The number of stepparents and stepchildren continues to increase. Among the challenges facing stepfamily members is the potentially negative connotation of the prefix “step.” This study examined college students' responses toward various family positions on a semantic differential. The concepts of “stepmothers” and “stepfathers” elicited more negative connotations than other family positions. “Step” appears to be a pejorative prefix, signifying a more negative, stereotyped image.
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H.Ganong et al. (1983) studied this question.
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