- To promote future oriented managerial processes:
With increasing economic abundance and technological advancements, families in the future will be faced not only with more complex choices but also with the necessity to consider the long-term consequences of their decisions. The processes of goal setting and long-term planning in relation to those goals will become more important in the lives of families; skills in these areas will need to be developed. New attitudes related to the value of anticipating the future with some degree of realism will also need to be developed.
- To keep family moving on its day-to-day courses:
This appears to be a good description of day-to-day household managerial activities. The daily activities and timing are similar enough so that routine procedures can be developed and utilized by family members. However, no day is exactly like another, variations being caused by unexpected events or by events planned by the family. These variations may affect one family member or the entire family; eventually what happens to one family member will probably affect in some way every other member.
Communication which takes place between families and their household help and/ or persons representing institutions in the near environment is also important in daily management. The effects of different styles of communication employed by representatives of families in their transactions with persons and groups outside the family can only be hypothesized at this time.
- To foster family interaction:
The fostering of satisfying types of interaction among family members is a goal probably held by many families even though they may not be conscious of it. The assumption underlying the following discussion is that the communication which occurs among family members in the course of their performance of managerial activities for the household will contribute to their general goal of improved interaction.
- To exchange information and understanding among adults:
Information concerning family decisions has tended to center around spousal roles and the degree of influence each exerted on the decision. The amount of talking and the types of verbal contributions have also been recorded.
Household work would appear to be an area which could provide communication time not only for husbands and wives but also for other adult household members.
- To promote training and socialization of children
From the beginning of time parents have puzzled over effective ways to teach their children to perform household managerial tasks and the amount of guidance to offer or the amount of independence to allow for different tasks. Nichols and Berger indicated that this may differ according to the task. Teenage girls who had little experience with money management indicated a desire for guidance in that task. Those who volunteered to do laundry had more favorable attitudes toward that task than those who were asked to perform it. It should be noted that the girls expressed a desire to have companionship while performing the laundry task.
The communication tactics utilized by parents as they seek to train their children for managerial skills are relatively unknown. The potential of managerial activities as a teaching medium may not be fully recognized or utilized by parents.
Participants