher score means higher academic satisfaction. In factor analysis, the KMO value was found to be 0.771, and factor loads were found to be between 0.644 and 0.836. The explained variance of the factor was 64.132%. We found a one-dimensional factor which described academic satisfaction. The one-dimensional Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the present study was determined as 0.809.

2.3.4. Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale

The career decision-making self-efficacy (CDSE) scale was developed by Ulaş and Yıldırım (2016) in Turkey and consists of 45 items. The scale has a five-point Likert-type rating [ 114 ]. The total score that can be obtained from the scale is between 45 and 225. A high score obtained from the scale shows that university students have high career decision-making self-efficacy, and therefore they consider themselves capable of making career decisions. The one-dimensional Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the present study was determined as 0.974.

2.3.5. Happiness Scale

The happiness scale was developed by Demirci and Ekşi [ 115 ], consists of 6 items and one dimension, and there are no reverse coded questions. As a result of the factor analysis conducted to evaluate the happiness scale’s construct validity, which is a 5-point Likert-type scale, it was found that the scale has a one-dimensional structure with an eigenvalue of 3.248 and consists of 6 items explaining 54.129% of the total variance. The factor loads of the items in the scale range between 0.59 and 0.78. The Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient of the scale was calculated as 0.83. The test–retest reliability coefficient obtained by re-applying the scale to 62 participants with a difference of three weeks was found to be 0.73. The one-dimensional Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of the present study was determined as 0.901.

3.1. Descriptive Analyses

As seen in Table 1 , 61.8% of the participants were women, 38.2% were men, and their average age was 21.97. It was understood that 52.8% of the students’ mothers were elementary graduates, 17.7% were middle school graduates, 19% were high school graduates, 9.4% were university graduates, and 1.1% were master’s or Ph.D. graduates. Additionally, we found that 33.5% of the students’ fathers were elementary graduates, 21.2% middle school graduates, 25.3% high school graduates, 17.3% university graduates, and 2.7% master’s or Ph.D. graduates. The average income level of students’ families was 4822.22. Of the students, 20.8% had a part-time working contract, and 5.8% had a full-time contract, whereas 73.5% of participants had no working contract, as seen in Table 1 .

Descriptive statistics.

3.2. Correlation Analysis

Table 2 shows the means, standard deviations, and correlations of the scales with each other. The parents’ education variable was found to be positively associated with family influence ( r = 0.201, p < 0.01), academic satisfaction ( r = 0.129, p < 0.01), and with career decision self-efficacy ( r = 0. 074, p < 0.05). The family influence variable was positively related to academic satisfaction ( r = 0.146, p < 0.01), career decision self-efficacy ( r = 0.284, p < 0.01), and to happiness ( r = 0.325, p < 0.01). The academic satisfaction variable was positively correlated with career decision self-efficacy ( r = 0.437, p < 0.01), and with happiness ( r = 0.292, p < 0.01). The career decision self-efficacy variable was positively associated with happiness ( r = 0.385, p < 0.01), as shown in Table 2 .

Means, standard deviations, and correlations.

** p < 0.01, * p < 0.05.

3.3. Regression Analysis

In order to test some of our hypotheses, multiple regression analysis was performed between dependent variables and independent variables in three different models. In Model 1, age ( R = 0.02, p < 001), part-time working ( R = 0.13, p < 01), full-time working ( R = 0.37, p < 001), family influence ( R = 0.19, p < 001), and academic satisfaction had positive effects ( R = 0.32, p < 001) on career decision self-efficacy (CDSE). In Model 2, gender ( R = 0.23, p < 001), age ( R = 0.02, p < 05), part-time working ( R = 0.15, p < 05), family influence ( R = 0.30, p < 001), academic satisfaction ( R = 0.26, p < 001), and the interaction variable had positive (FIS X Parents’ Edu.) effects on happiness. According to Model 3 in Table 3 , the impact of gender was positive ( R = 0.25, p < 001), income was positive ( R = 0.09, p < 001), parents’ education was negative ( R = −0.09, p < 001), family influence was positive ( R = 0.24, p < 001), academic satisfaction was positive ( R = 0.15, p < 001), CDSE was positive ( R = 0.33, p < 001), and the interaction variable (CDSE X Parents’ Edu.) was negative ( R = −0.05, p < 05) on happiness. According to these results, hypotheses H1, H2, H4, H5, H6 were accepted, whereas hypothesis H3 was rejected.

Main effects on dependent variables.

CDSE = Career Decision Self-Efficacy, FIS = Family Influence Scale, ACSAT = Academic Satisfaction.

3.4. Mediation Analysis

In our model illustrated in Figure 1 , the mediating effect of CDSE on the impact of independent variables such as family influence, family income, academic satisfaction, type of work contract, and parents’ education on happiness was assumed. According to this model, direct regression analyses were performed between the independent, mediator, and dependent variables shown in Table 3 . The SPSS Process Macro plugin was used to detect the indirect effect. According to the indirect regression effects shown in Table 4 , it was seen that family influence and academic satisfaction maintained their effect on the dependent variable happiness through CDSE as a mediator. CDSE had a partially positive and significant effect as a mediator on the effect of family influence on happiness (γ = 0,0595, SE = 0,0127, 95% GA (0,0367, 0,0864)). CDSE had a partially positive and significant effect as a mediator on the effect of academic satisfaction on happiness (γ = 0,1118, SE = 0,0166, 95% GA (0,0798, 0,1457)). Additionally, it was seen that part-time working and full-time working did not maintain their effect on the dependent variable happiness through CDSE as a mediator. CDSE had a fully positive and significant effect as a mediator on the effect of part-time working on happiness (γ = 0,0416, SE = 0,0159, 95% CI (0,0131, 0,0756)). CDSE had a fully positive and significant effect as a mediator on the effect of full-time working on happiness (γ = 0,1214, SE = 0,0351, 95% CI (0,0555, 0,1915)). According to these values, it was understood that H7 and H8 that we predicted in our study were partly confirmed. Hypotheses H9 and H10 were rejected, whereas H11 was fully accepted.

Total, direct, and indirect regression analysis on happiness.

CDSE = Career Decision Self-Efficacy.

