Are stepsiblings bad, stepmothers wicked, and stepfathers evil?: An assessment of Australian stepfamily stereotypes
Judith M Planitz
School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD
Judith A Feeney
Department of Psychology, University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD
PP: 82 - 97
Abstract
Prior research has suggested that stepfamilies are perceived (or stereotyped) negatively in relation to intact families.
The present studies examined contemporary stereotypes of Australian stepfamilies, using participants from stepfamilies and from biological (intact) families. Participants completed a comprehensive set of measures assessing key aspects of family interaction and family functioning (including lay concepts of stepfamilies and biological families, perceptions of conflict behaviour, semantic differentials, perceived satisfaction), to determine the extent of stereotyping.
Quantitative and short-response analyses revealed a persistent negative stereotype of stepfamilies that was shared by members of stepfamilies themselves, and highlighted specific themes that characterise the stereotype.
Results are discussed in terms of dominant theoretical perspectives, and implications for practitioners and those in stepfamilies. These studies address the limited literature on stepfamily stereotypes in Australia.
Keywords
stereotypes, stepfamilies, young adults
Article Text
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2003) Australian Social Trends, 2003, Catalogue 4102.0. Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2006) Australian Social Trends, 2006, Catalogue 4102.0. Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.
Amato PR (1994) The implications of research findings on children in stepfamilies, in Booth A and Dunn JF (eds) Stepfamilies: Who benefits? Who does not? pp.81-87. Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale NJ.
Braun V and Clarke V (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3: 77-101.
Bryan LR, Coleman M, Ganong LH and Bryan SH (1986) Person perception: Family structure as a cue for stereotyping. Journal of Marriage and the Family 48: 169-174.
Cherlin A (1978) Remarriage as an incomplete institution. The American Journal of Sociology 84: 634-650.
Claxton-Oldfield S, Goodyear C, Parsons and Claxton-Oldfield J (2002) Some possible implications of negative stepfather stereotypes. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 36: 77-88.
Claxton-Oldfield S and Voyer S (2001) Young adults' perceptions of stepchildren. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 35: 107-115.
Coakes SJ and Steed LG (2003) SPSS: Analysis without anguish: Version 11.0 for Windows. John Wiley & Sons, Milton QLD.
Coleman M, Ganong LH and Cable SM (1996) Perceptions of stepparents: An examination of the Incomplete Institutionalization and Social Stigma Hypotheses. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage 26: 25-48.
Coleman M, Ganong LH and Fine MA (2000) Reinvestigating remarriage: Another decade of progress. Journal of Marriage and the Family 62: 1288-1307.
Coontz S (1992) The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap. Basic Books, New York.
Cramer D (2005) Effect of the destructive disengagement belief on satisfaction with one's closest friend. Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied 139: 57-66.
Dainton M (1993) The myths and misconceptions of the stepmother identity: Descriptions and prescriptions for identity management. Family Relations 42: 93-98.
Eagly AH (1987) Sex Differences in Social Behaviour: A Social-Role Interpretation. Erlbaum, Hillsdale NJ.
Fine MA (1997) Stepfamilies from a policy perspective: Guidance from the empirical literature. Marriage and Family Review 26: 249-264.
Ganong LH and Coleman M (1994) Adolescent stepchild-stepparent relationships: Changes over time. In Pasley K and Ihinger-Tallman M (eds) Stepparenting: Issues in Theory, Research, and Practice, pp.87-104. Greenwood Press, Westport CT.
Ganong LH and Coleman M (1995) The content of mother stereotypes. Sex Roles 32: 495-512.
Ganong LH and Coleman M (1997) How society views stepfamilies. Marriage and Family Review 26: 85-106.
Ganong LH and Coleman M (1999) Changing Families, Changing Responsibilities: Family Obligations Following Divorce and Remarriage. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah NJ.
