Love, Family and Friendship : A Latin American Perspective [1 ed.] 9781443870436, 9781443866231

Citation preview

Love, Family and Friendship

Love, Family and Friendship: A Latin American Perspective

Edited by

Agnaldo Garcia

Love, Family and Friendship: A Latin American Perspective, Edited by Agnaldo Garcia This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2014 by Agnaldo Garcia and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-6623-7, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-6623-1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Brazilian Young, Mature and Older Adults and Love ................................. 1 José Augusto Evangelho Hernandez Sinelle Valle da Costa Juliana Ramos Ribeiro Caroline Almeida Areias Karina Nascimento Valladares dos Santos Brazilian Women Dating Men from other Countries: The Role of Cultural Differences .............................................................................. 15 Claudia Pepino Agnaldo Garcia Attitudes towards Polyamory: An Explanation Based on Values and Affections ........................................................................................... 28 Sandra Elisa de Assis Freire Valdiney Veloso Gouveia Felipe Setubal Matos Santos Ana Isabel Araújo Silva de Brito Gomes Marina Pereira Gonçalves Leogildo Alves Freires Who Values a Genuine Romantic Relationship? Predicting Appreciation for an Authentic and Authenticity-Supportive Partner .............................. 45 Juan E. Wilson Eduardo A. Mora Fernanda R. Barrera Evaluation of the Mutuality of Dating Violence among University Students from Antofagasta, Chile .............................................................. 63 Mónica Guzmán-González Ricardo Espinoza-Tapia Karla Tay-Karapas José Leiva-Gutiérrez Romina Adaos-Orrego

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Table of Contents

Family Relationships across Time: A Mexican Perspective ...................... 78 Mirna Garcia-Mendez Sofia Rivera-Aragon Isabel Reyes-Lagunes Puerto Rican Couple Relationships: Realities and Challenges for Study ..... 90 Ruth Nina-Estrella Intervention Possibilities in Cases of Marital Violence in Brazil ............ 105 Beatriz Schmidt Simone Dill Azeredo Bolze Maria Aparecida Crepaldi Mauro Luis Vieira Mothers Head of Family and Relationship with Adolescent Children in Colombia ............................................................................................. 118 Martha Cecilia Arbeláez Rojas Lucero Cuervo Amaya Mónica Liliana Martínez Quintero Yeison David Ortiz Vargas Dyadic Analysis of Marital Satisfaction: Effects of Interaction on the Relationship .................................................................................. 133 Carolina Armenta-Hurtarte Rozzana Sánchez-Aragón Rolando Díaz-Loving The Meaning of Friendship for Brazilian Internal Migrants.................... 143 Agnaldo Garcia Lorena Schettino Lucas Tayssa Grassi Rodrigues What Mexican Children Say about Friendship ........................................ 158 Claudia López Becerra Friendship, Media and Culture in Brazil ................................................. 171 Luciana Teles Moura Agnaldo Garcia

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The Transformation of Women's Role in Brazilian Family Generations ... 184 Katia Nahum Campos Maria Lucia Seidl-de-Moura Interdependence and Attachment Theory Perspectives on Transnational Migrant Relationships ............................................................................. 196 Margaret C. Thompson Debra Mashek Jessica L. Borelli Michelle A. Reade Malagueño Mayra A. Gradilla

BRAZILIAN YOUNG, MATURE AND OLDER ADULTS AND LOVE JOSÉ AUGUSTO EVANGELHO HERNANDEZ, SINELLE VALLE DA COSTA, JULIANA RAMOS RIBEIRO, CAROLINE ALMEIDA AREIAS AND KARINA NASCIMENTO VALLADARES DOS SANTOS STATE UNIVERSITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

For adolescents, psychosocial crisis is characterized by opposite feelings of intimacy versus isolation. A young man or woman wants to be in a relationship, he/she does not want to remain isolated, is eager to share his/her intimacy; however, he/she is afraid of not being able to establish a deep relationship. To the extent to which one develops a solution to this conflict, love may arise. The young adult no longer has the same mood swings and frequent conflicts characteristic of adolescents. Around the age of twenty, the young person begins the separation from their families of origin and prepares for life in the academic, professional and social dimensions (Erikson, 1998). Between the third and fifth decades of life, people strive mainly to consolidate their career choices. Also, they take care of their nuclear and origin families, and experience the birth, growth and attempts of their own children to gain independence (Smetana, Campione-Barr, & Metzger, 2006) and face the difficulties of life (Arnett, 2000). Middle age is also characterized by declining vigor, strength, youth, unrealistic dreams and aspirations. The physiological changes that occur during adulthood suggest that older adults report lower levels of passion than younger ones. Most studies show that passion becomes less prominent; however, this decrease in passion is small (Ahmetoglu et al., 2010). The elderly often may suffer from chronic illnesses, death of spouses and friends or social isolation (Rokach & Neto, 2005), but they may continue to have satisfying romantic relationships. Neto (2012) showed that even erotic passion can be

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experienced with intensity by the elderly. This suggests that it may be present in the full cycle of adulthood. In old age, the last crisis is experienced, involving integrity versus despair. Integrity, based on reflection about life, is the ability to preserve oneself in all respects; not perceiving oneself as finished, confused and helpless. It is necessary to evaluate, review and accept things. Wisdom means to accept what was lived without regrets and that others deserve to be loved, even with their limitations (Erikson, 1998). In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in life expectancy in Brazil. Projections indicate that Brazilians will live an average of 80 years in 2041 and 81.2 years in 2060. The reduction in birth rate and the evolution of medicine are some of the factors contributing to the increase in the number of the elderly, which is expected to reach 26.7% of the Brazilian population in 2060 (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics – IBGE , 2010). Consequently, knowledge about love and aging is now more important than ever. Although love is important for people of all ages, researchers usually have investigated university students in their studies (Acker & Davis, 1992; Neto, 2001). If love can change over the course of the relationship, the evidence about this needs to come from respondents representing the whole range of ages and time durations of relationships. This is one of the questions that this investigation has explored. Sternberg (1986) developed the Triangular Love Theory and argued that love is mainly composed of intimacy, passion and decision/commitment. These can be understood using the metaphor of a triangle in which each component occupies a vertex. Each lover has a love triangle resulting from the combination of these components. There are several kinds of love, but not all kinds include all components or require equal weight to them. Intimacy refers to feelings of closeness, the bond that unites lovers in common dedication and affection. The signs of intimacy are: the desire to promote the well-being of the object of love; to experience happiness with him/her; to have the highest regard for him/her; to count on the loved one in times of need; mutual understanding; dividing both his/her person and possessions with the object of his/her love; to receive emotional support from him/her; to communicate closely with the object of love; and grant him/her an important value. Intimacy is defined as a foundation of love that develops slowly and results in strong connections between people, which can maintain relationships (Sternberg, 1986). Passion is a state of strong desire for union with another and may be considered the “hot” component with the most intense feelings. The sexual need can be conductive to passion in various romantic relationships, but it

