MOTHERS' COMMENTS ABOUT TV: Relation to Family Communication Patterns

Interview data from a sample of 336 mothers of elementary school children were used to examine the relationship between family communication style (that is, the degree of concept orientation or socio-orientation) and mothers' comments to their children about the content of TV programs. The major findings were as follows: Concept orientation was associated positively with mothers' exploration of moral issues raised by TV programs in discussions with their children (but not with the giving of explicit directives about the implications of these issues for the children's own conduct). Concept orientation was also associated with mothers' use of TV as an occasion for giving their children information about historical, geographic, or scientific details pertinent to a TV program. Finally, concept orientation was associated with mothers' statements to their children that things on TV are just make-believe. Socio-orientation, on the other hand, was associated with mothers' statements to their children that various aspects of TV are true-to-life and, in particular, with maternal confirmations of the reality of TV portrayals of misfortune and evil.