Youth communication styles within the family and reconciliation attitudes in North Ireland and in Croatia

Two studies, conducted in Northern Ireland (N = 266) and Croatia (N = 261), examined the role of constructive adolescents-parents conflict management styles (CAPCMS) in predicting inter-group reconciliation attitudes. We hypothesized that CAPCMS would be a unique and positive predictor of reconciliation attitudes over and above other common predictors of reconciliation attitudes, such as inter-group contact quantity and quality, and the experience of inter-group conflict. Findings from Study 1 supported this hypothesis. Study 2 replicated these findings in a different cultural context and extended them by examining the robustness of the relationship between CAPCMS and reconciliation attitudes in the presence of an individual difference measure (self-confidence in social interactions). Furthermore, both studies revealed that for adolescents with high CAPCMS the relationships between intergroup contact (quantity & quality) and reconciliation attitudes were more accentuated, and their reconciliation attitudes were less affected by their experience of conflict, relative to those with low CAPCMS.