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is not the only one; other needs can take part in passion, such as those related to self-esteem, affiliation, dominance/submission and selfactualization (Sternberg, 1986). The decision/commitment component consists of two aspects: the decision to love another person, which is short term, and the commitment to keep this love, which is long term. These do not necessarily go together; the decision to love someone may not imply a commitment to that love. Commitment is the most premeditated component of love (Sternberg, 1986). Sternberg (1986) suggested that each component of love takes a different course along the duration of the relationship. Levels of intimacy, passion and commitment can change over time, resulting in change in the relationship. At the beginning of the relationship, intimacy increases continuously, then this growth slows down and stabilizes. In the beginning, loving partners do not know each other; there is much to discover. At each new discovery the union can grow and, with time, lovers can become more predictable to one another and realize a decrease in mutual feelings. This may indicate that they are moving away from each other, but it can also mean that the relationship is becoming more solid. However, due to relationship stability, the partners may no longer notice the interdependence (Sternberg, 1989). Sternberg’s ideas (1989) on the time course of intimacy were based on Berscheid’s General Theory of Emotions (1983), which was inspired by Mandler’s General Theory of Emotions (1975). According to these theories, emotions in intimate relationships are experienced as a result of the interruption of stereotypical interactions between partners. An expected action of a partner will not cause any emotion in the other partner, but certainly an unexpected action will make the other feel some emotion. When two people meet, they gradually develop a series of scripts or stereotyped behaviors. At first, there is uncertainty; one cannot predict the behavior of the partner. Inevitably, frequent interruptions and disruptions will be produced in the relationship until the two know each other better. Over time, interruptions decrease in frequency; partners become more predictable and more dependent on each other. Berscheid (1983) explained that, as interruptions decrease, emotions will also decrease, until they will no longer be felt by partners. In this respect, love can be understood as a process of reducing uncertainty. The decrease of intimacy in a loving relationship has positive and negative aspects. As a positive aspect, the decrease in intimacy is a result of increased interpersonal binding, when the couple gets closer. The

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partners are so interconnected that one no longer recognizes the other’s presence. This kind of relationship possesses a large amount of hidden or latent intimacy. The negative aspect is that the apparent lack of intimacy can make it difficult to discriminate between an intimate relationship and one with a lack of intimacy. The most effective way to distinguish a successful from a failed relationship is by causing some disruption. A change in routine or one half of the couple being away for some time can be useful for assessing the degree of intimacy. Sometimes, only with extreme interventions can we get to know the real existing intimacy. Often, couples who appear to be in crisis because they argue and fight may have a large degree of intimacy. Many couples who separate are unaware of the degree of intimacy invested in the relationship and can later regret the decision. Small disruptions can be positive to promote awareness of the degree of latent intimacy before the effective dissolution of love (Sternberg, 1989). Typically, passion is stronger in the beginning of a relationship; with time and regular sex, it settles to a less urgent level. The urgency may reappear at certain times, for example, when the couple is separated for a long time, but the lack of urgency does not mean that there is no passion. To understand the temporal course of passion, Sternberg (1986) appealed to Solomon’s Opponent-Process Theory of Acquired Motivation (1980), which posits that the desire for a person is a function of two underlying positive and negative processes. The physical and psychological attraction to another person can lead to the emergence of passion, which grows rapidly, but also quickly reaches maximum expression. When it reaches this peak, a negative force begins to act and effectively opposes the passion, which begins to decrease, and gradually a state of habituation is established; positive and negative forces reach equilibrium. If the beloved person is lost, there would be a return to a baseline or absence of passion, but it is likely that depression and uneasiness would predominate due to the loss of positive passionate force (the desired person is gone) and the presence of negative force (the feeling of the effects of absence persists). Yela (1996, 2006), using Factor Analysis extracted a modified model of Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love (1986), in which passion has been subdivided into erotic and romantic. Sternberg (1989) says that the influence of time on commitment intensity depends on the relationship’s success. The level is zero when both lovers meet. Generally commitment begins gradually and then its growth accelerates. If the relationship continues for a long time, the feeling of commitment gets firmer, becoming stable. If the relationship

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fails, its level declines and it may return to zero or become another kind of commitment. Several empirical studies using Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale (1988) have tested Triangular Theory predictions in regard to the temporal evolution of its components. Acker and Davis (1992) conducted a survey with 204 participants ranging from 18 to 68 years old. The mean duration of the relationships was 9.5 years (SD = 10.0). The participants were divided into three groups based on the duration of the relationship: up to 3 years, 3-10 years and over 10 years. Overall, the results offered partial support for theory. Older respondents reported lower levels of passion. Using the variable type of relationship (or stage of relationship) as a measure of the time course, the increase in reported commitment emerged very clearly and more serious relationships were associated with greater intimacy. However, the reported intimacy failed to show decline throughout the relationship duration. The predicted decline in reported passion throughout the duration of the relationship was observed only in women; however, there was a decline of passion behaviors for both sexes in longer relationships. The Triangular Theory of Love by Sternberg (1986) was also evaluated by Serrano and Carreño (1993) in an investigation involving 114 couples with an average relationship duration of seven years and four months, and the mean age of partners was 29 years (SD = 6.92). Regarding intimacy, results indicated modifications related to the relationship duration, with a reduction seen in both members of the couples. Similarly, passion decreased for both partners, but commitment increased and, after some time, had stabilized. Yela (1997) investigated 412 students with a mean age of 22.9 years who were involved in loving relationships of various types for a median of 2.9 years (SD = 2.94). Most respondents were single and did not live with partners. Respondents were classified into seven groups according to the relationship duration time, ranging from less than two months to more than seven years. In the results, commitment was less important at first and gradually increased in intensity, at a rate faster than expected, until it stabilized at a level of remarkable magnitude, in the fourth year, approximately. The temporal evolution of intimacy was also quite similar to that predicted in Sternberg’s theory. There was a first stage of continued rapid growth (up to four years or so) and a second one of slightly growth and stabilization. The time curve of romantic passion that was found also confirmed the theoretical prediction. In principle, romantic passion grew gradually and continued to increase gradually until a long time after erotic passion reached its maximum. Over time, decrease of romantic passion did