3.5. Moderation Analysis

We tested moderation analyses in our model, as shown in Figure 1 . Accordingly, to test the moderation impact of parents’ education, an interaction variable was generated between parents’ education and related academic satisfaction, family influence, and career decision self-efficacy variables. As a result of regression analyses in Model 2 and Model 3 in Table 3 , the interaction effect of family influence and parents’ education on happiness (FIS X Parents’ Edu.) was not significant ( B = 0.02, p > 0.05). However, two different interaction variables, which consisted of academic satisfaction (ACSAT X Parents’ Edu.) and career decision self-efficacy (CDSE X Parents’ Edu.), were found to be significant on happiness ( B = −0.06, B = −0.05, p < 0.05, respectively). According to these moderation results, H12 was rejected, whereas H13 and H14 were accepted.

The graphs of the moderation analysis are shown in Figure 2 . Figure 2 a shows that as the ACSAT levels of children of parents with high education levels rise, their happiness level falls lower than that of children of parents with low education levels. According to Figure 2 b, it was seen that as the CDSE levels of the children of parents with high education levels increase, their happiness levels become lower than the happiness levels of the children of parents with low education levels.

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Moderation effect of parents’ education on the impact of ACSAT ( a ) and CDSE ( b ) on happiness.

We conducted ad hoc analysis to see the moderation effects of the education levels of the mother and father separately. It was understood that only the education levels of the mothers had a statistically significant moderating impact. In Figure 3 a, it is seen that as the ACSAT of those whose mothers have high education levels increases, their CDSE levels increase more than those whose mothers have low education levels ( B = 0.094, p < 0.05). In addition, as shown in Figure 3 b, it was seen that as the CDSE of those whose mothers have low education level increases, their happiness levels increase more than those whose mothers have a high education level ( B = −0.188, p < 0.05).

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Moderation effect of mothers’ education on the impact of ACSAT ( a ) and CDSE ( b ) on happiness and CDSE (ad hoc analyses).

4. Discussion

Career decision making is a required phase for individuals who are studying at a high school or a university. Career decisions will have an intense negative or positive effect until the end of individuals’ lives. However, the career process is also a burden for young people who are already under stress. That is why they need support from their social mechanisms such as family, school, and working life. In this study, we aimed to find the predictors of CDSE such as demographic variables, family influence, and academic satisfaction and, finally, their impact on the happiness of individuals. The study was based on the ecological concept, which was developed by Bronfenbrenner (1980). According to the results, hypotheses H1, H2, H4, H5, H6, H7, H8, H11, H13, and H14 were accepted, whereas H3, H9, H10, and H12 were rejected.

4.1. Effects on Career Decision Self-Efficacy

Family influence is one of the most crucial mechanisms during career decisions. We found a significant positive relationship between family influence and CDSE. Most of the literature considers family as a coping mechanism during career decisions, and family influence has a positive association with CDSE [ 30 , 33 , 42 , 116 ]. Parents’ attitudes towards essential decisions of their children enable children to perceive their support and overcome the challenges during the process. Trying to provide support without any coercion can contribute to children’s correct career decisions.

Another factor affecting CDSE is academic satisfaction, which was found to be positively significant in our study. Academic satisfaction is another aspect that influences CDSE, and experiences, abilities, and competencies acquired in school are ideally integrated into CDSE. The finding of academic satisfaction being associated with CDSE is consistent with the current literature [ 20 , 25 , 27 , 37 , 103 , 117 ]. Academic experiences are crucial not only for the career process and CDSE but also for the entire life course since they empower individuals to make decisions and cope with challenges.

We found that parents’ education has less than moderate ( r = 0.074, p < 0.05) positive and significant correlation with CDSE, which is consistent with the literature [ 41 , 61 , 118 ]. Additionally, parents’ education was positively correlated with the academic satisfaction of their children. Therefore, we assumed that parents’ education level has a positive effect on CDSE, but the findings were not significant for the impact. However, when we carried out an ad hoc analysis about the moderation impact of mothers’ education on the association of academic satisfaction and CDSE, we found a significant positive effect. Accordingly, for those children who have mothers with high-level education, as academic satisfaction increases, their CDSE improves more than those who have mothers with low-level education. In a studies conducted by Pappas and Kounenou (2011) and Hsieh and Huang (2014) [ 119 , 120 ], similar results were found for both groups of mothers. In another ad hoc analysis, for the moderation of the impact of mothers’ education on the association of CDSE and happiness, we found a significant negative effect. Of children who have mothers with low-level education, as their CDSE increases, their happiness improves more than those who have mothers with high-level education.

4.2. Effects on Happiness

Many factors influence happiness, including geographical position, social support from family, occupation, health, gender, and education. Family influence was positively associated with happiness and had a positive impact on happiness. In the literature, there are similar results which show linkages between family influence and happiness [ 1 , 35 , 56 ]. Families have a large influence on their children’s preferences and beliefs, as well as on establishing self-concepts and providing positive and negative viewpoints on careers. Additionally, academic satisfaction was positively related to happiness which is consistent with the related literature [ 37 , 104 , 117 , 121 ]. Academic satisfaction has the power to directly affect happiness, as the contribution of academia to a person’s life will last for a lifetime.

Even though parents’ education was not associated with happiness, it negatively impacted happiness because of the other independent and control variables. Parents’ education and income are important parts of families’ socio-economic status, and both of them had a significant impact on happiness, which is consistent with the current literature [ 61 , 118 , 119 , 122 ]. In our study, the effect of parents’ education on happiness was negative, whereas income was positive. Highly educated parents may lead to higher expectations for and burdens on their children and thus decrease children’s happiness. However, children of high-income families may have more opportunities and thus increase their happiness.

4.3. Mediation Effects

We discovered partially significant mediating effects between family influence and happiness and between academic satisfaction and happiness through career decision-making self-efficacy. Through CDSE, the indirect effects of family influence and academic satisfaction on happiness were positive and meaningful. Nonetheless, there were no significant improvements in the direct outcomes of family influence and academic satisfaction on happiness. As a result, the mediating effect was statistically significant in part. We revealed that as the participants’ family support and influence increased during the career choice process, so did their self-efficacy in making career decisions and happiness. This outcome was found to be compatible with the literature [ 41 , 48 , 118 ]. According to studies, family influence and support benefit the job process and increase satisfaction from work and life. There were, however, no significant mediating effects between parents’ education and happiness, and between income and happiness, through career decision-making self-efficacy. Since there were no meaningful direct impacts of parents’ education and income on the mediator variable CDSE, indirect effects on happiness were not observed.

