The present study uses family communication patterns (FCP), expectancy violations theory (EVT), and conflict strategies as theoretical frameworks to predict how emerging adult children will enter and respond to conflict with their parent. Participants (N = 423) completed an experimental survey and were randomly assigned to a parental condition. Message components were, first, assessed to see how the child would enter the conflict situation with their parent. Then, participants were randomly assigned to a conflict strategy message from their parent (i.e., constructive, destructive, or avoidant). Finally, participants rated messages as to their likelihood of using that conflict strategy message to respond to their parent. Results revealed high conversation orientation positively predicted the initial use of constructive conflict strategies and negatively predicted the initial use of avoidant conflict strategies. High conformity orientation positively predicted the initial use of destructive and avoidant strategies, while negatively predicting the initial use of constructive conflict strategies. FCP dimensions' ability to predict responding conflict strategies were not as consistent as for initial conflict strategies, and the interactions between the two dimensions of FCP (conversation and conformity orientation) were also analyzed. Four significant interactions emerged. In terms of EVT, highly negatively-valenced violations predicted the likelihood of a child responding destructively or avoidantly, whereas highly positively-valenced violations predicted the likelihood of a child responding constructively. Moderated moderation analyses revealed several three-way interactions between the FCP dimensions, degree of unexpectedness, and the valence of the violation on responding conflict strategies.
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