CHANGING MARITAL AND FAMILY PATTERNS - A TEST OF THE POSTMODERN PERSPECTIVE

Four central constructs of the post-modern perspective are extended an d tested using secondary analysis of Census data and the NORC General Social Survey: 1972-94 data sets. The modified postmodern themes of: ( 1) the decline of a single universal family organizational standard, a nd (2) growing cultural diversity, which is seen as legitimate-diversi ty which is increasingly based upon affectivity and achievement emanat ing from an emphases on relationship cooperation, friendship, individu al choice and expressive communications, were supported by examining c hanges in American family structure, attitudes toward such structural changes, and changing attitudes toward marital and family patterns ove r the last quarter century. However, little support was found for the greater use of and reliance on, (3) the mass media. Mixed results were found on the fourth construct, greater variance in, and/or loss of, p ersonal happiness or personal or family life satisfaction. Possible ex planations for these findings are discussed. Given the growing importa nce and acceptance of organizational and cultural diversity, future st udies of family structure and processes may profit from move narrowly defined localized and pragmatic parameters of finely delimited social aggregates. Such studies are more consistent with the realities of con temporary American social organization and cultural values of family l ife, the behaviors and attitudes of Americans, and the modified post-m odern perspective.