A Field in Search of Concepts: The Relevance of Generativity to Understanding Intergenerational Relationships

Intergenerational relationships are increasingly recognized as an important field of practice and research. However, it has been argued that appropriate concepts and theories are still required to guide and consolidate the discipline. Although a number of concepts borrowed from the social sciences have been used with some success thus far, few attempts have been made to conceptualize intergenerational relationships from a psychological and developmental perspective. This article explores the usefulness of the Eriksonian concept of generativity as a framework for understanding intergenerational relationships. We describe the contribution of generativity to the intergenerational field and we explore the prospects, limitations, and potential of this contribution.     

Implications of no recent sexual activity,casual sex,or exclusive sex for college women's sexual well-being depend on sexual attitudes

Objective: We examine how sexual activity relates to sexual well-being within the context of sexual attitudes, sexual agency, and sexual desire. Participants/Methods: We surveyed 471 college women in 2012–2014 who had ever had sex. Results: Sexual agency and sexual desire consistently predicted well-being, regardless of recent sexual activity. There was a significant interaction between recent sexual activity (none, casual, or exclusive relationship) and sexual attitudes. Exclusive sex was associated with higher than average sexual well-being, especially for women with permissive attitudes. Women who had casual sex and held permissive to average attitudes had the next highest levels of well-being, but those with non-permissive attitudes fell substantially below the overall mean. Women who had no recent sex were consistently below the mean, especially for women with more permissive attitudes. Conclusions: A disconnect between sexual attitudes and recent sexual activity may lower women's sexual well-being.     

Parental Modeling and Deidentification in Romantic Relationships Among Mexican‐Origin Youth

This study investigated youth's modeling of and deidentification from parents in romantic relationships using two phases of data from adolescent siblings, mothers, and fathers in 246 Mexican‐origin families. Each parent reported his and her marital satisfaction and conflict, and youth reported on parent–adolescent warmth and conflict at Time 1. Youth's reports of modeling of and deidentification from their mothers and fathers and three romantic relationship outcomes were assessed at Time 2. Findings revealed that higher parental marital satisfaction, lower marital conflict, and higher warmth and lower conflict in parent–adolescent relationships were associated with more modeling and less deidentification from parents. Moreover, higher deidentification was linked to a greater likelihood of youth being involved in a romantic relationship and cohabitation, whereas more modeling was linked to a lower likelihood of cohabitation and older age of first sex. Discussion underscores the importance of assessing parental modeling and deidentification and understanding correlates of these processes.     

Does Educational Similarity Drive Parental Support?

This article tests competing mechanisms explaining linkages between parent–child educational similarity and parental advice and interest to adult children, asking whether mechanisms differ for mothers and fathers. Educational similarities might provide common ground whereas educational dissimilarity affects parents' authority to dispense advice. Using ordered logistic regression with data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N = 2,444) parental advice and interest are modeled separately for mothers and fathers. Seemingly unrelated estimation is used to test for gender differences across models, revealing that mechanisms driving parental support differ by parents' gender. Fathers show more interest in adult children when they are educationally similar (consistent with the homophily hypothesis), but only among the highly educated, whereas mothers show more interest to highly educated children, regardless of their own level of educational attainment. Fathers' advice is conditioned on their own educational attainment whereas mothers give advice unconditionally (consistent with the gender hypothesis).     

Harnessing Resistance in Interventions with Young People

This article draws on the findings from the qualitative phase of a New Zealand longitudinal study concerning vulnerable young people’s transitions to adulthood. The young people, aged between 12 and 17 at the time of the first interview had sustained exposure to harm (abuse, violence, addictions, disengagement from school and mental health issues) and were clients of statutory and non-governmental services including: child welfare services, juvenile justice services, remedial education services and mental health services. Qualitative interviews explored young people’s experiences of services, their key transitions, their coping capacities, and the strategies they used to locate support and resources to mitigate the effects of harmful events and environments. There were three stages to the qualitative phase of the study; this article draws on the interviews from stage one and two. It explores the idea of resistance which emerged as a key theme in the data analysis. Three thematic clusters are presented: the nature of young people’s resistance; practitioner responses to resistance; and harnessing resistance in interventions. The article concludes with a discussion of how social workers and other practitioners can understand resistance and build more responsive and meaningful relationships with vulnerable youth.     

A Good Match? Offline Matchmaking Services and Implications for Gender Relations

Faced with barriers to successful coupling, namely disappointments with online dating, rising numbers of North Americans of varying ages and backgrounds are using personalized, offline matchmaking services to find long-term partners. However, few studies have examined the process interpretively from clients’ and matchmakers’ perspectives. Using interview data from 20 matchmakers and 10 heterosexual clients, content analyses of 102 company websites, and associated client comments and media coverage, this study queries connections between matchmaking’s growing popularity, (un)changing institutions, and gender relations. Analyses demonstrate that opportunities and constraints offered by the strategy are gendered, with men largely maintaining the partnering privileges they enjoy in other dating arenas and women making modest gains when participating as paying clients. Experiences are further shaped by age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.     

Control mutuality,social media,and organization-public relationships: A study of local animal welfare organizations’ donors

Using an online survey and qualitative analysis, this study examined the role of control mutuality in social media engagement to provide insight for social media strategy creation for nonprofit organizations. Guided by OPR and relationship management literature, insights and implications contribute to scholarly discussions of control mutuality and relationship management.     

Interrogating ‘acquiescent’ behavior of adults with developmental disabilities in interactions with caregiving family members: an instrumental case study

In this article, we adopt a Critical Disability Studies orientation to interrogate ‘acquiescent’ behavior of one adult diagnosed with developmental disabilities – Suzanne – in interaction with her caregiving parents. We conduct conversation analysis of interactions and offer themes of Speaking over/capping it off, Speaking for/giving it over and Correcting/redirecting as evidence of Suzanne acquiescing as part of ‘orchestrating’ input from her parents to get what she wants. We discuss adults diagnosed with developmental disabilities navigating daily life amidst shifting powerplay by strategically steering conversations in ways that serve them and we argue such navigations as vital to understanding ‘acquiescence.’     

Stepmothers’ Role in Mediating Adverse Effects on Children of Divorce

Divorce and remarriage can be a stressful time for children: Stepmothers can aid in reducing negative repercussions. Effectively incorporating stepmothers into the family can aid in a healthy transition. Addressing role ambiguity, relationships, communication styles, and reorganization can help families avoid unnecessary stress during divorce and remarriage. Interventions that focus on increasing coping mechanisms and effective communication help reduce negative side effects and aid in the successful reorganization of the family following divorce or remarriage. Counselors can aid in this process by supporting families using structural family therapy (SFT) and suggesting interventions. When counselors and society support the diverse compositions of families, this reorganization can happen with less distress for the children involved.