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The results of a study to investigate whether TV domestic comedies' depictions of gender roles within the family have changed in the past 40 years are presented.

Families as portrayed on television have provided a historical record of gender roles. Though obviously fictional, the families give examples of family interactions, and may be used as an indicator of changing societal attitudes about gender roles within the family. In particular, the domestic situation comedy, or family sitcom, has a rich history of depicting and transmitting American families into viewers' homes. In the years between 1947 and 1990, 85% of families were shown in a comedy format during primetime (Moore, 1992). The number of fictional television series featuring a family as primary story vehicle nearly doubled from 1950 to 1990, with more than half of those shows in each decade falling into the situation comedy category (Skill & Robinson, 1994).

Hough (1981) stated the typical sitcom formula is "establishment, complication, confusion and resolution. . . All shows have a happy or at least upbeat endings" (p. 202). Moore (1992) concluded that family problems "are easily solved and are virtually always handled through humor" (p. 58).

This format has particular ramifications for social learning theory, where viewers may vicariously learn life lessons by viewing models who receive positive rewards for their behaviors (Bandura, 1977). For example, an adolescent female may watch a thirty-minute episode where a character with whom she identifies experiments with alcohol, is caught by her parents, punished, and subsequently forgiven with unconditional love and a corresponding laugh track. While there is a negative component (punishment) in the content, the overall message is one of familial stability and support.

And so plots of this type, encountered in fictional families, are believed to carry with them implicit lessons about family life (i.e. Buck, 1988; Cantor & Cantor, 1982; Greenberg, Hines, Buerkel-Rothfuss & Atkin, 1980; Lull, 1980; Waters, 1978). The family problems, presented with humor and a predictable format, may attract attention and loyalty from viewers while fostering the viewers' likeability of a series and characters. While it may be speculative to draw a conclusion from content to effects for the present study, exposure has been shown to change the way viewers think about real-life families, specifically ideas about marriage, family, and divorce (Brown, Childers, Bauman, & Koch, 1990; Buerkel-Rothfuss & Mayes, 1981; Meadowcroft & Fitzpatrick, 1988).

Gender roles have been one of many changing aspects of family life in the past 40 years (e.g. Lott, 1994; Pieraccini & Scheel, 1995; Schulman, 1995; Steenland, 1995). And while it may be easy to imagine a linear projectile of change in gender roles from "Father Knows Best" to "Roseanne," the relationship between societal changes (and refracted television images) may not be so simple.

A recent poll showed nearly half of registered voters surveyed said "things would be better" if women stayed home and men were the breadwinners (Brownstein, 1995). If national sentiment is returning to more traditional attitudes, domestic comedies may cycle back to the decade of "Family Ties" and "The Cosby Show" and revisit the era of "Father Knows Best."

The family life examined in this study includes the gender role representation in domestic comedy between spouses, children, and families and their subsequent familial satisfaction and stability.

LITERATURE REVIEW

In a review of a study of families on television from 1946-1978, it was noted that as television's symbolic stories change to match economic, social, and ideological changes, the relationship between women and men remains the same (Glennon & Butsch, 1982). Whether the relationships contain parity or inequality has been a matter of debate. Cantor has stated, "Women and men in most series are relatively equal" (Cantor, 1991, p. 214). The genre of domestic comedy has been thought to be founded on male/female conflict while programs set in middle-class families (i.e. "My Three Sons" and "Father Knows Best" and later "The Cosby Show") left the father "unchallenged" as authority figure (Rowe, 1995, p. 81). 1950s sitcoms in particular were considered to portray the "battle of sexes." (Macdonald, 1989).

Others have disagreed and seen less combative depictions. According to Taylor (1989), the 1950s and 1960s were marked as a period of benign domestic comedies like "Father Knows Best" and "My Three Sons." The late 1960s and early 1970s displayed a shift to reflect social changes as content became controversial. In the 1980s an array of family forms grew while at the same time families became more nuclear and traditional as in "The Cosby Show" and "Growing Pains." Conversely, others have noted that network television both reinforces traditional family models and offers programs about non-traditional family life (Skill, Robinson, & Wallace, 1987).

Fathers, it seems, were either ridiculed or rarefied. In an analysis of television families from 1946-1978, stories about families had two themes: a superdad in the 1970s or the inept working class dad of the 1950s and 1960s (Glennon & Butsch, 1982).