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not reach values as low as those of erotic passion. Interestingly, erotic passion decreased more among men than among women. Rocha and Hernandez (2002) compared the scores of a group of 42 young adults (18-25 years old) and a group of 18 elderly adults (over 60 years) who experienced stable love relationships. The results showed statistically significant differences between groups only in commitment, which was higher for the elderly. Men presented significantly higher levels of passion than women among the elderly. In a study by Villar, Villamizar and López-Chivrall (2005), 144 elderly people above 65 years of age (M = 73, SD = 4.29) and a mean relationship duration of more than 30 years (M = 46.6, SD = 6.73) responded to Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale (1988). The love experience reported by the elderly was similar to those in young adults, but not identical. Commitment levels were more elevated than those of passion. Women showed lower levels of passion in comparison with men. Ahmetoglu, Swami and Chamorro-Premuzic (2010) analyzed the scores of 16,030 participants, from 20 to 70 years old who responded online to the Triangular Love Scale in a reduced version adapted by Lemieux and Hale (1999). The results of structural equation modeling revealed the participants’ age negatively associated with passion and positively associated with intimacy and commitment. Also, the relationship duration was negatively associated with passion and positively associated with commitment. Toba (2010) investigated whether the romantic relationships of 84 college students (66 women and eighteen men) were as vulnerable to the effects of time as relationships that occur later in life. The mean age of participants was 21.96 years (SD = 2.8) and the mean relationship duration was 23.97 months (SD = 21.50 months). The results showed that scores of commitment, intimacy and passion significantly correlated with the relationship duration. Contrary to the expected result, passion did not diminish with time. Sumter, Valkenburg and Peter (2013) investigated perceptions of love across the course of life using Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love (1986). The researchers found differences in age and gender on the components of love in a sample of 12 to 88 years old (n = 2791) divided into age groups. Teens (12-17 years) reported lower levels on all components, compared to young adults (18-30 years). Adults who were older than 50 years reported the lowest levels of passion and intimacy but similar levels of commitment compared to young adults (18-30 years) and mature adults (30-50 years).

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In the present study, a quantitative cross-sectional, correlational investigation was conducted, comparing groups of different ages (young, mature and older adults). Thus, the possible modifications of love over a large part of the adult life span were investigated.

Method Participants 171 participants in this study were female and 54 male. The age (n = 225) ranged from 17 to 86 years (M = 38.3, SD = 19.67). The duration of the relationships of respondents ranged from one to 63 years (M = 13.5, SD = 14.5). The participants were classified into groups: young adults (17 to 30 years old), mature adults (31 to 50), and older than 50 years, and were distributed in various types of romantic relationships (Table 1). Table 1. Frequency of relationship type by age Age

Kind of relationship total dating engagement Marriage stable union other (17-30 y.o.) 87 (90.6%) 8 (100%) 12 (13.7%) 4 (14.8%) 3 (42.9%) 114 (50.6%) (31-50 y.o.) 4 (4.2%) 0 33 (37.9%) 9 (33.3%) 3 (42.9%) 63 (28.0%) ( • 51 y.o.) 5 (5.2%) 0 42 (48.3%) 14 (51.9%) 1 (14.3%) 48 (21.3%) Total 96 (42.7%) 8 (3.6%) 87 (38.7%) 27 (12.0%) 7 (3.1%) 225 (100%)

Instruments The researchers used Hernandez’s (1999) adaptation of Sternberg’s Triangular Love Scale (1997, 1998). This instrument consists of 45 items, divided equally between three components: intimacy, passion and decision/commitment. To respond to items, a Likert scale of five points was used. Participants also provided the following information: age, sex, type, and relationship duration.

Data Collection Data collection was performed at the main campus of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) with students from various courses. Most of the elderly participants were students at the University of the Third Age (UnATI – UERJ). However, some of the data were obtained from groups of friends, medical clinics, gyms, parks and squares. Data

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were collected in both forms, in groups and individually. This study was approved by the CAAE – UERJ No. 129,870 of 14/11/2012 and all procedures relating to the ethics of human research have been observed.

Data Analysis The software SPSS version 20 was used for data typing and analysis, using descriptive statistical techniques, the Pearson Correlation Coefficient, Multiple Regression Analysis and Analysis of Variance.

Results The Pearson Correlation Coefficient did not show statistically significant correlations (p .05, but sex was associated with received physical violence, Ȥ2 (1) = 15.56, p < .05. Specifically, more men than women reported having been victims of at least one episode of physical violence in the past year.

Mutual violence Regarding the mutuality of the violence episodes (Table 5), most violence episodes have tended to be predominantly mutual, particularly in the case of psychological aggression. In the case of sexual violence, the scenario is different, because unilateral and mutual demonstrations are distributed relatively equally, predominating the unidirectional ones. Table 5. Mutuality of Violence Episodes by Type of Violence Violence Type Psychological Violence Physical Violence Sexual Violence

Only Partner (%) 4.2 18.4 29.2

Only Participant (%) 10.5 27.6 22.2

Both (%) 85.3 54 48.7

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However, when we make the distinction between mild and more severe expressions (Table 6) it is observed that mutuality is greater in milder forms of violence, while the percentages tend to be lower in the severe forms of violence, particularly in the case of sexual violence, where there are more episodes in which only one member has predominantly exerted sexual coercion. Table 6. Mutuality of Violence Episodes by Intensity of Violence Violence Type Minor Psychological Violence Severe Psychological Violence Minor Physical Violence Severe Physical Violence Minor Sexual Violence Severe Sexual Violence

Both (%)

3

Only Participant (%) 10.5

13.5

23.2

63.3

17.5 28.3 28.2 44.3

24 23.4 21.7 13.9

58.4 48.3 50.1 41.8

Only Partner (%)

86.5

Discussion The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the mutuality of dating violence on the psychological, physical and sexual level in a sample of university students in the city of Antofagasta, Chile. The study findings support the view that, in general terms, dating violence occurs bidirectionally, as described in the literature (e.g. Rivera et al., 2006; Whitaker, Haileyesus, Swahn, & Saltzman, 2007; Straus, 2008; Corral, 2009; Vizcarra & Poo, 2011); however, certain distinctions that are necessary to consider were observed. In regard to psychological violence, the results obtained show a clear predominance of mutual events. In the case of physical violence, mutuality is also observed, but the pattern is less noticeable than in the case of psychological aggression. However, with regard to sexual violence, this is manifested more in a unidirectional manner. Likewise, it was observed that the mutuality was most frequent in the manifestations of mild violence, but not for the most severe, in which the bidirectional pattern only holds for psychological violence. Moreover, it was also identified that in relation to perpetration, women reported higher prevalence for exerted psychological and physical violence, and men for sexual violence. Regarding victimization, there was

