Connected or Set Apart? Academic Youth about Their Ties with the Mother and the Father

Abstract

Objectives The study’s main research goal was to illustrate how young adults assess the ties with their parents and the support (or lack thereof) received from them and discussion of the result in light of worldwide research. Material and methods The survey was conducted in the spring of 2020 with CAWI on a purposefully selected sample of academic youth aged 18–29 from over 30 Polish universities (N = 621). The results were discussed in the light of worldwide research. Results Most young people assessed their ties with the parents and parental support positively, especially from the perspective of stability and satisfaction.But important differences were noticeable: the ties with the mother were evaluated more positively. The ties with the father were assessed as weaker, especially regarding expressions of affection, honest and open communication, and trust and care. Similarly, when assessing parental support, the mother turned out more involved and her support did not depend on other factors. Conclusions Most academic youth have stable and satisfying ties with parents, and they are supported by parents in difficult times. Young people highly assessed the quality of the bond with the mother. The relationship with the father was assessed as similarly stable and satisfactory, but this was a lower response share than with the relationship with the mother. Other dimensions of the relationship with the father were assessed even less positively. Similarly, when respondents were evaluating parental support, the mother turned out more involved than the father. Data from international studies show that macroeconomic factors and social policy strongly influence the ties between adults and their parents. Researchers from other countries also notice that young people have stronger bonds with the mother than with the father.

Keywords

• support
• father
• mother
• academic youth
• ties