Through the CDSE of students, we discovered meaningful mediating impacts between part-time working, full-time working, and happiness. After examining the indirect relationship between part-time working, full-time working, and happiness through CDSE, the direct relationships between part-time working, full-time working, and happiness were found to be insignificant. As a result, the effects of CDSE’s mediating results between the type of work contract and happiness were fully significant. Accordingly, students working either part-time or full-time during their university years increase their CDSE levels and their happiness afterward. Studies found the working of students was associated with their CDSE [ 123 , 124 , 125 ]. Today, the most crucial problem for university students when finding a job after graduation is a lack of working experience. Therefore, the effect of students’ working will have a positive effect on both CDSE and happiness, which will help them to find employment after graduation.

4.4. Moderation Effects

We found moderation impacts of parents’ education between independent and dependent variables. According to the results, as the ACSAT levels of children of parents with high education levels rise, their happiness level falls lower than that of children of parents with low education levels. Additionally, as CDSE levels of the children of parents with high education levels increase, their happiness levels become lower than the happiness levels of the children of parents with low education levels. It was found that when the CDSE and ACSAT status of the children of families with low education levels increase, their happiness levels increase more than the other group. The children of families with a low level of education have to give more importance to their education and consequently their career processes; hence, their control in the process and, therefore, happiness are higher. However, we found a significant difference in the moderating of mothers’ education between ACSAT and CDSE. Thus, as highly educated mothers’ children’s ACSAT increased, the children’s CDSE improved more than mothers with a low level of education.

5. Limitations of the Study

Since the study was conducted only with the students of certain departments in universities in Istanbul and at a certain time, the results cannot be generalized to a different time or throughout the country. Additionally, conducting the study only online prevented observing the reactions of the participants. The study was conducted only with university students. However, doing similar studies with high school students and university graduates will make the career decision process more understandable. Another limitation is the cross-sectional design of the study and the fact that it was conducted only with students. For these reasons, the present results in the article cannot be generalized. Therefore, new research needs to be carried out with different groups and methods at other times.

6. Conclusions and Some Implications

With this study, we tried to find out the factors that affect the career decision self-efficacy of university students and, ultimately, their happiness. The study was conducted with 1130 students at different universities in Istanbul and was designed as cross-sectional, and a convenience sampling procedure was employed. As people are bio-psycho-social beings, both individual attributes and the social environment affect the career process. For this purpose, relationships with family income, family influence, parents’ education, academic satisfaction, and the type of work contract were examined in our study. It was found that family influence, academic satisfaction, parents’ education level, and working experiences significantly affected career decision self-efficacy and happiness. It was also found that career decision self-efficacy had a mediating effect and parents’ education had a moderating effect between dependent variables and happiness. We discovered that family influence and academic satisfaction positively impact students’ career decision self-efficacy and happiness. The most striking finding is that part-time and full-time students have higher career decision self-efficacies than non-working students and the full mediating effect of CDSE on the impact of their work experience on their happiness. However, there was no evidence of a mediating influence of CDSE on the correlation between family income, parental education, and happiness.

For this reason, families should be informed and educated about support in children’s career processes. Considering the positive effect of family influence and support and the contribution of the education process on career decision self-efficacy, policymakers should do holistic planning that includes families, schools, neighborhoods, and children starting from primary school up to university. Training that will enable families to become more informed about their children’s career processes and support their children’s choices in accordance with their personalities should be provided. Especially during the university education of young people, policies should be strengthened to increase the application opportunities within universities and provide opportunities to work in the market in accordance with their education. Thus, they will combine theory and practice and have sufficient knowledge of the labor markets they can use after graduation. In this way, with an understanding that will put children and their future at the center, it will be ensured that children will learn and make more appropriate career decisions themselves.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, O.K. and A.E.; methodology, O.K.; formal analysis, O.K.; investigation, N.A.; resources, O.K.; data curation, O.K. and A.E.; writing—original draft preparation, O.K.; writing—review and editing, O.K., S.S.E. and M.S.; administration, O.K.; final revision, M.Z.Y., N.A., S.S.E., A.E. and M.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

Conflicts of interest.

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A Research Guide
Research Paper Topics

40 Family Issues Research Paper Topics

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40 Marriage and Family Research Topics for any Taste

Parental neglect. Is it enough for a kid to have food, clothes, and shelter to grow up healthy?
Divorce and its consequences for all the family members. Minimizing the negative impact of divorce
Toxic and narcissistic parents. Overcoming the trauma of a dysfunctional family
To live up to the family expectation: what to do if they are too high for a human being?
Family violence: where is the point of no return?
Sexual abuse in the family. The strategy of escaping and organizations that can help
Toxic and abusive relationship. The psychologies issues of breaking up with toxic partner
Substance abuse in the family. It is always possible to save yourself, but is it possible to save the rest?
War Veterans and their families. Do Vets the only ones there who need help?
Accepting the LGBTQ+ member of the family
Getting out of the closet: what is like to be an LGBTQ+person in a conservative family?
Loss of a family member: stages of grief of children and adults. How to cope together?
Religious conflicts in families: what to do and how to solve?
Teenage delinquency: when it turns to be more than natural seeking independence?
Fostering a child: what problems can the parents face?
Generation gap. The difference in morals and culture. Is it normal?
Living with senile family members: how to cope and avoid emotional burnout?
Mentally challenged family members: how to integrate them into society?
The importance of family support for people with disabilities
Pregnancy and the first year of having a baby: do tiredness and depression make people bad parents?
The types of relationship in the family: are they healthy and just unusual or something is harmful to family members?
Life after disasters: how to put life together again? The importance of family support
The issue of an older sibling. How to make every kid feel equally loved?
Gender discrimination in families. Gender roles and expectations
Multicultural families: how do their values get along?
Children from previous marriages: how to help them accept the new family?
Childhood traumas of parents: helping them not to transfer them to the next generation
Every family can meet a crisis: how to live it through in a civilized way?
Family counseling: why it is so important?
Accidentally learned the secrets of the family: how to cope with unpleasant truth?
Adultery: why it happens and what to do to prevent it?
Career choice: how to save the relationships with the family and not inherit the family business?
The transition to adult life: the balance between family support and letting the young adult try living their own life
Unwanted activities: shall the family take warning or it is just trendy now?
Returning of a family member from prison: caution versus unconditional love
A family member in distress: what can you do to actually help when someone close to you gets in serious troubles?
The absence of love. What to do if you should love someone but can’t?
Ageism in families. Are older people always right?
Terminal diseases and palliative care. How to give your family member a good life?
Where can seek help the members of the dysfunctional families?