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no difference between men and women concerning psychological and sexual violence, but men reported having received more physical violence. The high annual prevalence identified in both women and men, as well as the tendency to mutuality in milder manifestations, suggests that the use of aggressive behavior is part of the repertoire of strategies for coping with conflict in dating relationships. This would differ from the pattern described in domestic violence, where it is possible to clearly identify a perpetrator and a victim of violence. Although this study showed a predominance of mild manifestations of violence, it is also worrying that in dating, these strategies for conflict resolution are implemented. It is appropriate then to analyze the reasons for violence, being possible to explain it from a sociocultural perspective. This is because violence is a phenomenon permeated by culture; therefore, it cannot be understood outside its context and its relationship with factors such as the power in the couple from a gender perspective (Caldwell, Swan & Woodbrown, 2012). In connection with the above, historically men have exerted roles of dominance, for their place as providers in conservative models of gender, while women have been responsible for the household and its dynamics. However, women have been achieving ever greater power and prestige in the everyday, in work, politics, and also in the field of relationships with greater emotional intimacy (Montecino, Rebolledo & Sunkel, 1999; Salinas, Barrientos & Rojas, 2012; Silva, 2012). One of the main findings of this study was the identification that unidirectionality is predominantly confined to the field of sexual violence, as men reported having exercised violence more frequently. This indeed would be consistent with a model of hegemonic gender relations still present in northern Chile, which has been characterized as unequal, patriarchal and with asymmetric hierarchy in favor of men over women (Klubock, 1998; Montecino et a, 1999). Moreover, analysis of the manifestations of perpetrated violence – the physical and psychological level, where women scored higher on their implementation, and sexual violence, where men outnumbered women – describes the dynamics of gender relationships, indicating tensions between change and the preservation of a hegemonic model of affective relationships among university students. In that sense, there is a tension between men and women in terms of symbolic power because of the dispute in social prestige associated with gender. This tension is transferred from the private to the public sphere, and particularly, to the context of couple relationships. These changes in gender roles would be more visible in women of younger generations

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(Smith & Barrientos, 2008). Therefore, female college students could be passing to a model of claiming their rights, and unlike their mothers and grandmothers, would develop as active individuals from the social point of view, with greater symbolic power over previous generations. Moreover, some authors have proposed that women may not be aware of violence in their couple relationships, considering some violence manifestations irrelevant (Rodríguez, Antuña, Lopez-Cepero, 2012). The above could be explained by the invisibility in physical, psychological and sexual violence by women towards men that exists in media communications in youth culture, such as television series where the expression of the violence by women against men is validated as a legitimate and not sanctioned type of conflict resolution, which perpetuates violence from a cultural standpoint. Although this study provides more accurate and contextualized information of the mutual nature of dating violence it also presents limitations that are necessary to consider. As a first aspect, it is important to explain that the non-probability nature of the sample limits the generalizability of these results. Future studies could explore whether similar findings are obtained assessing larger samples or from broader sociocultural contexts. Similarly, the conclusions of this study cannot be extended to all young people since the sample only considered college students. Therefore, the results about the perpetration of violence associated with gender tensions should be analyzed in terms of cultural capital and the notion of rights shared by young people belonging to other educational levels. Furthermore, the study did not include both members of the couple; only one of them reported the relational dynamics, which limits the ability to access a more complex understanding of the phenomenon of violence. Future studies could fill this gap taking the couple as the unit of analysis, and not the individual. Also, there is a limitation associated with the use of self-report instruments, that while they are useful for accessing subjective experiences, they are permeable to social desirability; something that is particularly sensitive when these themes are investigated. Nevertheless, this study provides a more specific vision of the mutuality of dating violence, showing that this pattern is evident in certain types of demonstrations of aggression more than in others and especially in mild expressions. To replicate these findings in other studies, it would be important to incorporate this information in the design of promotional programs, violence prevention and intervention for university students, and identify resources and protective factors for them that can enhance the

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use of conflict resolution strategies which are more constructive for the couple.

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Emotional Abuse as Related to Physical Aggression in Undergraduate. Dating Relationships, 25(7), 627-637. doi: 10.1007/s10896-010-9319-3 Montecino, S., Rebolledo, L. & Sunkel, G. (1999). Informe final análisis impacto psicosocial, sistema de trabajo por turnos en la unidad familiar. Santiago, Chile: SERNAM/Universidad de Chile. Moretti, M.M., Obsuth, I., Odgers, C.L. & Reebye, P. (2006). Exposure to Maternal vs. Paternal Partner Violence, PTSD, and Aggression in Adolescent Girls and Boys. Aggressive Behavior, 32, 385–395. doi: 10.1037/h0043970 Ocampo, L. & Amar, J. (2011). Violencia en la pareja, las caras del fenómeno. Salud Uninorte, 27(1), 108-123. Pérez, V. & Hernández, Y. (2009). La violencia psicológica de género, una forma encubierta de agresión. Revista Cubana de Medicina General Integral, 25(2). Póo, A. & Vizcarra, M. (2008). Violencia de Pareja en Jóvenes Universitarios. Terapia psicológica, 26(1), 81-88. doi: 10.4067/S071848082008000100007 Ramírez, I.L. (2001). The relation of acculturation, criminal history, and social integration of Mexican American and non-Mexican students to assaults on intimate partners. Tesis no publicada para obtener grado de Doctor en Psicología, University of New Hampshire, Estados Unidos Rivera, L., Allen, B., Rodríguez, G., Chávez, R. & Lazcano, E. (2006). Violencia durante el noviazgo, depresión y conductas de riesgo en estudiantes femeninas (12-24 años). Salud Pública de México, 48, 288296.doi: 10.1590/S0036-36342006000800009 Rodríguez, L., Antuña, M., López-Cepero, J., Rodríguez, F., Bringas, C. (2012). Tolerance towards dating violence in Spanish adolescents. Psicothema, 24(2), 236-242. Saldivia, C., & Vizcarra, B. (2012). Consumo de Drogas y Violencia en el Noviazgo en Estudiantes Universitarios del Sur de Chile. Terapia Psicológica, 30(2), 43-49. doi: 10.4067/S0718-48082012000200004 Salinas, P., Barrientos, J., & Rojas, P. (2012). Discursos sobre la discriminación de género en los trabajadores mineros del norte de Chile. Atenea N° 505. Chile: Editorial Universidad de Concepción. Sebastián, J., Ortiz, B., Gil, M., Gutiérrez del Arroyo, M., Hernáiz, A. & Hernández, J. (2010). La Violencia en las Relaciones de Pareja de los Jóvenes. ¿Hacia dónde caminamos? Clínica contemporánea, 1, 71-83. doi: 10.5093/cc2010v1n2a1

