Abstract
The study examined the relationship between adult sons' responses to their fathers' son-directed messages and satisfaction with those relationships. Descriptions of father messages that typified the communication between fathers and sons were solicited from adult males. Adjectives and phrases were derived from these descriptions and were presented to a second sample in seven-point bipolar adjective form. Factor analysis yielded three factors labeled "Supportive-Interest," "Criticism," and "Sarcasm." All three factors correlated significantly with adult sons' ratings of satisfaction with their son-father relationship. Multiple regression, using the three factors as predictors, accounted for approximately 60% of the variance in satisfaction scores.