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Family Studies, Essay Example

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At my age of 40 years, I am a husband to two wives in my family, the first one being a mother of a son called Timothy aged 18 years and a daughter called Agnes aged 13 years while the second wife is a mother of an adopted girl called Kimberly of 19 years. Timothy experienced a difficult time as a result of a fragile X syndrome that is traceable way back from my grandfather. Our initial life with Timothy’s mother was characterized by low level of income and early intervention of the syndrome was impossible leading to the advancement of the symptoms of the syndrome. I had graduated from Daystar University with a masters degree that later landed me in a well paying job after which I decided to marry Kimberly’s mother who was also from an influential family. Due to the fact that she could not bear children, we decided to adopt Kimberly who has contributed positively to the wellbeing of Timothy in taking care of his development since the boy surfers a moderate degree of mental retardation. My entire family lives in a great cohesion with every member of the family willing to make positive contribution towards the general well being of all members. I provide for the financial support needed by the entire family.

The entire family members have been keenly involved in socialization with respect to gender through proper acquaintance with the gender roles that are culturally defined. Every member has taken active role in learning the behaviors as well as the attitudes that are appropriate for the sex they belong (Rebecca, et al., 115-67). Timothy has adopted the behaviors required of a boy while Agnes and Kimberly have adopted girl-like behaviors. The entire family has taken active role in reinforcing the gender roles. Majority of the work in the kitchen is completed with the help of Agnes and a house-help who we have hired while Kimberly is involved in offering learning guidance to Timothy. Having owned a spacious plot of land that accommodates two units of three bed roomed house, the family is able to coordinate all the necessary activities in one compound. The mothers of the three children take active involvement in a family grocery that is located in the same compound.

Having two wives, it means that we have three pairs of parents who took active role in the upbringing of my two wives as well as me. All of them were committed to our well being and it is currently our responsibility to take care of them as they are already in their old age. The great concern that they accorded us is reflected in our children and this is the cause of our harmonious existence and every member of our family is satisfied and happy. None of our parents has ever lived as a single parent and they are all alive today and the same case has been applicable to our children. Although Kimberly is an exceptional case of an adopted girl in our family, she has continuously been treated with equal affection as the rest of our children and this situation is hardly noticeable.

My father’s life was characterized by family conflicts that led to divorce followed by remarriage and this implies that I had to own a stepmother and step-siblings. The family was relatively large in size because my mother who was the first wife had four boys including me and three girls while my step mother had three girls and two boys who were twins. One of my brothers, the second born traveled to Germany for educational scholarship where he latter decided to settle down after entering in to a gay relationship with a German. This has brought about a great misunderstanding in the family because of a Christian religious background that is a characteristic of my family (Rebecca, et al., 115-67).

Rebecca, Coulter, et al. Gender socialization: new ways. London: New World Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Women’s Equality, 1993.

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Essay on My Family for School Students and Children

500+ words essay on my family.

Families are an integral part of one’s life. It does not matter if you have a small or big family, as long as you have one. A family serves as the first school to the child where one learns about various things. The basic knowledge about one’s culture and identity comes from their family only. In other words, you are a reflection of your family. All the good habits and manners one has incorporated are from their family only. I feel very lucky to be born in a family which has made me a better person. In my opinion, families are an essential part of one’s being. In this essay on my family, I will tell you why family is important.

Why Families are Important?

Families are a blessing not everyone is fortunate enough to have. However, those who do, sometimes do not value this blessing. Some people spend time away from the family in order to become independent.

However, they do not realize its importance. Families are essential as they help in our growth. They develop us into becoming a complete person with an individual identity. Moreover, they give us a sense of security and a safe environment to flourish in.

You can read essay on my mother here .

We learn to socialize through our families only and develop our intellect. Studies show that people who live with their families tend to be happier than ones living alone. They act as your rock in times of trouble.

Families are the only ones who believe in you when the whole world doubts you. Similarly, when you are down and out, they are the first ones to cheer you up. Certainly, it is a true blessing to have a positive family by your side.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Pillars of Strength

My family has been always by my side in ups and downs. They have taught me how to be a better person. My family consists of four siblings and my parents. We also have a pet dog that is no less than our family.

Within each family member, lies my strength. My mother is my strength as I can always count on her when I need a shoulder to cry on. She believes in me more than any other person. She is the backbone of our family. My father is someone who will always hide away his troubles for the sake of his family.

In short, I will forever be indebted to my family for all they have done for me. I cannot imagine my life without them. They are my first teachers and my first friends.

They are responsible for creating a safe and secure environment for me at home. I can share everything with my family as they never judge one another. We believe in the power of love above everything and that drives us to help each other to become better human beings.

FAQs on Family

Q.1 Why are families important?

A.1 Families are important because they nurture and develop us. They make us happy and give us the chance to become better human beings. Families enhance your confidence and make you believe in yourself.

Q.2 How do families act as pillars of strength?

A.2 Families are the pillars of strength because they give us the courage to face the world. They are always there when we need them. Even in the loneliest of times, families make us feel better.

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Scholars of black life and culture have taken an interest in the notion of “family” from at least the turn of the twentieth century; W. E. B. Du Bois’s groundbreaking sociological study The Philadelphia Negro ( 1899 ) devoted a chapter to “the Negro Family,” which explored everything from typical urban family size (significantly smaller than families in rural areas), variations in family income and expenditures across classes, and details of family life, including various types of cohabitation and child rearing. Notes Du Bois, “The home was destroyed by slavery, struggled up after emancipation, and is again not exactly threatened, but neglected in the life of city Negroes” ([1899] 1996, 196) . This emphasis on the deleterious consequences of slavery and plantation life for the black family forms a through line from Du Bois to later sociological and historical studies, perhaps most famously E. Franklin Frazier’s comprehensive The Negro Family in the United States (1939) , which argued that black family life had been deeply affected by slavery’s abuses and that the resultant fracturing of the nuclear family structure continued to reverberate in the black community of the early twentieth century.