Cantor (1990) referred to domestic comedies as "mini-dramas" which tell stories about adolescent or pre-adolescent pranks or parent-child conflicts. There are few marital conflicts, adultery or divorce. "The family is where one goes to find support, help with problems, and solace" (Cantor 1990, p. 283). Television comedies "represent commonly held beliefs about how men and women should act as parents and spouses" (Cantor, 1990, p. 283). The communication between spouses sets the tone for the family (Skill, Wallace, & Cassata, 1990). For example, family communication patterns in "The Cosby Show" and "The Simpsons" were affiliative rather than conflicted with very little spousal interaction in the former and more spousal interaction in the latter. The father in "The Cosby Show" gives most of the information, making the Huxtable spouses conflictual (Larson, 1993).

The portrayal of family roles in television programs may be especially influential for children, based on their limited experience with various family types, level of television exposure, and susceptibility to the influence of role models. Their expectations about their real-life family may be affected by this televised information. Second, sixth, and tenth graders reported approximately half of all real-life families were like those in the family series they watch most often ("The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" were identified with the greatest frequency); and that the emotions of the characters were portrayed realistically (Dorr, Kovaric, & Doubleday, 1990). Children from a sample of fourth, sixth, and eighth graders with higher levels of exposure to television programs with affiliative content believed real-life families were more affiliative (Buerkel-Rothfuss, Greenberg, Atkin, & Neuendorf, 1982).

Sibling interactions have undergone an apparent transformation over the years. Children from 1950s situation comedies "Leave It To Beaver," "Ozzie and Harriet," and "Father Knows Best" interacted less often than children in 1980s programs "The Cosby Show," "Growing Pains," and "Family Ties." However, the 1950s characters were interacting more positively with more conflict found among siblings in the 1980s (Larson, 1991).

In contrast, content analyses have indicated domestic comedies do contain affiliate, positive behaviors. In one analysis from the 1986-87 season, both "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" included more positive than negative behaviors and "Growing Pains" had slightly more negative than positive behaviors (Larson, 1989). The most frequently-occurring acts were labeled as direct services-giving information, negotiating arrangements, bargaining for favors, or threatening actions (Larson, 1989, p. 311). In addition, the interactions of the siblings were more positive than negative except when compared with earlier studies of television siblings. In that comparison more than 42% of the behaviors were negative. Most of the conflict occurred between younger sisters and older brothers. However, conflict may include an inherent ethnic cultural message; in another study, black siblings were more conflictual than white siblings (Greenberg & Neuendorf, 1980). It should be noted that research indicates sitcoms have the highest rate of verbal aggression among prime-time genres (Greenberg, Edison, Korzenny, Fernandez-Collado, & Atkin, 1980).

Given the variety of findings (i.e. conflictual vs. affiliative, inequality vs. equality) a summative look at the family in domestic comedies may provide a comprehensive snapshot, so to speak. This research addresses the question: Have domestic comedies' depictions of gender roles changed in the past 40 years? In order to analyze the affect and power relationships among spouses, children, and families in domestic situation comedies, programs that were in the Nielsen top 20 (McNiel, 1984) and included minor children in the family structure were selected (Table I). A program's cast was considered a family when most of the characters were genetically- or legally-related people (Thomas & Callahan, 1982), and a domestic comedy was a series that routinely focused on family life within a home setting.

The domestic comedies in this study were divided into two distinct chronological groups to facilitate a comparison of earlier programs to more recent programs to determine if gender roles have changed over time. The division was made between "Happy Days" (a domestic comedy which aired from 1974-1984, but essentially was set in the 1950s with many of the story lines reflecting societal mores from the era) and "The Cosby Show" (which entered the Nielson top 20 programs in 1984). "The Cosby Show" has been linked with a shift in familial depictions (Taylor, 1989), and this was taken as further support for the placement of the division line. "Family Ties" debuted two years before "The Cosby Show," but did not enter the Nielsen top 20 until 1984 and therefore was placed with the second set of programs.

