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Communicative Predictors of Solidarity in the Grandparent-Grandchild Relationship

University of Kansas, harwood{at}ukans.edu

This research examined college students' and their grand-parents' (N= 135 dyads) self-reports of communication behaviors in the grandparent-grandchild (GP-GC) relationship. The research aimed to understand predictors of communication satisfaction, liking, and emotional closeness in the relation-ship from a basis in communication accommodation theory. For grandchildren, predictors included their perceptions of their grandparents' levels of accommodation and overaccommodation to them in interactions, as well as their own levels of accommodative involvement with their grandparents. For grandparents, perceptions of their grandchildren's accommodation to them best predicted solidarity. Neither perceived grandchild overaccommodation nor perceived grandparent underaccommodation were significant predictors in regression analyses, although both were significantly correlated with the criterion measures. Implications of the results for the study of the GP-GC relationship are discussed, and future applications of accommodation theory and intergroup contact theory are suggested.

Key Words: accommodation theory • grandparenting • relational solidarity

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