Exploring family conflict style as a correlate of commitment to the family of origin

Abstract

The present exploratory study examines family conflict style as a correlate of commitment to the family of origin in a one-stage random cluster sample of 200 university students between the ages of 18 and 25. The hypothesis rests on the theoretical assumption that family climate factors, such as conflict, influences commitment to the family of origin. I argue that family conflict style (adaptive or maladaptive) is associated with the level of commitment to the family of origin. Surveys are utilised to collect data in the present study which includes two scales, namely the Family Conflict Style Scale (FCS) and the Family Commitment Scale (FC). The Family Commitment Scale (FC) is an adaptation of Rusbult’s (1998) Investment Model Commitment scale and the Family Conflict Scale (FCS) is a new scale that was constructed for the purpose of the present study, derived from Gottman’s (1993) definitions of couple conflict styles, in order to examine conflict styles within a family and to examine the correlations to see whether family conflict style can be associated with commitment. The Family Resilience Framework (Walsh, 2003) and the Marital Spillover Hypothesis (Gerard, Krishnakumar & Buehler, 2009) guides the present study in better understanding how the constructs marital conflict style and commitment can also be viewed as systemic variables influencing the entire family. Results revealed that all correlations between conflict styles and commitment to the family of origin were found to be significant at the -.01 level. Findings support the value in exploring family conflict style in relation to commitment to the family of origin and, for the current sample, suggest that a more adaptive conflict style positively relates to the level of commitment whereas a maladaptive conflict style negatively relates to the level of commitment to the family of origin.