Cultural Features of the Image of the Role Structure in the Father- Child Dyad

Abstract

Objective. Study of the cultural characteristics of the image of the role structure in the father-child dyad in Russian and Italian men. Background. The dynamic transformation of modern society, of necessity, entails significant changes in the structure and functions of the family as a social group, since its adaptability is sup¬ported by the effective implementation of all functions in the aggregate. However, the dominant fam¬ily function is a phenomenon that determines the main direction of the evolution of the family system. Studies by domestic and foreign authors show that in different countries, different functions can be distinguished as dominant. However, all over the world it is recognized that the process of upbringing and development of children is extremely important, in which not only mothers, but also fathers take part. Currently, in the context of the transformation of ideas about the role of the father in the family, the problem of conscious parenting arises, in particular, the father’s understanding of the specifics of his parental role, the role of his child, the translation of adaptive methods of communication in the family environment. Study design. In this work, the study of the character and power of interrelation between the im¬age of oneself as a “future father” and the image of one’s role in childhood in relation to the father in Russian and Italian men was carried out. The presence and nature of the relationship was checked using methods of mathematical statistics (correlation analysis and analysis of the significance of differences). Participants. The study involved 282 men (145 Russians and 137 Italians) 21—22 years old (M=21.5), who were brought up in two-parent families, with incomplete higher education, not being officially married and having no children. Methods. The author’s technique of E.N. Vasilyeva, A.V. Orlov “Social Roles of the Child”. Statisti¬cal processing of the obtained data was carried out with the SPSS 23.0 for Windows. The used criteria were T-test for independent sample, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and F-test. Results. A comparative analysis of the data obtained showed the existence of cultural differences in the interrelation between the image of oneself as a “future father” and the image of one’s role in child¬hood in relation to the father in Russian and Italian men aged 21-22. Conclusions. The specificity of the integral image of the role of the “father” in the opinion of Rus¬sian and Italian men, as well as the relationship between the images of roles in childhood in relation to the father (“children’s roles”) and the images of the roles of their “future child” in Russian and Italian young men are revealed.