Twenty-five years later, the sociologist, senator, and assistant secretary of labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan relied heavily on Frazier’s work when drawing up the report, commissioned by President Lyndon B. Johnson, that became The Negro Family: The Case for National Action (1965) . Moynihan’s report, which detailed what he called the “tangle of pathology” of black family life, argued that African American communities “ha[ve] been forced into a matriarchal structure which, because it is so out of line with the rest of the American society, seriously retards the progress of the group as a whole” (29) . Moynihan’s report generated significant controversy not simply because of this claim about black matriarchy, which echoed the work of Frazier and other black sociologists and pundits writing in the 1960s, such as Kenneth Clark and Whitney Young, but because his work appeared to emphasize not structural racism and socioeconomic disadvantage as the cause of these issues within the black family but rather something dysfunctional inherent to black culture itself. Feminist critics of the report and of the controversy surrounding it have since pointed out the masculinist emphasis of much of the critique of Moynihan; most of Moynihan’s critics agreed with his assessment of black women as overly dominant within black households, as well as his argument that black families “reversed [the] roles of husband and wife” and thereby emasculated the black man (30) . Where such critics disagreed with Moynihan was on causes of and solutions to this issue: Moynihan’s work was repeatedly interpreted, precisely because of its emphasis on the “tangle of pathology,” as victim blaming (see, for instance, William J. Ryan’s 1971 response to Moynihan, Blaming the Victim ) and as insufficiently attentive to the importance of jobs and other structural changes in potentially transforming black family life.

The Moynihan report’s continued influence in the latter years of the twentieth century, and even into the twenty-first, is undeniable; the trope of black family “pathology” popularized by Moynihan continues to circulate in the United States, particularly in political commentary about black families from both ends of the political spectrum. If such commentary, divorced even from Moynihan’s research into the causes of such assumed “pathology,” rarely looked to the slave past to justify present-day black struggles, research on the antebellum period that emerged in the years immediately following the civil rights era, including John W. Blassingame’s The Slave Community (1972) , Eugene Genovese’s Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1974) , and Herbert G. Gutman’s The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom (1977) , actually questioned conventional wisdom about the fractured and fragile black family structure under slavery, instead emphasizing the way that enslaved blacks had formed crucial bonds on the plantation. These studies—along with work such as Angela Davis’s “Reflections on the Black Woman’s Role in the Community of Slaves” (1972) , which explicitly countered the lingering belief in black “matriarchy” under conditions of enslavement, instead focusing on black women’s forced equality with their male counterparts, as well as their insurgent resistance—opened a critical space for scholars of African American history and culture to attend to different forms of “family” and kinship structure than the heteropatriarchal nuclear family. The anthropologist Carol Stack’s All Our Kin ( 1974 ) is a notable example of this sort of critical reframing of notions of “family” and attention to how impoverished blacks nonetheless found ways to share resources and create lasting kinship bonds even under difficult material circumstances.

The nuclear “family,” which, as the feminist literary scholar Hortense Spillers famously argued in her groundbreaking 1987 essay “Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe: An American Grammar Book,” is a discursive and ideological institution deeply implicated by histories of white supremacy and racist violence, has also and as a result been a central means by which captive black bodies had been excluded from “Western” conceptions of gender and culture: “It seems clear, however, that ‘Family,’ as we practice and understand it ‘in the West’—the vertical transfer of a bloodline, of a patronymic, of titles and entitlements…—becomes the mythically revered privilege of a free and freed community” ( 74 ). Spillers’s work spoke back to and paved the way for other black women’s writing on “family” that highlighted the institution’s fraught history and the ways that the word “family,” particularly in its narrowest senses, has operated as a disciplinary term—with those who are disciplined by the concept overwhelmingly black women, the mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives whose behavior within the embattled black family unit has so often been scrutinized and found wanting. A great deal of this writing has taken place not in the sphere of scholarship and analysis but in that of fiction.

Published in the same year as Spillers’s essay, Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel Beloved (1987) explores both the traumatic mechanics of slavery’s decimation of black patriarchal “family”—husbands and wives, parents and children separated; intrafamilial violence; the haunting presence of those who are lost—as well as the less conventional “family” bonds that the enslaved nonetheless forged and the ways that such bonds sustained and fortified slavery’s victims and survivors. Other critically acclaimed works by black women, such as Alice Walker’s The Color Purple ( 1982 ), also a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf ( 1975 ), and Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place ( 1982 ), not only questioned the restrictive definitions of “family” that continued to be applied to black Americans, portraying a number of alternative forms of kinship and familial connection, including same-gender relationships, but also examined the ways that domestic violence and other intimate abuses by African American men disrupted the black heteropatriarchal “family” from within.

The hostile response to these works by some black male reviewers and critics—see, for instance, the sociologist Robert Staples’s “The Myth of the Black Macho: A Response to Angry Black Feminists” ( 1979 )—led the scholar Deborah McDowell to pen the essay “Reading Family Matters” (1989) , in which she calls such figures’ critical reliance on a “totalizing fiction” of African American community wholeness, a story of “the Black Family cum Black Community headed by the Black Male who does battle with an oppressive White world,” a black “family romance” (78) . In the world of media, this black family romance found expression in television via a number of popular series depicting African American family life, including Good Times (1974–79), The Jeffersons (1975–85), 227 (1985–90), Family Matters (1989–98), Roc (1991–94), and, perhaps best known and most influential, The Cosby Show , which ran from 1984 to 1992 and depicted a wealthy professional black couple and their five children. Experts disagree about the ultimate value of the “positive image” of the black family that Cosby portrayed, with the sociologist Herman Gray arguing in 1995, for instance, that despite the show’s groundbreaking exploration of diversity within blackness, with its specific focus on the black upper middle class, the show “seemed unable, or unwilling, to negotiate its universal appeals to family, the middle class, mobility, and individualism on the one hand and the particularities of black social, cultural, political, and economic realities on the other” (81–82) . Yet the show’s meaning and legacy as a powerful cultural image of “family” has perhaps been troubled most by the long list of sexual-assault allegations leveled against an aging Bill Cosby, which ultimately challenge the show’s validity as an idealized black household that purportedly was based on Cosby’s own equally ideal family life.