HYPOTHESES

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H1: Spouses depicted in television domestic comedies will represent more equality in gender roles in programs aired after 1984. H2: Children depicted in television domestic comedies will represent more equality in gender roles in programs aired after 1984. H3: Families depicted in television domestic comedies will exhibit similar gender role representation between the spouses and between the siblings in programs aired after 1984. H4: Television families exhibiting more equality in gender roles will exhibit more familial satisfaction in programs aired after 1984. H5: Television families exhibiting more equality in gender roles will exhibit more familial stability in programs aired after 1984. (While a prediction is made for Hypotheses 4 and 5, it's possible less contemporary families may be seen as more satisfied or more stable, based on the commonly-perceived "goodness" of the traditional family model (Coontz, 1992; Popenoe, 1993)). H6: Subjects will judge television families who exhibit more equitable gender roles as more similar to their own families than families with less equitable gender roles. H7: Subjects will judge television families who exhibit more equitable gender roles as a more desirable family model than television families with less equitable gender roles.

METHOD

A combination of methods was used to assemble experimental stimuli and assess television families. First, shows were selected for inclusion based on their popularity over time. Second, specific episodes of these programs were shown to subjects who were then asked to make judgments about the families they had seen.

Programs Selected as Stimuli

Annual audience ratings were used from 1950-51 through 1995-96. Ratings for 1950 through 1984 were from McNiel's (1984) reporting of A.C. Nielsen Company figures. The ratings for the remaining years (1984-96) were provided by the A.C. Nielsen Company and related quoted sources ("`Ranks," 1996). Programs occupying the "top 20" for an extended period of time (at least seven years for the majority of programs; see Douglas & Olson, 1995) were considered for inclusion. Fifty shows emerged when these criteria were used. Each show's ratings were tracked across time, producing four distinct "generations" (Douglas & Olson, 1995). Further culling of the sample to exclude television sitcoms with one child or no children left a final set of ten programs. However, two programs in this set-"Make Room for Daddy" and "One Day at a Time"-were not available in syndicated reruns. "Father Knows Best" was substituted for "Make Room for Daddy" due to its commonality in program themes, airing dates ("Make Room for Daddy" debuted in 1953; "Father Knows Best" in 1954), and family structure (although Danny Thomas' wife was written out of the show after three years as having died, his character remarried in the 1957 season (Brooks and Marsh, 1992)). No acceptable substitute could be identified for "One Day at a Time," leaving ten programs for analysis. These programs were (in chronological order of airing): "Father Knows Best" (19541963), "My Three Sons" (1960-1972), "Happy Days" (1974-1984), "The Cosby Show" (1984-1992), "Family Ties" (1982-89), "Roseanne" (1988-), "Family Matters" (1989-), "Growing Pains" (1985-1992), "Home Improvement" (1991-), and "Grace Under Fire" (1993-) (Table I). "My Three Sons" episodes prior to the father's remarriage were excluded in order to depict a two-parent household. "Grace Under Fire" was added to the data set since the initial generations were produced in order to represent a contemporary series with a single parent, based on top 20 Nielsen ratings for 1993-1996.

Episodes from these shows were recorded over a 4-month period. The researchers evaluated the episodes and removed those programs that did not include the entire family, did not occur in present tense (i.e. flashbacks), or were considered to be non-representative of the series. Judges familiar with the series were asked to make judgments on programs from this smaller set using a 7-point scale (7 = extremely typical of the series, 1 = typical of series). The judges were forced to assign ratings that were no less than "typical" allowing for exemplar programs to emerge from the sample. Three episodes were selected from each series, with all episodes receiving a typicality rating of 6.05 or above. The researchers' decision to use three episodes in the experiment was based upon two things: to show enough of the series to reflect family interactions and to avoid fatigue effects created by a longer viewing period.

Subjects. Respondents were 190 females and 75 males enrolled in undergraduate communication courses at a large southwestern university (mean age = 23.7, SD = 4.45). Due to the disproportionate amount of females vs. males in the sample, point-biserial correlations were calculated between gender and each of the (family/children) scale scores as part of the larger project. Just two of the 30 correlations were statistically significant with such relatively low correlations that gender was not included as a mediating variable in subsequent analyses (spousal involvement r = .11 and parent-child formality scores r = .10).

Procedures. Respondents were assigned randomly to groups; each group was assigned randomly to view a specific domestic comedy in one of several viewing classrooms. Pretest questionnaire items included level of general television viewing and situation comedy viewing, their familiarity with the series they were assigned to view, and several demographic items. Participants then watched three taped episodes of the domestic comedy in uninterrupted sequence. Posttest questionnaire items included assessment of the importance of the husband/wife relationship and parent/child relationship to the program, assessment of the likeability of the television family in the program, and the extent to which the family was like their own and if the family was an acceptable model of family life. Other items included the sets of scales pertaining to the relationship between the spouses, siblings, and the relationship between the parents and children.

