With the emergence of cheap TV sets in the Philippines by the 1990s, the television evolved from once being a middle-class appliance to a truly mass medium. English-language shows and canned U.S. programs were replaced by all-Tagalog programs that are heavy on soaps and game shows. An estimated 500,000 TV sets were sold annually at that time. As of 2006, over 90% of Filipino households have a TV (PCIJ, 2006). A year before, 85% of viewers of free TV belong to the CDE economic bracket (Sicam, 2005).Unpublished reports of GMA indicate housewife mothers as highest viewing audience of weekday primetime shows, followed by female teens, middle-aged males, and children. Hence, these primetime shows are heavy on soaps and game shows and are thus also heavy on advertisements focused on this viewer segment. These field studies on Metro Manila also show that ratings for these kinds of shows are high except on occasions when basketball tournaments and boxing bouts are aired. Even then, the males prefer to watch these shows in public areas such as bars and community stores where viewers are homogenous and they feel free to express their emotions. In addition, these types of programs are often aired on Sunday late mornings and afternoons.
A review of the primetime programming schedule of GMA, ABS-CBN and QTV, the three highest rating TV stations show comedies, fantasy, and drama soaps, game shows and infotainment as the type of shows aired in the timeslot as of 2007. With the influx of Asian soaps, the drama soaps now include Taiwanese and Korean soaps translated in Filipino. Of recent, Filipino versions of former Hispanic soaps are now being aired. All of these programming trends cater to the demographics of free TV- 85% of viewers belonging to the CDE economic bracket.
The TV in the household
An ethnographic study of suburban low middle class households in Oslo, Norway focused on the use of ICT devices in a family context with a special focus the living room (Slettemeås, 2004). Negotiations and moral issues regarding technologies and their use were explored through semi-structured interviews. The dynamics described in these households point to the differences in control over use of the TV depending on which family members are presently competing.
The study showed that despite the presence of other ICT and audio devices such as the personal computer and the radio/CD player, the mothers particularly use the TV as a regular source of ambient noise in the evening. It also serves as a source of entertainment and as a means of relationship building with family members.
Family members in the small apartments with a small living room where the TV and other ICT devices are placed such as the apartments in the suburban village are left with no choice but to negotiate with the use of the TV. In the case where a young child is present, the mother gives in. Where children are older (17 and 21 years old), minimal conflicts in the choice of TV programs are experienced unless a third party is present, i.e. a household visitor. Where a husband is present, the husband receives priority in the use of the TV at night since he does not have access to it the whole day compared to the mother who stays at home.
Conflict within families
Family conflicts are unique from other types in terms of intensity, complexity, and the duration of relationships. However, regardless of these, family conflicts are considered common, not always considered a problematic pattern and not necessarily requiring intervention (Cupach & Canary, ___).
Conflict among household members commonly arise from resource allocation, division of labor, individual differences, situational dispositions and many other possible causes that are also triggered by constant and frequent exposure. Marital conflicts, sibling rivalries and conflicts with extended kin are also among the common types of conflicts among household members.
Much research on parent-child conflicts focused on conflicts between toddlers and their parents, perhaps due to its significance on the evolution of the parents’ and children’s behaviors on conflict through time (Messman, ____). Conflicts between parents and adolescents also tend to be popular, more often between adolescents and their mothers and particularly between mothers and daughters (Paikoff and Brooks-Gunn, 1991, cited in Allison, 2000).
Dekovic’s study (1999) examining the factors accounting for parent-adolescent conflict found that these conflicts are at a relatively low level- the most frequent being on everyday home life issues (e.g., sibling quarrels, home chores, and curfew), the less frequent would be disagreements regarding ideology, such as norms and values, discussions about politics and choice of TV program, and issues regarding the adolescent’s preparation for integration into society, such as academic achievement and work attitude, and the fewest would be about personal issues, such as sexuality, choice of partner, choice of friends, choice of school, and use of free time. A caveat in the study, however, would be that adolescents’ reports may be different from the parents’ reports and observational data of family interactions might produce different results.
