Managing Frequent Relocation in Families? Considering Prospect Theory, Emotional Framing, and Priming

Abstract

We review the evidence and impact of relocation on outcomes in child development in civilian and military families, both those who relocate regularly and those who do not. Research with broad samples of families and conventional wisdom suggests that frequent relocation leads to negative outcomes in children. However, this observation is not consistently observed for military families or for some civilian families who regularly relocate. The reasons for these differences are not clear, but maternal attitude and parent–child interactions have been suggested as a possible moderator of relocation resilience. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms or approach for promoting relocation resilience is not clear in the evidence base. Through an analysis of the limited available data, we propose that effectively promoting relocation resilience may involve three primary approaches and related psychological processes: (i) managing the perception of risk (based on prospect theory), (ii) emotional framing, and (iii) priming. These processes are reviewed and presented for further consideration in future research on promoting relocation resilience.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2016
Source ID
10.1111/fcsr.12181

Entities

People

  • Emily Spencer
  • Kimberly Page
  • Matthew G. Clark

Organizations

  • United States Department of Defense
  • United States Military Academy

Tags

Readers

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