Misattributions contributing to empathic (in)accuracy during parent-adolescent conflict discussions

This research examined the content of self-reported thoughts and thoughts attributed to others during video-assisted recall of parent-adolescent conflict discussions. We hypothesized that parents and adolescents tend to frame family conflicts differently and thereby misattribute certain thoughts to one another. Coded thoughts revealed that parents over-attributed negative and avoidance thoughts to adolescents, overlooked admissions by adolescents, and over-attributed agreement to their spouse, relative to the thoughts that others reported for self. Conversely, adolescents over-attributed controlling thoughts to parents. Parents and adolescents focused on different aspects of the discussions, with parents thinking more about interaction processes and adolescents thinking more about content issues. Both seemed to lack meta-awareness of this difference.