Study of Relationship between Family Communication Orientation and Decision Making: The Mediating Role of Identity Statues

AbstractDecision making is regarded as cognitive process of selecting an a option among several possible alternatives. This study in framework of a causal model, investigated the personal and social antecedents of decision making styles, in which family communication orientations were considered as exogenous variable, identity status as the mediating variable and decision making styles as the endogenous variable. 340 male and female students in Shiraz University were, selected using random multi-stage cluster sampling method, among colleges of Shiraz University, and responded Family Communication Patterns Scale, the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status and General Decision Making Style Scale. For investigate propositional model was used of path analysis method. Bootstrapping method was used to examine the mediating role of the variables in Amos software. Results showed that family conversation was positive predictor of the rational decision making style and negative predictor of avoidant decision making style and positive predictors of achieved identity status. In addition, achievement, moratorium and foreclosure status have mediated role between relationships of family communication patterns with decision making style. In general, it can be said that with the increase of successful identity, rational decision-making increases and avoidance decision-making decreases, and also with the increase of early identity, avoidance and instantaneous decision-making increase.