In response to a recent explosion of media attention to so-called Generation X, the authors investigated youngpeoples'responses to media constructions of this generational category label. Twenty-six volunteers aged 19-23 participated in six audiotaped focus group discussions A discourse analytic perspective enables the authors to explore how these young participants worked together to negotiate their generational identity and their position in the life span vis-a-vis other generational groups. The respondents' talk uses personal accounts to reject the negative media stereotypes of Generation X, yet reveals that the media may be one of the defining characteristics of their generational identity. The analysis also reveals themes of out-group denigration and blame, which are interpreted as indicative of the intergroup processes triggered when groups are identified and made salient.
Research into the older adult sibling relationship has only recently recognized and attempted to account for differential feelings of closeness between siblings throughout their lives. Sixty-one participants, aged fifty-four and older with at least two siblings, were interviewed concerning the degree of closeness they felt towards their siblings. Participants in this investigation were able to differentiate levels of closeness felt toward their siblings and account for these differences. Family systems theory serves as a guide for these accounts.
This research examined spouses' understanding of their partners and the relation of understanding to the amount of communication in marriage. The results showed that spouses overestimated agreement with their partners; therefore, understanding scores were low after response similarity (i.e. agreement) was factored out. Reported communication had a complex relation to understanding. Communication had a slight positive association with wives' understanding of husbands' instrumental perceptions and a negative association with wives' understanding of companionate perceptions. Communication was not associated with husbands' understanding scores. The results partly supported previous research in which communication had a stronger relation to understanding of instrumental perceptions than to understanding of abstract, relational (i.e. companionate) perceptions.
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