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Communication Education

ISSN: 0363-4523 (Print) 1479-5795 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rced20

“If You Can Dream It, You Can Achieve It.” Parent Memorable Messages as Indicators of College Student Success

Haley Kranstuber , Kristen Carr & Angela M. Hosek

To cite this article: Haley Kranstuber , Kristen Carr & Angela M. Hosek (2012) “If You Can Dream It, You Can Achieve It.” Parent Memorable Messages as Indicators of College Student Success, Communication Education, 61:1, 44-66, DOI: 10.1080/03634523.2011.620617

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2011.620617

Published online: 09 Dec 2011.

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‘‘If You Can Dream It, You Can Achieve It.’’ Parent Memorable Messages as Indicators of College Student Success Haley Kranstuber, Kristen Carr & Angela M. Hosek

This study investigated various aspects of parents’ memorable messages about college as

they relate to indicators of college student success. Findings revealed that parents’

memorable messages about college focused on working (and playing) hard, the necessity

of attending college, providing encouragement and support, and general advice based on

parents’ own experiences. Although these message themes were not uniquely predictive of

college student success, the students’ perceptions of message and sender characteristics

emerged as significant predictors of cognitive learning indicators, learner empowerment,

college motivation, and satisfaction with college. Theoretical and practical implications

for findings are discussed.

Keywords: Parent communication; Memorable messages; College student success

Most Americans agree that obtaining a college education is a necessity for success

(Immerwahr, Johnson, Ott, & Rochkind, 2010), and research supports this

contention (e.g., Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011). However, despite the benefits of

college graduation, 30% of college students drop out in their first year, and 56% do

not complete their degrees (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2008).

The disparity between the importance of college success and the rates of achievement

is staggering, making research on the various factors that contribute to success in

college both important and timely.

Haley Kranstuber (M.A., Miami University, 2008) and Kristen Carr (M.S., Texas Christian University, 2009) are

a doctoral students in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and

Angela M. Hosek (Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2011) is a faculty member in the Department of

Communication Studies at Emerson College. The authors would like to thank Bill Seiler and Jenn Anderson

for their counsel on the manuscript as well as Colleen Colaner and Sai Sato Mumm for their assistance in

coding the data. All correspondence should be directed to the first author at: Department of Communication

Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 433 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0329, [email protected]

huskers.unl.edu.

ISSN 0363-4523 (print)/ISSN 1479-5795 (online) # 2012 National Communication Association

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2011.620617

Communication Education

Vol. 61, No. 1, January 2012, pp. 44�66

Instructional communication researchers have developed a large body of literature

to better understand the factors associated with college student success, including

teacher immediacy (Frymier, 1994), student motivation (Christophel, 1990), teaching

methods (Muddiman & Frymier, 2009) and affinity-seeking (Frymier & Wanzer,

2006). Although this knowledge is important, we are less aware of the outside factors

influencing students’ success, such as communication in the family. Students enter

the classroom with a wide range of experiences and perspectives, and researchers

must acknowledge and seek to understand these influences (Sprague, 1992, 2002).

Thus, we turn to one of the most influential sources of a person’s understanding of

the world�the family.

Researchers have found a direct relationship between family characteristics (e.g.,

race, socioeconomic status, parent education) and rates of college graduation (NCES,

2001), yet these are not the only familial factors with the potential to influence

students’ college success. Family demographic information fails to account for the

communicative processes that occur within families; indeed, numerous researchers

point to the vital role that parents’ behaviors play in fostering children’s academic

success (Alwin & Thornton, 1984; Dauber & Epstein, 1993; Smith & Butler Ellis,

2001). Parents are highly influential in children’s education decisions (Grolnick &

Slowiaczek, 1994; Hoover-Dempsey & Sander, 1995) and attitudes toward school

(Dauber & Epstein, 1993). The messages that parents provide to their children

influence values, perspectives, and behaviors throughout their children’s lifetime

(Knapp, Stohl, & Reardon, 1981; Smith & Butler Ellis, 2001). College students receive

advice about navigating college from family members (including parents), academic

personnel, friends, and the media (Nanzione, Laplante, Smith, Cornacchione, Russell,

& Stohl, 2001), and overall messages students receive from important others are

predictive of their success in school (Cauce, Hannan, & Sargeant, 1992).

Although research has shown that parental behaviors are predictive of children’s

academic success and that parents provide memorable messages to their children

about college, the relationship between specific parent messages and college student

success remains unclear. Thus, the purpose of this study was to understand how

students make sense of the messages they receive from their parents about the college

experience and how, if at all, those messages predict outcomes of college success.

