The Dynamics of the Subject in Sociological and Psychological Studies of the Family and Parenthood in Changing Sociocultural Context

Abstract

Objectives. To reveal how the subject in sociological and psychological studies of the family and parenthood change depending on sociocultural context. Background. According to social constructivism, all ideas are not determined by the biological foundations of human interaction, but are products of social and cultural construction. That is why the concepts of partnership and family relations in recent decades have been seriously revised. We can see the evolution of approaches in formulation of hypotheses and interpretation of results in studies of partnerships and family relations, attitudes toward parenthood, expected family size, etc. As we show in the article, currently prevailing social ideas about the conditional norm of gender behavior and relationships influence these formulations. Understanding this influence is very important for critical reflection of the relationship between social processes and the focus of research. This reflection acts as a tool to increase the validity of the results and their interpretation, especially in studies carried out in line with the qualitative and mixed methodology. Methodology. The paper includes a substantive (thematic) and quantitative analysis of the subject of sociological and psychological research, as well as a comparative analysis of the dynamics of the subject and sociocultural context in different periods of research. Conclusions. The article shows that objective social processes are reflected in the predominance of certain research topics and theoretical frameworks in interpretation of the obtained data. Reflection of the social context of research is a necessary procedure to increase the validity of the results and allows to create a basis for building prognostic models.

Keywords

• family and partnerships
• social representations
• gender roles
• desired family size