Beyond Jungle Fever: an Exploratory Study of Interracial Couples' Communication Patterns

Date of Graduation

Spring 1994

Degree

Master of Arts in Communication

Department

Communication

Committee Chair

Charlene Berquist

Abstract

This thesis is an exploratory study of African American/Anglo interracial couples and how they incorporate communication strategies to define themselves, interact with society, and manage relationships with family, peers, and strangers. As the bulk of interracial literature focuses on quantitative data, this research was conducted using a qualitative research design. Interracial couples were contacted and interviewed separately for this study. Analysis of the data reveals that interracial couples are not significantly different than same-race couples; however, several themes which emerged from the results suggest that these families do have several concerns which are unique to their union. The interracial familial system is a tight-knit group which relies on the familial system for support and specific communication strategies such as humor, anger, protection, and prepping to adjust to their environment.

Subject Categories

Communication

Copyright

© Jean Michelle Rebollo

Citation-only

Dissertation/Thesis

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