To accomplish this goal, we first explored the ways in which parents can use

memorable messages to aid students’ sense-making about college.

Influence of Family Socialization Through Memorable Messages

Family communication helps to construct and enforce family and individual

identities (Galvin, 2003; Stone, 1988), provides ‘‘social knowledge’’ that guides

individuals’ decisions, and perpetuates this social knowledge from one generation to

the next (Medved, Brogan, McClanahan, Morris, & Shepherd, 2006). Because this

process is both mutual and continual, social roles are not simply defined and fulfilled;

rather, they are coconstructed through family communication (e.g., Fitzpatrick &

Memorable Messages and Student Success 45

Caughlin, 2002). Although family socialization can occur between various family

members, one of the most influential socializing relationships exists between parents

and children (Smith & Butler Ellis, 2001). A significant body of research depicts the

ways in which parents socialize their children toward particular worldviews through

shaping their orientation toward life activities such as work and organizations

(e.g., Lucas, 2011; Medved et al., 2006). Although socialization occurs in a variety of

ways, one of the most common and influential means is through direct commu-

nication between parents and children (Vangelisti, Crumley & Baker, 1999).

Therefore, it is important to examine how parents’ messages about college help

students make sense of their lives. One type of enduring socialization exists in

memorable messages children receive from their parents.

Memorable messages and college success. In their foundational work on memorable

messages, Knapp et al. (1981) conceptualized memorable messages as verbal messages

that people remember, hear relatively early in life, and consider influential in some

way. People reported receiving these messages at critical, important, and/or confusing

times in their life, often when they were seeking guidance in order to make sense of a

situation. Memorable messages may be acted on in the moment, but are usually

remembered and ‘‘pulled forward’’ for sense-making, particularly in transitional

and confusing moments in one’s life (Medved et al., 2006). Family memorable

messages have been identified as influential to individuals’ relational worldviews

(Knapp et al., 1981), body image satisfaction (Catlett & Koenig Kellas, Koenig Kellas,

2009), views on aging (Holladay, 2002), and education and careers (Knapp

et al., 1981; Medved et al., 2006; Nanzione et al., 2001). Several studies have found

that families deliver explicit memorable messages to their children about their future

careers (Lucas, 2011; Medved et al., 2006), and impact individuals’ career decisions

when entering college (Lucas, 2011; Nanzione et al., 2001). College students have

indicated that the majority of their memorable messages about college came from

their parents, and they perceived these memorable messages as an important

influence to their behavior (Nanzione et al., 2001). However, scholars have not yet

examined the impact of these messages on college success.

Given that memorable messages are often invoked at times of decision-making and

sense-making (Knapp et al., 1981; Medved et al., 2006), students may recall these

messages during college, which is a transitional and often difficult time in life (Eckel,

1994; Nanzione et al., 2001). Understanding the connection between memorable

messages, sense-making, and college success may illuminate the complexities of

students’ sense-making and behaviors that impact their success in college. We began

our investigation of the influence of parental memorable messages on college success

by seeking to determine the nature of the messages students receive from their

parents about college. Thus, we posed the following research question:

RQ: What types of memorable messages about college do students receive from their

parents?

46 H. Kranstuber et al.

In addition to identifying the types of messages students receive that help them make

sense of the college experience, it is important to understand how these messages

influence student success. There is increasing recognition that ‘‘both school and home

are important institutions that socialize and educate children’’ (Grolnick & Slowiaczek,

1994, p. 237). Researchers have demonstrated the centrality of family demographic

characteristics and parental involvement in predicting students’ academic achieve-

ment; yet they have largely neglected to highlight the ways in which communication in

the family account for students’ academic success. Parental involvement has been

found to be predictive of academic achievement in children (Chen, Yu, & Chang, 2007;

Cutrona, Cole, Colangelo, Assouline, & Russell, 1994; McKay, Atkins, Hawkins, Brown,

& Lynn, 2003); and children, regardless of grade level, are more successful academically

when their parents are involved in their education (Dauber & Epstein, 1993; Desmione,

1999; Griffith, 1996; Thorkildsen & Stein, 1998).

