Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study is an examination of Black and Hispanic college-age women’s self-reports of their perception of the communication with their mothers and how this communication influenced them. The method used to collect the data for this study was focus group interviews. Results indicated that mothers clearly had topics that they emphasized and those that they did not discuss. Both sets of topics, those discussed the most and least appeared to have influenced the daughters.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In this paper we use a combination of quantitative and qualitative data on 257 mothers' relationships with 742 adult children to explore gender differences in mothers' choices of children as sources of support and closeness. Despite strong theoretical arguments in the literature regarding the priority of the mother-daughter tie over other parent-child combinations, contemporary studies have not provided consistent support for this pattern. We question whether the inconsistent findings regarding the priority of the mother-daughter relationship are the result of the way in which mothers are generally asked about closeness to their children. In contrast to traditional measures that ask parents to rate their closeness to each of their children, we use measures that ask women to choose among their children. Using this method we find a pattern of preference for daughters over sons as sources of emotional support. Further, consistent with feminist perspectives on mothers and daughters, mothers choose daughters on the basis of shared values and gender-specific similarities. Mothers choose sons when they are more similar and more responsive to the parents than are daughters.

Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: The mother-daughter bond is one that is often strong and one that impacts both women in a variety of ways. Communication between mothers and daughters can be joyful as well as plagued with conflict. This paper uses autoethnography to examine the author’s relationship with her own mother. Specifically, this paper investigates the aspects of this mother-daughter relationship that relate to a White daughter in love with a Black man. In this regard, the mother’s discomfort regarding the interracial relationship causes conflict within the mother-daughter communication. Three conversations concerning family introductions, lifetime happiness, and family disappointment will be explored. In each of these stories, conflict is present. Conflict is a component of interpersonal relationships, however, family conflict may have different ramifications (Shantz, & Hobart, 1989). Utilizing theory related to family conflict, this paper examines how the relationship between these two women shifts and communication patterns are changed. Societal attitudes about race and family become important and what seem to be abstract thoughts regarding race in an entire country are now acutely present in the communication of a close mother-daughter interpersonal relationship.

Publication Type: Invited Paper
Abstract: The relationship between single mothers and only daughters is often one of constant closeness. Over time, this relationship may evolve into one of friendship rather than the “traditional” mother-daughter roles. Drawing upon family network theory and family role theory, this paper examines one such relationship utilizing autoethnographic research methods. Focusing on specific instances where this relationship can be seen as one in flux, this paper explores one daughter’s perspective regarding the difference between mother as mother and mother as friend. In particular, I examine several moments of conflict to better understand the benefits and pitfalls behind the mother-friend transition. The mother-daughter relationship affects all women, and therefore deserves to be studied through a myriad of lenses and contexts. This study seeks to address one such context, while creating a space for other mothers and daughters to examine their own relationships.

Publication Type: Session Paper
Abstract: This presentation approaches communication between mothers and their pre-adolescent daughters in India in the context of postcolonialism and modernization. The study examines data resulting from journal entries and interviews of women in a large city and a remote, rural area of India, and discusses the findings of this study in the context of the differences between the West, the colonial world, and the East, the colonized world. The study focuses on mother-daughter conversations about such topics as early marriage, separation of the male and female spheres, and women’s health. The presentation approaches the issues and problems of communication between mothers and preadolescent daughters in connection with the tensions between traditionalism and modernization, between the cast system and the liberal trends in society, and the appeals of the Indian and the Western media.