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Servicio Nacional de la Mujer. SERNAM. (2009). Análisis de la violencia en las relaciones de pareja entre jóvenes. Editado por Servicio Nacional de la Mujer, Santiago de Chile. Silva, J. & Barrientos, J. (2008). Guiones sexuales de la seducción, el erotismo y los encuentros sexuales en el norte de Chile. Revista Estudios Feministas, v. 16, n° 2. Silva, J. (2012). Circulación del poder entre mujeres chilenas de dos generaciones. Las hijas y las madres. España: Editorial Académica Española. Stappenbeck, C. & Fromme, K. (2013). The effects of alcohol, emotion regulation, and emotional arousal on the dating aggression intentions of men and women. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0032204. Straus, M., Hamby, S., Boney-McCoy, S. & Sugarman, D. (1996). The revised conflict tactics scale: Development and preliminary psychometric data. Journal of Family Issues, 17, 283–316. Straus, M.A. (2004). Prevalence of Violence Against Dating Partner by Male and Female University Students Worldwide. Violence against Women, 10(7), 790-811. doi: 10.1177/1077801204265552 Straus, M.A. & Ramírez, L.I. (2007). Gender Symmetry in Prevalence, Severity, and Chronicity of Physical Aggression against Dating Partners by University Students in Mexico and USA. Aggressive Behavior, 33(4), 281–290. doi: 10.1002/ab.20199 Straus, M.A. (2008). Dominance and Symmetry in Partner Violence by Male and Female University Students in 32 Nations. Children and Youth Services Review, 30(3), 252-275, doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2007.10.004 Sugarman, D.B., & Hotaling, G.T. (1989). Dating violence: Prevalence, context, and risk markers. In A.A. Pirog-Good & J.E. Stets (Eds.), Violence in dating relationships: Emerging social issues (pp. 3-31). New York: Praeger. Vizcarra, M. & Póo, A. (2008). Violencia de Pareja en Jóvenes Universitarios. Terapia Psicológica, 26(1). 81-88. doi: 10.4067/S071848082008000100007 Vizcarra M.B., & Poo, A.M. (2011). Violencia de pareja en estudiantes universitarios del sur de Chile. Universitas Psychologica, 10(1), 89-98. (no puedo encontrar doi y link directo, se baja como pdf) Whitaker, D.J., Haileyesus, T., Swahn, M. & Saltzman, L.S. (2007). Differences in Frequency of Violence and Reported Injury between Relationships with Reciprocal and Nonreciprocal Intimate Partner

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Violence. American Journal of Public Health, 97(5), 41í947. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2005.079020 Wolfe, D.A., Scott, K., Wekerle, C. & Pittman, A. (2001). Child maltreatment: Risk of adjustment problems and dating violence in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40(3), 282-289. doi: 10.1097/00004583-200103000-00007

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS TIME: A MEXICAN PERSPECTIVE MIRNA GARCIA-MENDEZ, SOFIA RIVERA-ARAGON AND ISABEL REYES-LAGUNES NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO

Family is a social institution that has endured over time, with interaction patterns that are modified according to internal needs (life cycle stage) and external demands (social, political and economic). Interaction patterns are the elements that distinguish one family system from another; they differ from culture to culture and within the same culture, and vary from region to region. Donalek (2009) notes that family members may be biologically or legally related to a shared reality and a commitment to safety and socialization. These family responsibilities establish ties that keep the identity and privacy of the group, establishing a support for its members in order to provide continued stability to the system. Family identity, meaning the qualities and attributes that make families particular and different from other families are maintained over time through rituals and myths, (Bennett, Wolin & McAvity, 1991). Rituals, through repetition, stabilize family and support its system of shared beliefs, offer people the opportunity to clarify their position and to assert their collective identity as family. The rituals are divided into three groups: celebrations, traditions and patterned routines. Family celebrations are culturally widespread events, universal symbols that family considers special, and have the power to transmit ethnic identity through the generations. Examples of rituals are weddings, baptisms, funerals, Christmas, Day of the Dead, Mother’s Day, etc. Myths combine facts and fantasies, incorporate important people and events related to family history. They lack a true or final version, and the meaning attributed to facts and the importance of people vary according to

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who tells them, although similarities will be observed in the different narratives that reflect the beliefs shared by the family (Bennet, Wolin & McAvity, 1991).

Family Reconstruction Family relationships involve movement and change, related to a family’s structure, life cycle, and external events such as the country’s economics and politics. Thus, family commitment and its social significance change through time. A new pattern emerges, in which life is a planned project in which personal preferences that will affect individual and family life styles tend to be prioritized (Baxter, Hewitt & Western, 2005). The National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics of Mexico (INEGI) (2009, 2010, 2011) indicates that from 1990 to 2011, marriages have declined from 7.4% to 4.9% and the divorce rate has increased in the same period to 50.9%. Even with these figures, the National Population Council (CONAPO) (2009) states that the family model which prevails in Mexico is the intact or nuclear. In the new family configuration, the reduction in family size is highlighted, along with the decrease in nuclear families and the legal recognition of homosexual families. Among the youth, the age to marry has increased, impacting the diminution and delaying union or marriage. Consensual unions (premarital and cohabitation) have increased, as have single parent, single member and reconstituted households. These changes are related to the life stories of family members, to the culture to which they belong, and to their internal needs and external demands (Anderson & Sabatelli, 2002; Diaz-Loving, 2004). The sociostructural development and change of values and norms, distinctive of the second half of the twentieth century, have changed the attitudes and behaviors of people, insomuch that among youths and adults, remarriage competes with consensual unions in new couples, after widowhood or divorce (De Jong Gierveld, 2004). In addition to the changes noted, two major cross-cultural changes are involved in the transformation of family: the increase in women’s education and work outside the home (Adams, 2004). However, these opportunities do not result in gender equality because they expand and intensify the time women spend on productive, reproductive and care work (Perry-Jenkins, Repetti & Crouter, 2000). The increased participation of married women in the labor force is accompanied by delays in the time taken to get married, getting pregnant

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and drop in marital stability. These changes affect economic needs, and the meaning and experiences of marriage; for example, in the case of women working outside the home, they contribute to maintain the household, with an increase in income and their power in the relationship (Williams, 2003).

The family and its functioning The process of family life is complex and involves multiple factors that modify its conformation, structure and dynamics. There are several components related to its features and functions, which give rise to different ways to explain the factors involved in family relationships (García-Mendez, Rivera, Díaz-Loving & Reyes-Lagunes, 2006). In family functioning, a positive family environment is an essential element in which communication and cohesion promote closeness and the expression of positive feelings among family members. The relationships harmony is associated with the desire of most people to be in a successful and healthy relationship, what means being part of a happy relationship. The belief that a successful and stable relationship brings benefits for couple members and their children is reflected in a growing consensus that children who grow up with parents who are in a stable and happy marriage tend to make a better life (Markman & Halford, 2005). Even when one is determined to have a healthy relationship, interaction patterns that cause tension and conflict among its members are also present in the family, which are associated with difficulties in solving problems and a lack of involvement. Family is continuously in movement, and includes interaction patterns that facilitate or hinder movement and change; in this continuum, positive and negative elements interact simultaneously, in the sense that family functioning is multidimensional. In this situation, it is possible to present a series of circumstances that pose challenges to family stability, for example, reconfiguration in relationship forms that leads to a restoration in the system balance. However, problems can occur, resulting from the inability of the family to carry out relevant transitions. Family life transitions give rise to tensions and according to how the system members face them, they are resolved or become a risk factor for the generation of conflicts that can lead to a dysfunctional interaction style, sometimes causing couple and family disintegration. One element that contributes to the onset and maintenance of family problems is communication, the function of which is to convey information about the perception of others, feelings, thoughts, fears and