McDowell’s work on the family romance highlights another common but contested use of the word “family” in African American communities, as a marker of racial belonging; understanding the larger black community as a “family” has been signaled, historically, by linguistic and discursive gestures such as the “brothers and sisters” of the civil rights and Black Power movements, a form of address that grows out of similar language common to the black church. And while the more inclusive term “sibling” is growing in popularity as African Americans who identify as transgender become more visible and vocal about the ways that words such as “brothers” and “sisters” can be exclusionary, the very language of “family” as a metaphor for black community has also been questioned in some quarters, most notably by the black British scholar Paul Gilroy. Gilroy, in his 1991 essay “‘It’s a Family Affair’: Black Culture and the Trope of Kinship,” critiqued the way that the metaphor of “family” reduced “the crisis of black politics and social life” to “a crisis of black masculinity alone” (204) and predicted that “disastrous consequences follow when the family supplies the only symbols of political agency we can find in the culture and the only object upon which that agency can be seen to operate” (207) . Ultimately a critique of U.S.-centric racial politics, Gilroy’s analysis emphasized that alternative forms of community building, such as those found in transnational or global diasporic contexts, might prove a more fruitful and inclusive way of conceptualizing community.

The word “family” as a signal of membership has also circulated within black queer and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) communities, as a means of recognizing and embracing those who are open or closeted members. The sociologist Mignon Moore is one of few scholars who have examined how conventional notions of “family” are embraced and also contested by black LGBT subjects; her book Invisible Families: Gay Identities, Relationships, and Motherhood among Black Women ( 2011 ) argues that “the family life of gay women of color has for many years been largely invisible to African Americans” (2) and uses ethnography to explore “how Black lesbians’ participation in and enactment of their intersecting identities as Black, as women, and as gay people influence family formation, mate selection, expectations for partners in intimate relationships, and other aspects of family life” (3) . Notably, with the landmark 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Obergefell v. Hodges , same-sex marriage became legal in all fifty states, making it possible for existing LGBT families to seek legal protections from the state that had previously been denied.

While stereotypes about the brokenness or pathology of the black family continue to circulate in the twenty-first century, recent scholarship continues to refute such perceptions; a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report from 2013 for instance, details how black fathers are actually as involved, if not more involved, with child rearing as white or Latino fathers in similar living situations, debunking the persistent myth of the “absent” black father ( Jones and Mosher 2013 ). That this myth persists—alongside other oft-repeated narratives about the black family in “crisis”—may explain why African American families continue to face higher levels of scrutiny from the state. One result is that black children are overrepresented in foster care, despite statistics that indicate that “children of all races are equally as likely to suffer from abuse and neglect” (see the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s 2007 report, African American Children in Foster Care ). As African American studies continues its work in the twenty-first century, “family” is sure to continue as a complex and contested term, with an array of meanings that are shaped by, but strive to move beyond, black history in the U.S. and around the globe.

Essay Plans – Family Law

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Resource Description

Essay plans: – 1 addressing domestic violence, divorce and division of assets (children and property) – 1 specifically for surrogacy and birth technologies

FAMILY ESSAY – General (Issues involving family)

Introduction

Define family under the law
Introduce main responses (eg. legislation, courts, NGOs) and make a general judgement
Introduce three body paragraphs

Domestic violence

Define domestic violence
Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW)
2016 reform: Plain English ADVOs for compliance issues
2018 reform: Strangulation instead of common assault, indefinite ADVOs by police for efficiency (find a strangulation case)
Family Law Act 1975 (Cth)
Family Law Amendment (Cross-examination of Parties) Act 2018 prevents self-represented to cross-examine victims
National Plan to Reduce Domestic Violence Against Women and Children
2010-2022 promotes education and access to services
2016 DSS progress report: “National Plan has achieved its goals and continues to address support service accessibility”
Make judgement – somewhat effective; achieved its purpose but DV still prevalent
Define marriage and divorce under the law
Marriage Act 1961 (Cth)
FLA gives FCC original jurisdiction
Irretrievable breakdown of relationship, demonstrated by 12 months of separation
Kiss and make up clause – 3 months reconciliation
Matrimonial Causes Act 1959 (Cth) replaced with no-fault divorce
Make judgement – effective; encourages amicable resolution of issues
Mandatory counselling for <2 years
Not required for DV victims
Make judgement – effective; limits premature divorce, protects DV victims

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University Libraries acquires papers of Brown School’s Jack Kirkland

University Archives at Washington University in St. Louis recently acquired the papers of Jack Arnett Kirkland, an associate professor in the Brown School and an internationally known scholar who writes, lectures and consults on the African American family and social and economic development. The collection documents his long career at WashU and is a valuable piece of university history, including early material from the Black Studies program.

The collection includes a wide variety of materials. One series is Kirkland’s teaching material consisting of syllabi from various classes and his teaching notes. Another series is Black Studies program Material, which includes Black student guides from the early 1970s, program brochures and publicity. Kirkland is a prolific writer and the collection includes his articles, reports, speeches and more. His professional correspondence dates from the 1960s through the 2000s and includes information about his teaching, work with the community and his time as director of the Missouri Department of Transportation.

To learn more, visit the University Libraries website .

Comments and respectful dialogue are encouraged, but content will be moderated. Please, no personal attacks, obscenity or profanity, selling of commercial products, or endorsements of political candidates or positions. We reserve the right to remove any inappropriate comments. We also cannot address individual medical concerns or provide medical advice in this forum.

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Should family members be in charge of family businesses? We analyzed 175 studies to understand when having a family CEO pays off

Assistant Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship, University of Louisville

Assistant Professor Of Management, University of North Texas

Professor of Management, Mississippi State University

Associate Professor of Management and Dean Paul R. Gowens Excellence Professor in Business, Texas State University

Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, University of Arkansas

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In a still from the HBO Series "Succession," patriarch Logan Roy, played by Brian Cox, is seen rubbing the shoulders of his son and heir apparent. Despite the seemingly affectionate gesture, the elder Roy looks off into the distance with a look of concern.

From Hermes to Smuckers to the fictional Waystar Royco of HBO’s “Succession,” family businesses often choose their CEOs from the ranks of kin. But is this a good business decision? As researchers who study entrepreneurship and management , we wanted to know whether keeping leadership in the family pays off for businesses. So we reviewed 175 studies on the topic to see whether family CEOs really are the best choice for family businesses. We found that the answer is yes – sometimes .