These measures were assembled similarly to the family descriptions used by Fitzpatrick and Badzinski (1985) and Fitzpatrick and Richie (1994) and tested three aspects of family functions for this analysis: distribution of power and affect (dominance, equality, similarity of function), and family satisfaction and stability (relational satisfaction and relational stability). Respondents were asked to judge statements concerning the television family by selecting from a 7-point bipolar scale (7-strongly agree; 1-strongly disagree) with all items being coded so that higher numbers corresponded to stronger agreement with the statements. The measures of power and affect (dominance, equality, and similarity of function) were taken from Burgoon and Hale's (1987) Relational Assessment Scale and were the primary focus of this analysis (Table II). Measures incorporating centrality of the sibling relationships to the series (.87), spousal relationship to the series (.79) and parent and child relationship to the series (.91), desirability of the television family (.90), similarity of the television family to their own (.83) and enjoyment in viewing the television family (.87) were strongly correlated for the sample (Table III). RESULTS

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The analysis of the equality of the gender roles between the spouses and siblings included a test of the means between the separate measures of similarity, equality, and dominance. Separate ANOVAs used to test if viewing levels or knowledge of the television family varied among programs revealed viewing levels did not differ among groups for weekday viewing (F(9,291) = .69, p > .72), weekend viewing (F(9,284) = .91, p > .51), and number of situation comedies watched per week (F(9,271) = .54, p > .85). However, knowledge of family and centrality of relationships did differ. Familiarity with and knowledge of series differed significantly with program (F(9,296) = 15.26, p < .001, (F(9,297) = 14.61, p < .001), as did number of situation comedies viewed per week (F(9,295) = 10.91, p < .001). The centrality of the spousal relationship (F(9,298) = 6.94, p < .001), sibling relationship (F(9,298) = 11.57, p <.001) and parent and child relationship (F(9,294) = 30.76, p < .001) were used as covariates in subsequent analyses, as were the variables for knowledge, familiarity, and exposure to situation comedies.

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Separate MANCOVAs were employed to test the differences in means among the ten programs, with covariates of centrality of the spousal, sibling, or familial relationship and familiarity with program.

Hypothesis 1 revealed a significant amount of variance in the data for the similarity, equality, and dominance among spouses (Wilks lambda = .36, F (9,279) = 12.60, p < .001). "Father Knows Best," "Happy Days," and "Home Improvement" contained the lowest levels of similarity of function between husbands and wives (Table IV), perhaps supporting a traditional husband-wife relationship as idealized in the 1950s. With the exception of "Home Improvement," spouses in more recent domestic comedies were judged to be more similar than less contemporary domestic comedies. "The Cosby Show" was perceived as portraying the most equality between spouses; "Home Improvement" the least (Table V). Domestic comedies after 1984 were thought to be more equal in gender roles; however, "Home Improvement" again stops the trend.

It was predicted that more contemporary domestic comedies would portray lower levels of dominance. The only considerable differences were found between "Home Improvement" (most dominant) and "Growing Pains" (least dominant) (Table VI). The prediction was not supported. Hypothesis 1 was therefore partially supported. Spouses were more similar in function in later domestic comedies, but did not display more equality or less dominance.

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Hypothesis 2 stated that children (mixed gender siblings) would reflect more similarity and equality and less dominance (Wilks lambda = .49, F (9,277) = 8.22, p < .001). An examination of means indicates programs after 1984 were judged to include more similarity among role functions for siblings ("Family Matters" and "The Cosby Show" in particular) (Table VII). However, equality was variable throughout the time period analyzed, ranging from 3.77 for "Father Knows Best" to 3.15 for "Growing Pains." The levels of dominance did not follow a linear pattern. "Family Ties" contained the highest levels of dominance among siblings and one of its contemporaries-"The Cosby Show"-had the lowest. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 was only partially supported for the similarity of role functions.

The test of Hypothesis 3 (families of more modern television domestic comedies will exhibit similar gender role representation between the spouses and between the siblings) indicated the strongest association among sex role indices controlling again for centrality of parent and child relationship and knowledge of sitcom. Children's scores for dominance and similarity of function were significantly correlated with spousal scores in all of the programs. These findings mimic those inherent in the comparison of means; suggesting a "like father like son; like mother like daughter" scenario of same sex role identification for dominance and similarity (Table VIII). However, the measures for equality were generally not significantly correlated, with the exception of "The Cosby Show," "Family Matters," and "Growing Pains." It appears the gender role-representation was strongest between spouses and siblings in mid-1980s and then diverges again. Hypothesis 3 was not supported. It is important to note that the similar measures used to assess the spousal and sibling relationships may have contributed to the strength of the relationships.

