Difficult Conversations Concerning Identity and Difference: Diverse Approaches and Perspectives

This essay is an introduction to the special issue on “Difficult Conversations Concerning Identity and Difference.” The essay begins with our argument that inquiries into difficult conversations are important as these interactions are key to addressing social inequities, creating and/or maintaining community and relational solidarity, amplifying voices of marginalized populations and/or diverse experiences, and enacting social change. Following this, we introduce the articles in the special issue highlighting the theoretical frameworks and methodological pluralism across the various relational and social contexts represented in the research (e.g., health care, higher education, community organizations, personal relationships). To complement the implications discussed by the authors in the special issue articles, we conclude the essay with additional questions that scholars and practitioners should consider as we move forward in research, teaching, and translational work on difficult conversations

Communicative Responses to the Painful Self-Disclosures of Familial and Non-Familial Older Adults

Data from 365 college students were used to assess young adults’ communicative responses to older persons’ painful self-disclosures (PSDs). Coupland, Coupland, and Giles (1991) proposed that recipients of PSD may respond to such disclosures via a variety of “next moves.” These responses may broadly be considered to reflect forms of prosocial engagement, passive disengagement, and active disengagement. We investigated whether young adults’ tendency to use certain responses to PSD were influenced by their affective reactions to PSD, their communicative background and characteristics, and the socio-relational context of the encounter in which PSD occurred. Results are discussed with respect to their implications for intergenerational interaction, and interpreted through the lens of communication accommodation theory

Parental Socialization of Ethnic Identity: Perspectives from Multiethnic Adults

Participants (N = 113) who indicated that their parents had different ethnic or racial backgrounds provided retrospective accounts of parental messages they perceived as influential in the development of their ethnic identity. Three themes of parental messages concerning ethnic identity emerged from the participants’ responses: (a) parental messages of encouragement/egalitarianism, (b) parental messages of preference, and (c) lack of explicit parental messages/silence. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding multiethnic identity development, and future directions for research are put forth

A Communication-Based Approach to Adoptive Identity: Theoretical and Empirical Support

The current study uses structural equation modeling to examine adoptive parent communication as it relates to adoptee adjustment directly and indirectly through adoptive identity. Using retrospective accounts of 179 adult adoptees, findings indicate that both adoption- (adoption communication openness) and non-adoption-related (parental confirmation and affectionate communication) parental communication are related to adoptive identity work and positive affect about adoption and birth parents. Preoccupation mediates the relationship between parental communication and adoptee adjustment. The current study integrates research and theorizing from identity, adoption, and communication literatures to develop a communication-centered conceptual model of adoptive identity development to inform future adoption research and practice

Reviewing Family Communication Scholarship: Toward a Framework for Conceptualizing a Communicative Perspective on Family Identity

In this manuscript we review multiple approaches to family communication research, and provide directions for future research as they relate to family culture. Specifically, we review family communication research that is either explicitly or implicitly tied to family culture. Given the importance of families and understanding the first social group that individuals often belong to, it is necessary to synthesize programs of research related to family culture. Thus, in order to further the progression of family research we provide an overview of where current research on family communication converges, present additional factors for family scholars to include in their work, and conclude with suggestions for scholarship that builds on and integrates existing research

(Re)Conceptualizing Intercultural Communication in a Networked Society

We offer four theses about how intercultural communication is altered in a digitally networked era. Digital media shape intercultural communication by (1) producing new public fora capable of (2) hosting rich, multimodal ‘‘spaces’’ of contact on (3) a scale of many-to-many communication that (4) challenges traditional modes of representatio

Face Needs, Intragroup Status, and Women’s Reactions to Socially Aggressive Face Threats

Given the potential negative consequences of being a recipient of such behavior, the role of positive face needs, intragroup status, and the face-threatening nature of social aggression in predicting cor-relates of negative affect experienced as a result of being a target of SAFTs, including the face threat of the response, forgiveness, and well-being was investigated. On the basis of the survey responses from 199 college-aged women, findings indicated that targets’ positive face needs and intragroup status are directly and indirectly associated with forgiveness and overall well-being. Implications for these findings in relation to theorizing about face and intragroup identity as well as limitations and suggestions for future research are provided

Parental Socialization of Ethnic Identity: Perspectives from Multiethnic Adults

Participants (N = 113) who indicated that their parents had different ethnic or racial backgrounds provided retrospective accounts of parental messages they perceived as influential in the development of their ethnic identity. Three themes of parental messages concerning ethnic identity emerged from the participants’ responses: (a) parental messages of encouragement/egalitarianism, (b) parental messages of preference, and (c) lack of explicit parental messages/silence. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding multiethnic identity development, and future directions for research are put forth

Critical incidents in the development of (multi)ethnic-racial identity: Experiences of individuals with mixed ethnic-racial backgrounds in the U.S.

Secure ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is tied to well-being, especially for minority individuals; however, there is still little consensus on the key processes and optimal outcomes of various multiethnic-racial (ME-R; i.e., individuals with parents from different ethnic-racial groups) identity development models. In this study, we examine the critical incidents in personal and social relationships that are central to ME-R identity development. Twentynine ME-R individuals provided retrospective accounts of incidents and conversations they self-perceived to be critical to their ERI development. Four major themes emerged: incidents and conversations surrounding intergroup contact, confrontation, heritage, and appearance were all recalled as critical to ME-R identity development. These findings highlight the importance of studying the ways that ERI is constituted through interaction with others. Implications and directions for future research are discussed