Our analysis, which looked at nearly 40 years of research, confirmed that family CEOs tend to prioritize a noneconomic goal: keeping the business in the family. This suggests that nonfamily CEOs – leaders brought in from the wider business community, selected based on characteristics such as past performance – may be more interested in prioritizing purely economic goals, such as boosting stock prices.

We also found that companies led by family CEOs tend to have more concern with corporate social responsibility but invest less in innovation and international growth. They also have more debt on average. All of these things could have important business implications. For example, investing less in research and development could lead to worse economic outcomes .

Does that mean that family CEOs are bad for business? Not at all. When looking directly at economic outcomes, we found mixed results – some studies showed that family CEOs had positive effects, and others showed negative ones. Based on our understanding of the literature, my colleagues and I think it all depends on the goals that family companies themselves pursue.

Why it matters

While researchers don’t always agree on what counts as a family company, we define them as businesses that are governed or managed by one or more families, that pursue goals set by a dominant leadership coalition, and whose leaders want to pass the enterprise on to future generations. By any definition, family businesses are extremely common: The majority of businesses around the world are owned or operated by families .

Nearly 90% of U.S. businesses are considered family operated, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, as are about 1 in every 3 Fortune 500 companies . Some of the most famous businesses in the world are family companies, such as Nike, Dell Technologies and LVMH. The leadership decisions at these businesses have ripple effects across the entire economy.

From an individual company’s perspective, the decision to appoint a family CEO – or not – is rarely easy. On the one hand, family companies often want to stay in business – and under family control – for generations. On the other hand, they often need to satisfy investors who expect strong economic outcomes over the shorter term.

We believe that one of the most important things a family company can do is to understand its own goals and priorities. While that’s easier said than done, if a business has ill-defined goals, that can set a new CEO up for failure – whether they’re in the family or not. That’s because they’re likely to pursue strategies that the family, the company or the company’s shareholders don’t really want.

What still isn’t known

The evidence on whether family CEOs are good for family companies’ bottom line is mixed, which suggests they’re sometimes effective and sometimes not. Researchers need to study how the combination of the characteristics such as age, education, political ideology and personality operate to influence family CEO performance in their family businesses.

Our team plans to conduct more research on family CEOs and their characteristics to understand when they’re good for business – and when family companies should opt for someone from outside.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

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When It’s Time for an Aging Driver to Hit the Brakes

The “car key conversation” can be painful for families to navigate. Experts say there are ways to have it with empathy and care.

An illustration of an older person's hand dropping a keychain into a younger person's hand. The keychain has a car key and a small automobile accessory hanging from it.

By Catherine Pearson

Sherrie Waugh has been yelled at, insulted and wept upon in the course of her job administering driving tests. Typically these extreme reactions happen when she is forced to render an upsetting verdict: It’s time to hang up the car keys.

Ms. Waugh, a certified driving rehabilitation specialist with The Brain Center, a private neuropsychology practice in Indiana, often works with older drivers, putting them through an assessment that measures things like visual skills, reaction time and processing speed.

“I had one gentleman, who had early onset dementia, who was just sitting here crying,” Ms. Waugh said. “His wife was out in the car and she was crying. And we all came back, and we were all crying. Because it’s so hard.”

Decisions about when an older person (or someone whose physical or mental circumstances make operating a vehicle dangerous) should stop driving are often agonizing. They can rock the driver’s sense of independence and identity, and add to the responsibilities that many family caregivers shoulder.

“It’s a major, major loss for older people,” said Lauren Massimo, an assistant professor at Penn Nursing. “It’s been described to me as dehumanizing.”

But it is important to raise concerns as soon as you have them, experts said, and there are ways to make the car key conversation less painful for older drivers and their loved ones.

Get a good look at the problem.

Before you ask a partner or parent to give up driving, do your research, experts say. Ms. Waugh, for instance, is surprised by the number of caregivers she sees who raise concerns about older drivers they haven’t actually driven with recently.

“If they need to pick up something at the grocery store, hop in the car,” she said. Take note: Are they missing traffic lights or safety signs? Are they struggling to maintain the speed limit or stay in their lane? Are they becoming confused about directions, particularly on familiar routes? Those are all signs that their driving skills may be waning.

And beware of ageism, especially when figuring out how to approach the conversation.

“It’s really not about their age,” said Marvell Adams Jr., the chief executive officer of the nonprofit Caregiver Action Network. “It’s about changes in their ability, which can happen to anyone.”

Mr. Adams suggested this opening gambit for a talk: “‘Hey, you know, I noticed it looks like your tires are getting beat up. Are you hitting the curb more often?’” His own mother made the decision to stop driving herself, he said, after she hit the gas pedal instead of the brake.

Pin the decision on someone else.

The driving conversation is one of the hardest parts of Dr. Massimo’s job as a health care provider who works with patients with neurodegenerative disease, she said. But she is happy to relieve caregivers of that burden.

“Make the provider the bad guy,” she said.

Many of Ms. Waugh’s clients come to her through referrals from primary care doctors, neurologists or eye doctors, though family members also reach out directly. She charges $175 for a 90-minute clinical assessment, and $200 for a road evaluation — fees that she acknowledged might be prohibitive for some families. (She has not succeeded in getting insurance to reimburse her clients.) But, experts say, professional driving evaluations can offer objectivity and clarity.

Ms. Waugh recently saw an older client who used to teach driver’s education and was miffed that his wife and doctor had been urging him to stop driving. During the evaluation, he struggled to finish short-term memory tests, including a simple maze and a counting exercise. When Ms. Waugh showed him his results, he finally understood that he posed a safety risk to himself and others on the road.

Have solutions ready.

Although giving up driving is rarely easy, services such as grocery delivery and ride-sharing apps can lessen the inconvenience and offer continued autonomy and independence, Mr. Adams said.

Make a plan for how you will help a retired driver get around. In addition to ride-sharing apps, the experts also mentioned public transportation and car pools, as well as friends and family members who might be able to give rides.

Consider risk-reduction strategies, too, Mr. Adams said. Maybe your partner or parent is safe to drive during the day, but not at night and not on the highway.

Even though older drivers and their family members may be loath to do it, look ahead.