In testing Hypothesis 4-more recent television families with more equality in gender roles will exhibit more familial satisfaction-examination of the means of family satisfaction by program indicated a slight curvilinear pattern. Satisfaction appeared to peak in the 1950s with "Father Knows Best" and again in the mid-1980s with "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" (Table IX).

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The "Family Ties" family appears to be satisfied despite the high levels of dominance judged among the siblings; however, the spouses rank second-highest in equality. This analysis produced a significant effect for spousal equality and family satisfaction and sibling equality and satisfaction; (F(9,283) = 9.40, p < .001). "Roseanne" ranked the lowest in family satisfaction (mean = 4.29) and was significantly lower than any other program according to a tukeyB analysis.

In examining Hypothesis 5-family stability will increase over time as gender roles are more equal-again, "Roseanne"'s ratings for family stability were the lowest; however, this analysis pointed to "Home Improvement" as the second-least stable family (Table X). The pattern again appeared to be curvilinear-family stability approached its peak with "Father Knows Best," "The Cosby Show," "Family Ties," and "Family Matters" (Table IX), while "Father Knows Best" has low marks for equality (F(9,282) = 6.22, p < .001).

Hypothesis 6-subjects will judge television families who exhibit more equitable gender roles as more similar to their own families than families with less equitable gender roles-was supported. "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" were judged to be the most similar to their own families; these two series were among the most equitable in gender roles. The families in "Roseanne" and "Home Improvement" were judged the least similar to their own families (Table X). However, the strength of the difference among means was reduced to a non-significant level with the use of covariates for knowledge and centrality of relationships (F(9,277) = 1.60, p < .12). In spite of this, asking subjects to evaluate programs airing years earlier apparently was not complicated by the nostalgia issue-and supports the premise that family gender roles have changed over time.

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Hypothesis 7-subjects will judge television families who exhibit more equitable gender roles as a more desirable family model than television families with less equitable gender roles-was supported due to high desirability ratings given to "The Cosby Show" and "Family Ties" (Table X). These two programs ranked high in the spousal equality and similarity ratings. "Roseanne" was distinguished as the least desirable family (F(9,277) = 6.99, p < .001). DISCUSSION

Family power and affect includes such things as family rules, and the rights and responsibilities of spouses, parents and children, and siblings. This analysis indicates power and affect in domestic comedies fluctuates over the past 40 years. There is some relationship, however, between equality, similarity and dominance and familial satisfaction and stability. Generally the more similarity, equality, and less dominance displayed in the family the more family functions are seen as stable and satisfying. However, the levels of desirability and similarity rankings reported for the families appear to be related more closely to the rankings of satisfaction and stability than to the gender role measures.

The one definitive idea that this study does support is that equality, similarity, and dominance do not change in a linear pattern over time, as gender roles have transformed. Most of the patterns displayed approached more of a curvilinear design. Given the social climate (e.g. Lott, 1994) one might speculate that changing gender roles might give way to increasing family stability and satisfaction. No true pattern emerges, with the exception of making "Roseanne" the prototype for negativity. "Roseanne" is perceived as less stable, less satisfied, near the lowest in equality among siblings and in the midrange of spouse equality. Previous analyses of programs in this sample (Douglas & Olson, 1995) indicate the parents depicted in "Roseanne" are judged to be the most ineffectual in their ability to socialize the children. In fact, according to the Media Research Center Parents' Guide to Primetime Television Programming, "Roseanne" is an "unacceptable" program because of its attacks on "traditional values and conservative views." (Reuter news service/Variety, 1994). Subjects report "Roseanne" is the least desirable family model and the family least like their own. "Home Improvement" comes in as the next lowest in family stability and similarity to own family-perhaps a reflection of receiving the highest spousal domination score in the sample.

