Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Experience And Expression Of Emotion Within Stepsibling Relationships: Politeness Of Expression And Stepfamily Functioning, Emily Lamb Normand

Faculty Scholarship – Communication

While scholars agree there are emotional challenges associated with the divorce and remarriage process, little is known about how stepsiblings interact and manage the experience and expression of emotion within their stepfamily. The current investigation examined the frequency of experience, intensity, and expression of positive, strong negative, and weak negative emotion within stepsibling relationships over time. Using Politeness Theory as a framework, the study also investigated if an association existed between stepsiblings' use of politeness strategies during the expression of emotion and stepsiblings' perception of the quality of their relationship and their perception of the entire stepfamily. Participants were 187 …