Thesis (BA Communication Arts) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, June 2015

Interreligious or interfaith relationships and marriages are gradually becoming apparent in contemporary society. The rise of this type of relational setup sprang due to people's exposure to external or foreign influences, and increase interaction and globalization through time. The success of these interfaith relationships and the satisfaction of the people involved in interfaith relations vary from one place to the other depending on their location, history, morals, preferences and behaviors. In addition, families of diverse religious compositions are increasing in number, and the solidarity of these families may be at risk due to the clash of distinctive personal, cultural and religious values of each family member. This research generally targets to understand the struggles and the communication dynamics or interactions happening in the interfaith family. Specifically, the study aims to know how interfaith family member adjust, influence each other, and reconcile their differences. Intensive interviewing, overt nonparticipant observation and note-taking were used to gather data and relevant information from the two interfaith families who were the cases or subjects of this study. Some concepts from the Face Negotiation Theory by Stella Ting-Toomey are used as a lens to look into how these interfaith families respond to certain scenarios. The two interfaith family cases involved exhibited distinctive ways of communicating inside their respective households. An analysis of the data showed that: (1) each family member has a role in the running of the family; (2) religious background and cultural values are key points for the interfaith couples in persuading or influencing their children in adopting a specific religious affiliation; (3) giving in, problem solving, dominating and emotional expression are the common responses of the study's cases during conflict situations, and (4) nonverbal cues are integral in expressing each family member's thoughts and feelings. The observation and information yielded is a part of the growing body of knowledge regarding intercultural, particularly interfaith, communication.