Likewise, instructional communication scholars have largely focused on the impact

of teacher communication behaviors on college student success. Because much of this

research has been conducted within the realm of the teacher�student interpersonal

relationship, these findings may inform our investigation as to how the parent�student

relationship influences college student success. Namely, many instructional researchers

argue that the teacher�student relationship can be seen as an interpersonal relation-

ship (e.g., Docan-Morgan & Manusov, 2009; Frymier & Houser, 2000; Hosek &

Thompson, 2009), and like other interpersonal relationships (e.g., parent�child), it is

characterized by mutual influence (Mottet, Martin, & Myers, 2004). Teacher

communication behaviors have been shown to influence student learning, feelings

of satisfaction, motivation, and empowerment (e.g., Chesebro & McCroskey, 2000;

Frymier & Thompson, 1992; Frymier & Wanzer, 2006; Morgan & Shim, 1990).

Similarly, parental behaviors also influence child decisions and behaviors regarding

their education (e.g., Dauber & Epstein, 1993). Thus, given the relationship between

parental behaviors and academic success, it seems clear that parental memorable

messages about college will likely influence indicators of college success.

Communication Behaviors Comprising College Student Success

Typically, studies conceptualize ‘‘success’’ using single measures such as grade

point average (GPA; e.g., McCroskey, Booth-Butterfield & Payne, 1989) or college

graduation (McCroskey et al., 1989). Although these measures reflect important goals

of the college experience, examining multiple indicators of college success

(i.e., cognitive learning indicators, college satisfaction, college motivation, and

learner empowerment) may provide a more complete picture of how parental

communication relates to college student success. Previous researchers suggested that

each of these variables is related to more traditional measures of college success such

as graduation rates, retention, and GPA (Okun & Weir, 1990). Likewise, these

indicators were predicted by communication behaviors and messages within the

classroom and/or the family (e.g., Morgan & Shim, 1990). Thus, by investigating

cognitive learning indicators, college satisfaction, college motivation, and learner

Memorable Messages and Student Success 47

empowerment, the current study examined college student success in a multi-

dimensional and communication-centered manner. The following section explicates

the importance of each of these indicators of college student success.

College satisfaction. College satisfaction is a key outcome in higher education that is

related to numerous variables such as quality of teaching, campus involvement, and

motivation (Astin, 1993; Benjamin & Hollings, 1997). Okun and Weir (1990) reported

that, on average, students with higher rates of college satisfaction have higher GPAs

and lower attrition rates. Ultimately, college satisfaction is related to numerous

positive outcomes such as academic achievement (Astin, 1993), student growth, and

retention (Morgan & Shim, 1990); thus, it is an important part of college success.

Whereas teaching quality has been shown to impact how satisfied students are with

the educational experience (Morgan & Shim, 1990), researchers have not investigated

the associations of student satisfaction with communication from other important

publics. Parents are important contributors to their children’s sense-making in

general (e.g., Smith & Butler Ellis, 2001), and thus parental messages may influence a

student’s sense-making toward college and, therefore, the satisfaction he/she feels

regarding college. Sense-making researchers have found that the positive or negative

frame that a family attaches to an experience is predictive of family and individual

functioning (e.g., Koenig Kellas, 2005). For example, if parents tell their children that

college is a wonderful experience, perhaps the students are more likely to enter college

with a positive, hopeful attitude. Likewise, if parents motivate their children to work

hard and get good grades, this may predict higher rates of motivation in students.

Student motivation. Conceptualized as any goal-directed behavior or energy to perform

a task to achieve a goal (Schunk, 1990), another indicator of college success is student

motivation. Motivation is an important indicator of college success in that it strongly

predicts student learning (Richmond, 1990). If students are motivated to learn, they

will work harder and achieve higher levels of learning. Although research suggests that

teacher communication predicts student motivation (e.g., clarity, credibility, affinity-

seeking, immediacy; Chesebro & McCroskey, 2000; Christensen & Menzel, 1998;

Frymier & Thompson, 1992) and that parental behavior and involvement predict child

motivation (e.g., Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994), the influence of parental messages in

this process is still unclear. Grolnick and Slowiaczek (1994) found that parents’

behavior and intellectual/cognitive involvement in their child’s schooling predicted

their child’s motivational resources and school performance. Mothers’ behaviors

related to children’s motivation through perceived competence and understanding of

potential outcomes associated with one’s actions (or control understanding), and

fathers’ behaviors related to motivation through perceived competence. Although

parental communication has been theorized to be an important decision-making

factor in children’s education and career decisions (e.g., Lucas, 2011; Medved et al.,

2006), researchers have not investigated the manner in which parental messages relate

to children’s educational success outcomes. Since motivation has been theorized to

mediate the relationship between teacher communication behavior and student

48 H. Kranstuber et al.

learning (Christophel, 1990; Frymier, 1994), it is imperative that scholars and

instructors understand the multiple influences (e.g., parents) on student motivation.

