Karen Zeller, News and Information Service
304-293-5520
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Matt Martin, Assistant Communications Studies Prof.
304-293-3905, ext. 161
[email protected]
MORGANTOWN. W.Va.--The next time your ticket for a parking violation turns into a citation for disorderly conduct because you yelled at the policeman, you may just have your mother to blame.
A recent study, published in the Western Journal of Communication, by a West Virginia University assistant communications professor suggests that sons and daughters pattern their aggressive verbal styles after their mothers.
Titled Aggressive Communication Traits: How Similar are Young Adults and their Parents in Argumentativeness, Assertiveness and Verbal Aggression, Dr. Martin's study compares three traits in mothers, fathers and children: argumentativeness, assertiveness, and verbal aggressiveness.
What he and co-author Carolyn Anderson, an assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Akron, found was striking.
"We discovered similarities exist between mothers and their sons and daughters for all three traits," Martin said. "But no significant relationships between fathers and their sons and daughters for the traits were found."
Reason for the correlation? Martin thinks people learn about what they're most exposed to.
"People learn behaviors and communication strategies from others in their environment," he said. "And overall, mothers spend more time with children than fathers, so it make sense that children will learn basic communication styles from the person with whom they spend the most time."
In determining that children model their mother's aggressive traits, the researchers polled 160 college students approximately 20 years-old (78 daughters and 82 sons) and their mothers and fathers on their perceived levels argumentativeness, assertiveness and verbal aggression.
Martin, one of several national experts in communication studies, also has done much research in other areas of how people communicate.
He has been published extensively in professional journals for his research, which includes finding a link between cajoled adolescents and poor self esteem and classroom performance. He also has studied the relationship between assertive communicators and argumentativeness.
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