Ganong LH and Coleman M (2000) Remarried families, in Hendrick C and Hendrick SS (eds) Close Relationships: A Sourcebook, pp.155-168. Sage, Thousand Oaks CA.
Ganong LH and Coleman M (2004) Stepfamily Relationships: Development, Dynamics, and Interventions. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York.
Ganong LH, Coleman M and Kennedy G (1990) The effects of using alternative labels in denoting stepparent or stepfamily status. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 5: 453-463.
Ganong LH, Coleman M and Mapes D (1990) A meta-analytic review of family structure stereotypes. Journal of Marriage and the Family 52: 287-297.
Martin S (1998) Stepfamilies in Australia: A background paper. Stepfamily Association of Victoria, Melbourne.
McGarty C, Yzerbyt VY and Spears R (2002) Social, cultural and cognitive factors in stereotype information, in McGartty C, Yzerbyt VY and Spears R (eds) Stereotypes as Explanations: The Formation of Meaningful Beliefs About Social Groups, pp.1-15. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK.
Metts S and Cupach WR (1990) The influence of relationship beliefs and problem-solving responses on satisfaction in romantic relationships. Human Communication Research 17: 170-185.
Mikulincer M and Shaver PR (2007) Attachment Patterns in Adulthood: Structure, Dynamics, and Change. Guilford Press, New York.
Noller P and White A (1990) The validity of the Communication Patterns Questionnaire. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2: 478-482.
Oakes PJ, Haslam SA and Turner JC (1994) Stereotyping and Social Reality. Blackwell, Oxford, UK.
Parker G (1983) Parental Overprotection: A Risk Factor in Psychosocial Development. Grune & Stratton, New York.
Parker G, Roussos GP, Hadzi-Pavlovic D, Mitchell P, Wilhelm K and Austin WP (1997) The development of a refined measure of dysfunctional parenting and assessment of its relevance in patients with affective disorders. Psychological Medicine 27: 1193-1203.
Perry-Jenkins M, Pierce CP and Goldberg AE (2003) Discourses on diapers and dirty laundry: Family communication about child care and housework, in Vangelisti AL (ed) Handbook of Family Communication, pp.541-561. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah NJ.
Planitz JM, Feeney JA and Peterson CC (2009). Young adults' attachment patterns in stepfamilies and biological families. Journal of Family Studies 15(1): 67-81.
Riggio HR (2004) Parental marital conflict and divorce, parent-child relationships, social support, and relationship anxiety in young children. Personal Relationships 11: 99-114.
Salwen LV (1990) The myth of the wicked stepmother. Women and Therapy. Special motherhood: A feminist perspective 10: 117-125.
Schneider DJ (2004) The Psychology of Stereotyping. Guilford Press, New York.
Srivastava S, McGonigal KM, Richards JM, Butler EA and Gross JJ (2006) Optimism in close relationships: How seeing things in a positive light makes them so. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91: 143-153.
Sillars A, Leonard KE, Roberts LJ and Dun T (2002) Cognition and communication during marital conflict: How alcohol affects subjective coding of interaction in aggressive and nonaggressive couples, in Noller P and Feeney J (eds) Understanding Marriage: Developments in the Study of Couple Interaction, pp.85-112. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge UK.
Stangor C and Schaller M (2000) Stereotypes as individual and collective representations, in Stangor C (ed) Stereotypes and Prejudice, pp.64-82. Psychology Press, Philadelphia PA.
Terracciano A, Abdel-Khalek AM, Adam N, Adamovova L, Ahn CK, Ahn HN et al (2005) National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures. Science 310: 96-100.
Troth A and Peterson CC (2000) Factors predicting safe-sex talk and condom use in early sexual relationships. Health Communication 12: 195-218.
Visher EB, Visher JS and Pasley K (2003) Remarriage families and stepparenting, in Walsh F (ed) Normal Family Processes: Growing Diversity and Complexity 3rd edn, pp.153-175. Guilford Press, New York.
eContent Home