“Make this a part of the conversation early,” said Cheryl Greenberg, who coaches seniors and their families on life transitions and planning in North Carolina. “You know, ‘You’re 60 years old and you’re driving just fine, but Mom, what would you do if the time came and you were less comfortable and less able?’”

All of the experts said that it was important to make space for big emotions around these conversations.

“Be empathic,” Dr. Greenberg said. “Don’t just go in and say, ‘Well, now you’re done driving.’ Listen. Ask questions that might help them be centered in the process.”

Catherine Pearson is a Times reporter who writes about families and relationships. More about Catherine Pearson

A Guide to Aging Well

Looking to grow old gracefully we can help..

Researchers are investigating how our biology changes as we grow older — and whether there are ways to stop it .

You need more than strength to age well — you also need power. Here’s how to measure how much power you have and here’s how to increase yours .

Ignore the hyperbaric chambers and infrared light: These are the evidence-backed secrets to aging well .

Your body’s need for fuel shifts as you get older. Your eating habits should shift , too.

People who think positively about getting older often live longer, healthier lives. These tips can help you reconsider your perspective .

The sun’s rays cause the majority of skin changes as you grow older. Here’s how sunscreen helps prevent the damage .

Joint pain, stiffness and swelling aren’t always inevitable results of aging, experts say. Here’s what you can do to reduce your risk for arthritis .

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Family Guy 's Gary Janetti to Publish New Essay Collection About Adventures Abroad: ‘You’re Welcome’ (Exclusive)

The writer’s latest book delves into his experiences traveling abroad

Benjamin Askinas, Harper

Gary Janetti is reflecting on the ups and downs of travel in a new book. The writer and producer, 58, has shared, exclusively with PEOPLE, that his new essay collection is on the way. We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay will be published this summer by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins. Janetti is taking readers on a romp through his worldwide travels in his latest publication. The writer will reflect on the “absurdity and glory” of his trips abroad, including a transformative stay at an Italian spa taken with his husband, celebrity stylist Brad Goreski , a family cruise on the famous Queen Mary 2 and a memorable dinner with Dame Maggie Smith .

The book will also feature the author’s meditations on places like Australia and Mykonos, as well as his own personal travel tips, like how to pack and get trip updates. Janetti will also dole out his personal restaurant recommendations. Janetti is known for his work as a writer and producer on shows like Family Guy and Will & Grace . His viral Instagram captions, some of which imagined the inner monologues of Royal family members like Prince George , led to the 2021 premiere of his HBO show The Prince .

Janetti published his first essay collection, bestseller Do You Mind If I Cancel? , in 2019. The book detailed his young adulthood in New York, and his time working in a hotel. “It was the first time I was writing personally about myself, as opposed to writing through a character,” Janetti previously told PEOPLE of the book. “You have a bit of a distance — you’re protected by the [characters].” Janetti published his second essay collection, Start Without Me , in 2022.

Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Gett

We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay is poised to make the perfect travel companion, though Janetti says the book will still serve its purpose even if you’re staying home this summer.

"I spent the last year traveling and then wrote a book about it,” he tells PEOPLE of his latest collection. “Now you can go to all those places without having to leave your house. You're welcome."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. We Are Experiencing a Slight Delay will hit bookstores on July 9 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.

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The Journal of Family Studies is a peer-reviewed international journal that aims to develop the understanding of families, households, and relationships in society. The journal takes an inclusive view of families across a range of structures and with consideration of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationality, class, age, and health or disability.
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A family is a group of people who are related by blood or heritage. These people are linked not only by blood but also by compassion, love, and support. A person's character and personality are shaped by his or her family. There are various forms of families in today's society. It is further subdivided into a tight and extended family ...
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40 Marriage and Family Research Topics for any Taste. Parental neglect. Is it enough for a kid to have food, clothes, and shelter to grow up healthy? Divorce and its consequences for all the family members. Minimizing the negative impact of divorce. Toxic and narcissistic parents. Overcoming the trauma of a dysfunctional family.
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Race, class, parenting and children's leisure: children's leisurescapes and parenting cultures in middle-class British Indian families. by Utsa Mukherjee, Bristol, Bristol University Press, 2023, 224 pp., €152.95 (Ebook), ISBN: 9781529219531. Esra Demirkol Colosio.
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For more details on restrictions on religion around the world, read our latest report on the topic, "Globally, Government Restrictions on Religion Reached Peak Levels in 2021, While Social Hostilities Went Down." Note: Government restrictions include laws, policies and actions by authorities that impinge on religious beliefs and practices, while social hostilities involving religion ...
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All of the experts said that it was important to make space for big emotions around these conversations. "Be empathic," Dr. Greenberg said. "Don't just go in and say, 'Well, now you're ...
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Family Studies: Various Approaches Essay (Article)

Works Cited

Article contents

Introduction

Family: Theoretical Perspectives

Family Communication Patterns Theory

Dyadic Power

The Role of Culture in Parenting Socialization of Values

Intercultural Families: Adding Cultural Differences to Interparental Communication

An Example of Intercultural Parenting: The Thai Family

The Case of Hispanic/Latino Families in the United States

Culture and Family Communication: the “so what?” Question

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The Role of Family Influence and Academic Satisfaction on Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Happiness

Namık Ak

Sezer Seçkin Erdem

Mehmet Sinan

Abdullah Erdoğan

1. Introduction

1.1. Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy (CDSE)

1.2. Family Influence and Academic Satisfaction on Career Decision Self-Efficacy

1.3. Family Influence and Academic Satisfaction on Career Decision Self-Efficacy and Happiness

2.1. Study Design, Participants, and Procedure

2.2. Data Analyses

2.3. Measures

2.3.2. Family Influence Scale

2.3.3. Academic Satisfaction

2.3.4. Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale

2.3.5. Happiness Scale

3.1. Descriptive Analyses

3.2. Correlation Analysis

3.3. Regression Analysis

3.4. Mediation Analysis

3.5. Moderation Analysis

4. Discussion

4.1. Effects on Career Decision Self-Efficacy

4.2. Effects on Happiness

4.3. Mediation Effects

4.4. Moderation Effects

5. Limitations of the Study

6. Conclusions and Some Implications

Author Contributions

Institutional Review Board Statement

Informed Consent Statement

Data Availability Statement

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