Date of Graduation

1999

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MA

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Communication Studies

Committee Chair

Matthew M. Martin

Committee Member

Robert A. Barraclough

Committee Member

James C. McCroskey

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between father and son when the father employed verbally aggressive strategies. Further, this study examined the level of affect that the son would have toward their father when such strategies were employed. Finally, this study was designed to examine the compliance level of sons toward their father when verbal aggression was present in their relationship. This study included 162 participants from a large Mid-Atlantic University. The results showed that fathers will gain less compliance from their college-aged sons using verbally aggressive messages. Furthermore, sons will not have a positive affect towards their father when verbal aggression is present in their relationship. Finally, zero of the ten verbally aggressive messages were considered successful ways to gain compliance in the father-son relationship. This study concludes that verbal aggression is not a successful tactic to be employed when attempting to gain the compliance of a college-aged male. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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