Egocentrism and Inefficiency in the Communication of Families Containing Schizophrenic Members

Abstract

Conceptual and methodological shortcomings of research on family and interactional psychopathology are owing mainly to the use of vague and ill-defined concepts of communication. Based on a theory of language use and communication within general social and cognitive psychology (e.g., Heider, Mead, Piaget, Rometvet) Blakar has outlined a methodology by which interaction is analyzed in terms of how and to what extent the participants (families) manage or fail to cope with the various prerequisites for successful communication under varying situational conditions. A study illustrating this program is presented: The interaction of twelve families, six with (Group S) and six without (Group N) a schizophrenic member, is analyzed in Blakar's communication conflict situation with respect to the members' ability to decenter and take the perspective of each other. Group S proved significantly more egocentric, their egocentric attitudes resulting, as would be expected, in very inefficient communication. Moreover, Group S were not able to adapt their pattern of communication to the changing situational requirements. Finally, the subtle interplay between the capacities and behavior of the individual members and the family system is illustrated: the egocentrism of the members resulted in "closed systems," and the closed systems hindered adequate feedback, forcing the members to decenter.

Confirmatory and disconfirmatory feedback in families of schizophrenics, pathological controls and normals

“…The stabile results across situations EUccM) were also similar to previous findings (1,2, 17, 37, 51), hence also supporting the construct validity of CONDIS. Egocentrism in S parents in a simple collaborative situation and acceleration of differences between groups when conflicts are provoked confirms the finding of Blakar et al (52) with new methods.…”

Communication Deviances and Clarity Among the Mothers of Normally Achieving and Learning‐Disabled Boys.

“…Poorer parental communication quality may, for instance, stem from the anxiety that parents experience if they think that their own child is suffering from the same kind of difficulties that they had in childhood. Another explanation would be related to the notion of "parental egocentricity," in which the parent is unable to take the child's perspective and to orient communications to the child accordingly (Mossige, Pettersen & Blakar, 1979;Rund, 1986).…”

Communication Deviances in Parents of Schizophrenics

“…The scoring manual for the CCS used in the present study was inspired by cognitive theories developed by Piaget (28 28), Rommetveit (30, 31), and Neisser (25, 26). The empirical basis can be found in earlier studies of communication patterns in schizophrenics' families, primarily research conducted at the University of Oslo (6, 8, 23, 32, 45), but also in Singer and Wynne's communication deviance studies (37, 39).…”