THE EFFECTS OF LEGAL CHILD-CUSTODY STATUS ON PERSUASION-STRATEGY CHOICES AND COMMUNICATION GOALS OF FATHER

This study investigated the extent to which interparental conflict may be exacerbated by unequal-legal recognition of parental rights and responsibilities. In order to ascertain the effects of legal-custody status on the negotiation behavior of fathers, 90 fathers imagined themselves in one of three randomly assigned hypothetical-custody-status situations. The three situations were designed to manipulate legal-child-custody status: joint-legal-custody status (legal equality), sole-legal-custody status (legal inequality, "overbenefited"), and noncustody (legal inequality, "underbenefited"). The effects of legal-custody status were examined on four communication variables: reward-oriented persuasion strategies, punishment-oriented persuasion strategies, self-interest, and relationship preservation. In addition, the effects of the perceived quality of the actual coparental relationship on reward- and punishment-oriented-persuasion-strategy choices were examined. The questionnaire used for the first part of the study was designed by the researcher. For the second part, differences in connotation between commonly used custody terms were examined by means of the Semantic Differential.;Significant results revealed that sole-legal custody fathers were more likely to use punishment-oriented-persuasion strategies than either joint-legal or noncustody fathers; joint-legal-custody fathers were more interested in preserving the relationship with the other parent when compared to both sole-legal and noncustody fathers, with noncustody fathers showing the least interest in relationship preservation. Joint-legal-custody fathers placed the least importance on the communication goal of self-interest, followed by sole-legal-custody fathers. It was concluded that custody status has the potential to contribute to custody dissatisfaction and conflict. A sole-legal-custody arrangement when compared to a joint-legal-custody arrangement encourages punitive behavior and concern for self-interest, whereas a sole-legal-custody arrangement encourages concern for the relationship and discourages concern for self-interest. Unequal-legal-custody power inhibits, whereas equal-legal-custody power facilitates, interparental cooperation.;For the second part of the study, fathers evaluated the term joint-legal custody almost twice as positive in connotative meaning as the term sole-legal custody. Fathers evaluated the term custodial parent twice as positive as the term noncustodial parent. It was concluded that these custody terms may serve as positive or negative reinforcers and are potential contributors to custody dissatisfaction and conflict. They also may have the power to change the meaning of a negotiation situation through the process of reframing.