Parent-adolescent conflicts can also be viewed as dependent on cultural contexts. Yau and Smetana (2003) found that the majority of Chinese adolescents’ conflicts were with mothers, and in their study there were more conflicts with mothers in Hong Kong than in Shenzhen. The analyses suggested that this was due to the greater number of mothers in Hong Kong than Shenzhen who stayed at home (and thus may have been more able to closely monitor their adolescents’ activities). However, regardless of mothers’ employment status, Hong Kong adolescents also reported a greater number of conflictive issues than did adolescents in Shenzhen, which may be due to parenting differences between the two Chinese communities.
Through members’ repeated exposure to their unique conflict situations, from early childhood through adulthood of children and from early to late adulthood of parents, they develop their own conflict styles and behavioural routines towards conflict (Cupach & Canary, ___). One such example is how mothers use distraction for misbehaving children below sixteen months, to referring to social rules and bargaining as the child ages (Dunn and Munn, 1985, cited in Messman, ____). Through these experiences, children also develop their own perspective and style of handling conflict later in life.
Negotiation among group members
Thompson and Loewenstein (2003, in Hogg & Cooper, 2003) argues that negotiation is a crucial element in conflict, since people who perceive themselves to have conflicting interests regarding allocation of scarce resources interact to form agreements. Five mental models have emerged on current research on negotiation, and these are: power and persuasion, decision making, strategic planning, relationship and joint problem solving.
When a situation is perceived as a battle of wills, where the objective is to force the other to submit to their terms or position, negotiation is a matter of power and persuasion. Whenthe negotiator is metaphorically perceived as someone who makes [flawed] rational choices, negotiation is considered as a decision making process. When negotiation considers rational moves and fairness towards a long-term process, it is is perceived as a strategic. When negotiation is perceived as a means of building and maintaining a relationship with another, it is recognized as a relationship. When people recognize that a problem is created and should be solved by the parties involved, negotiation is perceived as a joint problem solving action.
Negotiation among family members towards settlement of a conflict does not rest on one model or remains static- it could be a combination of few or all at a time or shifting from one to another, depending on the situation.
Decision-making in Filipino families
The Women Studies Project supported a follow-up to the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS) in 1998 with a series of in-depth ethnographic interviews with a subset of 60 women towards better understanding relationships among childbearing, women’s work and women’s autonomy in decision-making.
Results indicated that there were relatively few women who had no say in minor decisions related to children, purchase of clothing or gift giving. In contrast, a larger percentage of women had no say at all in decisions about major appliances, land purchase, working outside the home, or hiring household help. Joint decision-making was typical in the case of buying land and schooling of children.
Thompson and Loewenstein (2003, in Hogg & Cooper, 2003) argues that negotiation is a crucial element in conflict, since people who perceive themselves to have conflicting interests regarding allocation of scarce resources interact to form agreements. Five mental models have emerged on current research on negotiation, and these are: power and persuasion, decision making, strategic planning, relationship and joint problem solving.
When a situation is perceived as a battle of wills, where the objective is to force the other to submit to their terms or position, negotiation is a matter of power and persuasion. Whenthe negotiator is metaphorically perceived as someone who makes [flawed] rational choices, negotiation is considered as a decision making process. When negotiation considers rational moves and fairness towards a long-term process, it is is perceived as a strategic. When negotiation is perceived as a means of building and maintaining a relationship with another, it is recognized as a relationship. When people recognize that a problem is created and should be solved by the parties involved, negotiation is perceived as a joint problem solving action.
Negotiation among family members towards settlement of a conflict does not rest on one model or remains static- it could be a combination of few or all at a time or shifting from one to another, depending on the situation.
Decision-making in Filipino families
The Women Studies Project supported a follow-up to the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS) in 1998 with a series of in-depth ethnographic interviews with a subset of 60 women towards better understanding relationships among childbearing, women’s work and women’s autonomy in decision-making.
Results indicated that there were relatively few women who had no say in minor decisions related to children, purchase of clothing or gift giving. In contrast, a larger percentage of women had no say at all in decisions about major appliances, land purchase, working outside the home, or hiring household help. Joint decision-making was typical in the case of buying land and schooling of children.
An important finding of the research is that autonomy in decision making was not related to either social status or socio-economic status, while socio-economic status and social status were moderately correlated. In addition, the interviews led the researchers to understand that decision-making in these Filipino households bounce back and forth between partners, depending on the circumstances. However, it was the researchers’ contention that this may not be enough to conclude that a decision is jointly made. “Consulting”, in this regard, does not seem to be clear (Adair, Gultiano, and Avila, 1998).
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