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attitudes. However, when communication is affected by criticism, the double message, among other reasons, may render the relationship predominantly negative. Negative interaction patterns often cause tensions and conflicts within the family, making it difficult to solve problems (avoiding them); commitment and attention to the relationship deteriorate. In the routine of family relationships, when negative factors predominate, interaction patterns tend to be hostile; there is a lack of clarity in the rules to follow, related to unclear boundaries and difficulty in showing emotions, affecting relationship patterns related to the relationship satisfaction, ideas exchange, affection and demonstrations of respect (García-Méndez et al., 2006). Thus, high levels of distress in parents are associated with a wide range of family issues, including emotional problems, conflict at home and separation, among others (Jorm, Dear, Rodger & Christensen, 2003). As can be seen, family relationships involve movement and change, as Hoffman (1992) indicates that family is the basic learning context. However, families which are too connected do not allow any change, and those which are too fragmented are in danger of dispersion. As it can be seen in family relations, aspects that strengthen or impair their functioning are present. Four dimensions present in family functioning, related to positive and negative aspects of spouse relationships with other family members are: positive family environment, hostility/avoidance, problems with the expression of feelings and control, and cohesion. The positive family environment relates to relationship patterns associated with relationship satisfaction and the exchange of ideas and views that favor family relationships. Hostility/avoidance is a dimension in which uneasiness, disagreement and criticism towards each other prevail, limiting the expression of affection and favoring the distancing of relationship members. Problems with the expression of feelings and control relate to the lack of clarity in the rules to be followed by family members concerning their behavior, both within and outside the family group, resulting in confused boundaries and difficulties in demonstrating feelings among family members. Cohesion is assumed to be the prevailing affective bond among family members (García-Méndez et al., 2006).

Family and Time Falicov (1999) reports some events related to time passing, which causes the reorganization of family roles and rules, such as the birth and upbringing of children, children’s departure from home, retirement and

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death. Schmitt, Kliegel and Shapiro (2007) reported that when members of a couple are in the middle of their life, they are confronted with a number of factors that modify the interaction of family members: the empty nest, crises and problems associated with the menopause in women, the balance of power and accomplishment, and physical changes inherent to age linked to changes in sexual skills and attraction. Based on these changes, an adjustment in the couple’s identity and in the new patterns of interaction takes place. To Pnina (2009), in long-term couples, role changes are observed. The author also refers to retirement, when the man assumes responsibilities for the household, usually considered feminine by nature, and women become more assertive and take on tasks that are generally considered masculine. Unlike couples in long-term relationships, Johnson, Lee, Y., Lee, T. and Schramm (2006) mention that young couples are in the process of adaptation to new marriage obligations, as in the case of housework, family finances, spending time together and other marital activities, so its dynamics are different to those of couples who have had more time together. As a result of the negative age stereotype, older people are more likely to abandon the goals of passionate love as a compensatory mechanism to avoid the negative consequences associated with failures to achieve those goals, so that they substitute it with companionship love as a strategy of emotional protection and also to protect motivational resources (Bookwala, 2012). In long-term relationships, interaction patterns are reconfigured and change as part of the life cycle stage of its participants. In initial or recent relationships, unlike the long-term ones, the challenge is to establish its identity, boundaries and rules, and maintain the household (GarcíaMendez, Rivera, Diaz-Loving & Reyes-Lagunes, 2010). In his/her role as husband/wife or a long-term companion, new couples negotiate how to act, which can cause problems in the future by the expectations each has of the other. From what is established, they will decide how to relate to the origin family, and to friends and other social groups.

Mexican Culture and Family In culture, the assumptions system that governs feelings and ideas intervenes, providing the hierarchy of interpersonal relationships, the kind of roles to be assumed and the rules of interaction between people in the roles established. These features make the standard assumptions a guide to family life, involved in the development of personality, and the

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achievement of goals, both economically and in the perception of males and females (Diaz-Loving, 1999). Early research on these premises arose in the early 1950s with studies by Díaz-Guerrero, who explains that the functions performed by members of the Mexican family relate to the socio-culturally established, hence the name socio-cultural premises (SCPs) (Díaz-Guerrero, 1955). Subsequently, the study of human relationships also considered the historical dimension in which people are born and grow, and why the SCPs content was modified to become the historical socio-cultural premises (HSCP) (DiazGuerrero, 1972). Diaz-Guerrero (2003a, b) describes the Mexican family as affiliative, with a central role in the lives of Mexicans. His findings denote a set of historical and socio-cultural premises, in which the figure of the mother is exalted; because she is responsible for providing love to family members, she is associated with self-denial and self-sacrifice. The father figure is linked to supremacy and power, thereby obtaining a mixture of love and power within the family. As part of the historical socio-cultural premises, one finds traditional assumptions and premises in transition. In traditional premises, affiliative obedience, devotion to Mary and family honor are integrated. In affiliative obedience, family interests take precedence over self-interests; in Marianism, the traditional position of women in culture is highlighted: a woman is protected and taken care of, and her main function is to govern the household; in family honor, the importance lies in extramarital relationships as a form of family stigma. This dimension is built on three pillars: the obedience of children, protection of women and family honor (García-Méndez, 2007). In the premises in transition, fear of authority, assertiveness, status quo and consent are integrated. The fear of authority is the degree of apprehension that children experience in interactions with parents; assertiveness refers to the willingness to seek autonomy and selfrecognition as independent family members; the familiar status quo is the tendency to keep the traditional structure of relationships among family members unchanged; consent manifests the degree of acceptance that the role of women is more difficult and that they are more sensitive than men (Diaz-Guerrero, 2003a). In these premises, things of the past are retained and they have a modifying effect on others, as in the case of assertiveness, when one seeks autonomy and independence, but one is afraid of authority.