Overall, teacher behaviors are well-documented influencers of motivation in students,

yet parent messages are also likely to be predictive of motivation.

Learner empowerment. Researchers have expanded traditional views of motivation

to form the more learner-specific construct of learner empowerment (Frymier,

Shulman, & Houser, 1996). Learner empowerment addresses the extent to which

students feel motivated and in control of their academic tasks, and is associated with

cognitive learning and affective learning (Frymier et al., 1996; Weber, Martin, &

Patterson, 2001), positive adjustment to college, increased student motivation, and

interest at the collegiate level (Pennebaker, Colder, & Sharp, 1990). Frymier et al.

(1996) suggested that interpersonal communication is the driving force behind

students’ sense of empowerment. Indeed, through communication, individuals gain a

better understanding about their life experiences, which often leads empowerment

over their stressors (Goldsmith, 2004). Parents give their children advice as a way to

empower them to overcome their difficulties. In this way, parents’ memorable

messages may also empower students to make sense of and persevere in college.

Cognitive learning indicators. The final indicator of college student success in the

current study is cognitive learning. Originating from research identifying specific

behaviors and activities in which students engage while learning course content

(Frymier et al., 1996), instructional scholars have measured cognitive learning by

focusing on indicators such as asking questions, volunteering opinions, and

discussing course content with others (Houser & Frymier, 2009). Researchers have

shown that discussion of course content and overall academics with family members

and friends is positively related to cognitive learning (Houser & Frymier, 2009) and

cognitive complexity (Kuh, 1995). Further, cognitive learning indicators are

associated with a variety of positive student outcomes including feelings of learner

empowerment, affective learning, grades (Frymier & Houser, 1999), motivation to

learn (Frymier et al., 1996), overall college adjustment (Pennebaker et al., 1990), and

satisfaction (Kuh, 1995).

Notably, researchers have found that adolescents are likely to turn to their parents

in times of difficulty (Gardner & Cutrona, 2004), such as struggling in a college class.

These conversations may be a prime context for parental memorable messages.

Further, memorable messages are theorized to aid individuals in decision-making

and cognitive processing of confusing situations (Holladay, 2002; Smith & Butler

Ellis, 2001). As ‘‘important units of communication that potentially have a strong

effect on. . . sense-making processes’’ (Smith et al., 2009, p. 295), memorable

messages may serve as a sense-making device in the classroom itself. Therefore, it

stands to reason that parent�child discussions and memorable messages about

college may contribute to their learning in the classroom.

Given the significant role of families in college student socialization and sense-

making (e.g., Medved et al., 2006) and the relationship between parental behaviors

Memorable Messages and Student Success 49

and student success (Chen et al., 2007; Cutrona et al., 1994; McKay et al., 2003), it is

likely that parents’ messages also play a role in student success. Memorable messages

function to help students make sense of their college experience (Nanzione et al.,

2001), and the way in which they do so is likely to predict their behaviors and thus

success in college. Therefore, we posed the first hypothesis:

H1: Parental college memorable messages predict college success as indicated by

cognitive learning, college satisfaction, college motivation, and learner empow-

erment.

Although memorable message content may predict college success, students’

perception of the message-sender (i.e., the parent) will likely affect the way they

receive the message. Considering the nature of the parent�child relationship is vital

to understanding the impact the memorable message may have on the student. The

parent�child relationship, like other interpersonal relationships, progresses through

varying degrees of contentment that impact its development and maintenance

(Vangelisti, 2006). Therefore, the extent to which parental memorable messages are

impactful and important to students may be influenced by the satisfaction they feel in

their parent�child relationship.

Relational satisfaction. Relational satisfaction relates to feelings of happiness and

contentment with relational interactions (Dunleavy, Goodboy, Booth-Butterfield,

Sidelinger, & Banfield, 2009) and provides an assessment of partners’ global feelings

about the relationship (Fincham & Beach, 2006). Given that disclosing information

has been found to increase relational satisfaction (Derlega, Metts, Petronio, &

Margulis, 1993) among family members, it seems likely that memorable messages

may function as a unique form of self-disclosure imparted from parents to their

children. Students’ perspectives of the relationship and message characteristics (such

as its intent, degree of positivity, and the extent to which parents had their best

interest in mind) may all influence the impact the message has on student success. In

an effort to capture the complexity of college students’ perceptions of parental

memorable messages, we sought to understand how the relational context of the

memorable message predicts student success. Thus, in ord

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