Conversely, these two programs have been singled out as a new breed of both positive and negative sex-role models. As an example, the father/husband in the series "Home Improvement" asks how should he "teach his sons, love and cherish his wife, and find fulfillment in his work" (Walsh, 1995, p. 16). According to Walsh, Tim Taylor (Tim Allen's character) has a concept of masculinity which he is attempting to pass on to his sons. The Taylors have been touted as television's "only well-adjusted family," because the parents respect each other and the children are neither "sullen or neurotic" ("50 great things. . .," 1996, p. 26). On the other hand, Dan Conner, Roseanne Conner's husband in the series, is called a soft man-because he is with a so-called "strong woman" (Walsh, 1995, p. 19). "He seems strong, a hard worker, sensitive and funny, but when it comes to asserting himself in the house, often he disappears, runs, leaving the vital Roseanne to discipline or instruct or nurture" (Walsh, 1995, p. 19).

These observations may have relevance to social learning theory and the gender-role lessons viewers glean from program content. In "Roseanne," the responsibility for emotional well-being of the family is women's work. By becoming uninvolved, Dan Connor avoids unpleasant family interactions. Tim Taylor may be chauvinistic to his wife, she tolerates his behavior, and he is rewarded at the conclusion of the show when he and his wife reach an understanding about this episode's problem (the laughter his comments elicit from the studio audience is another reward). Both of these scenarios carry the potential for modeling and conflict over family roles and responsibilities.

In addition, these portrayals of negativity may be part of the reason critics bemoan the demise of the contemporary American family (Douglas & Olson, 1996). Respondents in this study generally reported not liking these two television families; however, both programs-"Home Improvement" and "Roseanne"-have been in the Nielsen top 20 since their debut. "Home Improvement" was 1st, 3rd, and 7th in the Nielsen ratings for the 1993-94, 1994-95, and 1995-96 seasons, respectively; and "Roseanne" was 4th, 9th and l9th for the same years.

The return to the nuclear and traditional television families noted by Taylor (1989) in the 1980s was supported by the results of this study and may have other important implications to our understanding of the family on television. The somewhat curvilinear pattern marks more satisfaction and stability in the programs popular in that era and in the 1950s-"Father Knows Best." Feuer (1987) has noted that "The Cosby Show" takes us back to the "father-knows-best" world of the 1950s sitcom where there are no class or racial conflicts (Feuer, 1987, p. 130). Another implicit message found here may be that mothers who do not work outside the home ("Father Knows Best," "Happy Days") or appear to spend little time away from home ("The Cosby Show," "Family Ties," "Family Matters") contribute to a stable and satisfied family. This perception could lead to frustration and dissatisfaction when family economic circumstances preclude this arrangement.

Some have noted that the traditional nuclear family marital roleshusband/father as sole breadwinner; wife as stay-at-home mother-have become obsolete (Popenoe, 1993), citing a change from 42% of families in 1960 with a sole breadwinner to 15% by 1988 (Mass Mutual American Family Values Study, 1989). In 1960, nearly 20% of married women with children were in the workforce-that figure had climbed to 59% by 1990 (Wilkie, 1991).

Whatever the case, children appear to model their television parent, extending the equality and similarity they see between their parents to the rest of the family interactions. The single-parent household-the family depicted in "Grace Under Fire"-is not singled out in this study as a family that is less stable or less satisfied than the two-parent model this is often normatively preferred.

One of the limitations of this study may be found in the way in which questions were posed. Measures of dominance among the siblings and between the spouses are included; however, the questions are not specific in which way the dominance flows. For example, siblings may be thought to be dominant. . . but are the older siblings dominant over the younger? Are the female siblings dominant over the males? This is perhaps a finer point on the issue which would provide more information on the viability of specific gender role models.

The study may further be limited by the assumption that the programs used are representative of the time period in which they aired. While there is no definitive answer to this problem, popularity, as reflected in ratings and public attention, may be a surrogate measure of representativeness; and at the very least, these programs do seem to resonate with their audiences. College students comprise the respondents for this study, and as as such, may be bound in their own unique view of the family. People from other age groups and socioeconomic conditions, for example, may give very different responses, based on their own circumstances and family history. Additionally, respondents are being asked to evaluate families created and scripted years earlier, using current standards of equality, dominance, and stability. Ideally, contemporaries of these television families would address these issues while the series originally aired; however, that is beyond the present scope of this project. It appears, though, that the higher rating of desirability for more contemporary families indicates the historical differences were not overlooked. If subjects had reported more desirability of the families in the earlier situation comedies like "Father Knows Best," nostalgia may have been a factor in the evaluations. It is conjectured, however, that the concepts examined here have remained fairly stable in interpersonal relationships.