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Coping and family When people are faced with a problem that generates stress, there are multiple resources to solve it. Antonovsky (1993) describes two types of resources: personal and environmental. Personal resources relate to personality stability, self-efficacy, optimism, and a sense of coherence. Environmental resources include support perceived by the social network. From these premises, coping strategies can focus on the emotion or the problem, which can overlap each other. A focus on the problem is generally associated with a greater number of positive results, unlike when the focus is on emotion. Family responses to stress can be divided into two phases: disruption or crisis, and adaptation (Lavee & Olson, 1991). In a stressful situation, there are four factors affecting family adjustment: personal resources of family members, internal resources of the family system, social support, and coping (McCubbin, Joy, Cauble, Comeau, Patterson & Needle, 1980). The strategies indicate a relationship between coping ability and marital functioning, so that rejection, avoidance, self-blame, negativity, self-verbalization, withdrawal, drug abuse, and violence often are negatively related to marital skills. On the other hand, commitment, constructive problem solving, optimism and positive self-statements, are some of the more functional coping behaviors and positively related to high levels of marital satisfaction (Bodenmann & Shantinath, 2004). Similarly, Lavee, McCubbin and Olson (1987) report that the predictive factors of family coping ability are related to the sense of coherence and the strength of the family unit. The sense of coherence is assumed as a coping resource in which family members have a shared view of the world, in which their adaptive capacities are permanently molded according to this view. Coping strategies have a range of existing personal resources, with some distinctive features. One of them is the oriented action linked to selfefficacy and beliefs of internal control, such that strategies focus on selfbeliefs about the ability one has to successfully execute behaviors and/or manipulate the outcome of an action (Schroder, 2004). Some of these selfbeliefs, considered valuable resources in coping, are self-esteem, optimism, self-honesty and self-acceptance (Herrington, Matheny, Curlette, McCarthy & Penick, 2005). In coping, two dimensions are observed: one associated with the conservation of general well-being (trait), and one related to a tendency to respond to a specific situation that creates stress (state) (Reyes-Lagunes, 1998). Based on these premises, Góngora (2000) suggests three factors:

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Direct-with-reevaluation regards the actions of a person in solving a problem; negative emotional is when the person expresses a feeling or an emotion that does not lead directly to the solution of the problem; and the elusive is when one avoids, escapes or minimizes the problem and its solution.

Empirical Findings In order to investigate differences in family relationships, historical social-cultural premises, coping strategies and the years men and women have in a relationship, a study was conducted in which 696 adults in the State of Mexico and the Eastern zone of Mexico City participated voluntarily. The age range of participants was 17 to 53 years (M = 36, SD = 8.38), 478 married and 217 cohabiting. Of the total participants, 281 were housewives, 219 employees, 61 professionals, 99 had a job, 24 were merchants, nine retirees, one unemployed and two did not respond. All with children, from one to eight years old (Mo = 2). Participants responded voluntarily to three instruments: The Family Functioning Scale which assesses four dimensions: positive family environment, hostility/avoidance, control/problems in expressing feelings, and cohesion (García-Mendez, Rivera, Reyes-Diaz-Loving & Lagunes, 2006); the Historical Socio-cultural Premises Scale, which evaluates traditional assumptions and premises in transition (Díaz-Guerrero, 2003a); and the Multidimensional and Multi-situational Coping Scale, the subscale that assesses direct-with-reevaluation family, emotional negative family and elusive family (Góngora, 2000). The definitions of the dimensions that these instruments evaluate are in the preceding paragraphs. A simple analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed with the data obtained to identify differences in the time variable in the relationship (15, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25, 26-30) and the dimensions of family functioning, the HSCP and coping strategies. Significant differences were found in the years of relationship with the cohesion dimension of family functioning F (5, 671) = 4.305, p < .001 and traditional HSCP-F (5, 691) = 3.909, p < .01. With the post hoc Tukey test, it was observed through media that cohesion in a relationship which is one to five years in length is lower (M = 2.97) than in a relationship of 26 to 30 years (M = 3.34). Traditional assumptions in relationships of one to five years (M = 1.57) are more consistent than in the relationships of six to 10 years (M = 1.48) and tend to be strengthened after 16 to 20 years (M = 1.59). There were no differences between coping strategies and time in the relationship.

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To obtain the differences between men and women, a Student t test for independent samples was performed. Significant differences were obtained in the dimension of control/problems expressing feelings of the family functioning scale (t = 2.249, p < .05), in traditional HSCP (t = 2.247, p < .05), in the HSCP in transition (t = 2.547, p < .05) and in the negative emotional family dimension of the coping strategies scale (t = 9.901, p < .01). With the medias obtained, it is observed that in the dimension of control/problems expressing feelings of the family functioning scale, women tend to have more problems (M = 3.071) than men (M = 3.003). Traditional assumptions are more pronounced in women (M = 1,545) than men (M = 1.501), and on the premises in transition, men have higher scores (M = 1.501) than women (M = 1,458). In the negative emotional family dimension of the coping strategies scale, women scored higher (M = 4.471) than men (M = 3.604).

Conclusions With the passage of time, the cohesion related to the affective bond gets stronger, which also occurs with traditional premises. As the relationship progresses over time, what is important for couple members is company and affection, which is reflected in the results presented. Bookwala (2012) mentions that life transitions can have a great influence on defining the nature and quality of marriage in middle age and old age. Usually, in adults, emotional goals take precedence, and living as a couple increases well-being. With time and age, traditional norms are strengthened, Marianism and family membership are emphasized and the importance of family is highlighted. Man’s role as provider and protector is enhanced. For women they assume the role of caregiver, housewife and mother. Regarding the differences between men and women, traditional premises of culture are maintained by women, unlike men who seek autonomy and their identity, independently from the family. With these results, the precepts set by Diaz-Guerrero (2003a, b) are confirmed. The vulnerable position of the woman as a sensitive being who must be protected and cared for, and the man as the strong figure in the relationship responsible for protecting her, are maintained. Another difference is that for women, it is more difficult to establish clear rules and monitor compliance. For them it is a major effort to put limits on family members. They tend to use negative emotional strategies more often than men: she gets angry, and she may cry or get depressed.

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Although the literature discusses family reconfiguration and changes in its dynamics and structure, the results of the present study are inclined to the traditional role of the family. In part, the results may be biased by the geographical location of the sample. The east of Mexico City and the State of Mexico area are considered socially vulnerable areas, particularly the state of Mexico. Another feature of this area is its multiculturalism, because it has a percentage of migrants from different states, some of whom came from rural areas where the strength of the culture (norms, traditions, myths and rituals) is deeply rooted.

Acknowledgements Research funded by the Program UNAM-DGAPA-PAPIIT, code IN304712.

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and predictors of emotional distress in university women. The Journal of Individual Psychology, 61(4), 342-364. Hoffman, L. (1992). Fundamentos de la terapia familiar (2a. reimpr.). México: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (2009). México hoy 2009. México: Autor. —. (2010). Censo de población y vivienda 2010. México: Autor. —. (2011). Nupcial. México: Autor. Johnson, A. C., Lee, Y. G., Lee, T. R. & Schramm, D. G. (2006). Financial Factors Contributing to Marital Satisfaction in Early Marriage, 31-39. Jorm, A. E., Dear, K. B. G., Rodger, B. & Christensen, H. (2003). Interaction between mother’s and father’s affection as risk factor for anxiety and depression symptoms. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 38(4), 173-179. Lavee, Y., McCubbin, H. I. & Olson, D. H. (1987). The effect of stressful life events and transitions on family functioning and well-being. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 49(4), 857-873. Lavee, Y. & Olson, D. H. (1991). Family, types and response to stress. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53(3), 786-798. McCubbin, H. I., Joy, C. B., Cauble, A. E. Comeau, J. K., Patterson, J. M. & Needle, R. H. (1980). Family, stress and coping: A decade review. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 42(4), 855-871. Perry-Jenkins, M., Repetti, R. L. & Crouter, A. C. (2000). Work and family in the 1990s. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(4), 981-988. Pinna, R. (2009). The differences in role division between partners in long-term marriages and their well-being. Journal of Family Social Work, 12(1), 44-55. Reyes-Lagunes, I. (1998). La medición de la Personalidad en México. Revista de Psicología Social y Personalidad, XII, 31-60. Schmitt, M., Kliegel, M. & Shapiro, A. (2007). Marital interaction in middle and old age: A predictor of marital satisfaction? The International Journal Of Aging And Human Development, 65(4) 283300. Schroder, K. E. E. (2004). Coping competence as predictor and moderator of depression among chronic disease patients. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 27(2), 123-145. Williams, K. (2003). Has the Future of Marriage Arrived? A Contemporary examination of gender, marriage, and psychological well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44(4), 470-488.

PUERTO RICAN COUPLE RELATIONSHIPS: REALITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR STUDY RUTH NINA-ESTRELLA UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO

When we frame the study of marriage, our thoughts revolve around the story of a couple, where the spouses are the actors and protagonists of their own history, and we are viewers of their raison d’être. Each story is different; the beginning is unique, the plot is original and the ending is unpredictable. Marriage is the interpersonal relationship with the highest intimacy level. So in the field of psychology, we have tried to find answers to the following questions: what makes a happy marriage? What are the causes which make spouses feel satisfied? What factors cause marital conflicts? And, what elements contribute to keeping a marriage stable? A diversity of questions have motivated researchers and academics to develop important scientific advances in conceptual, methodological and empirical areas concerning the study of the marital relationship (Gottman, 2000; Hendrick & Hendrick, 2000). In the Caribbean, studies devoted to couple relationships are scarce. Most studies available in the literature analyze how health problems affect couple relationships (e.g. cancer, HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and violence). However, particularly in Puerto Rico, a research line on the systematic study of marriage from a social psychology perspective has been developed (Nina, 2013). Different aspects of Puerto Rican couples have been analyzed, such as marital communication, marital conflict, maintenance strategies, sexuality, love and verbal violence, and also other elements that occur in the relationships, such as feelings of loneliness, marital satisfaction and commitment. The investigations conducted have been studies of the exploratorydescriptive type (due to the absence of previous studies), using quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The study samples comprised heterosexual couples legally married or living together, selected for

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availability, who were required: (1) to have been in the relationship for at least a year; (2) to be over 21 years old (in Puerto Rico, in legal terms a person is a minor until the age of 21); and (3) not to be in psychological counseling, nor in situations of domestic violence. In this paper, we briefly present some of the studies that have been developed on love and marital communication. In these studies, different methodologies and techniques that are considered innovative for the understanding of Puerto Rican marital relationship were used.

1. Love Love story Among love manifestations in couple relationships, there are love stories. Love stories give an exclusive meaning to the couple, especially when they are the actors of a story. The stories are not right or wrong per se, but it is important to distinguish what is reality and fiction in the story told (Sternberg, 1996, 1999). Every love story is related to two people, so it is recognized that there are two versions of this intimate world. However, people who maintain a relationship need to configure a shared story, i.e. a story of couple love, which will be filed with the stories of the spouses themselves. These individual stories may be similar or may differ, the latter of which may potentially cause problems in couple life. The couple assigns meaning to love stories as a way to build love and the way the couple relationship is structured (Salgado, 2003). Being in a relationship is to have a story to tell; it is the reality on which one creates and recreates the relationship. This story has a high significance that provides meaning to the couple, as it is a direct way to approach the memory of the couple protagonists through remembering and forgetting the events lived by a couple (Duck, 2000). There have been few studies on love stories. In the literature, there are only the work of Sternberg (1994, 1995, 1996, 1999), who recognizes that we all develop a love story. People develop stories throughout life, which become benchmarks for how love is, what their priorities are in a relationship and how it is expressed, especially in regard to couple sexuality. Considering the theoretical model of Robert Sternberg (1988), the following study was conducted to understand the meaning of love stories (Nina, 2007).

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Method Participants Sixteen people selected for availability (7 males and 9 females) participated in this study. All reported being in a couple relationships, either as engaged or married. 75% of participants were married. The time they had with their partner ranged from 1 to 12 years. The age ranged from 21 to 71 years with an average of 35.68 years. The participants mostly had a university education, indicating that 60% had completed a bachelor’s degree. Instrument For purposes of this study an instrument was developed, in which each participant was asked to write his/her love story as a narrative. This story was written on a sheet that was given to the participant. The sheet was designed as a box with the title Love Story centralized. Participants were informed that they could write in this box for a maximum of twenty minutes. In addition, when accepted to participate in the study, all participants had to complete a socio-demographic questionnaire on aspects like gender, age, years of marriage and educational level, along with a sheet of informed consent. Procedure Participants were contacted in various public places such as doctors’ offices, work centers, beauty salons and so on. After finishing the task, they deposited the instrument in an envelope which should be sealed and delivered to the investigator. All participants completing the instrument received an incentive for their feedback.

Results When analyzing the love stories provided by the participants according to the theoretical model of Sternberg (1999), six types of stories were identified: (1) recovery: the couple relationship survives an unpleasant situation; (2) fantasy: the recreation of a fantastic story; (3) history: narrative is expressed in form of events with a chronology; (4) addiction: it expresses a sense of attachment to another in a anxious manner; (5) game: love is perceived as a game; and (6) travel: love existed before a trip that

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involved physical separation. In addition, other categories were defined considering the literature: emotional aspects and attraction level. Other important elements were also identified in the development of the stories expressed in the narratives: (1) context: the social context in which the story was developed, (2) actors: people who are present in the narrative, (3) theme: brief idea about the description of facts, and (4) the end: how participants ended their love story. Thus, data revealed where the couple encounters occurred, in hierarchical order: church, school, and parties. On a very few occasions, the meeting occurred in a pub or during a sporting activity, or in another social context. As for the actors of the stories, besides the presence of the protagonists of the couple relationship, other actors/actresses are mentioned who contributed to the story as a brother/sister, mother, a close relative or friends. Other actors mentioned significantly are the children in the case of participants who are parents. Regarding the story subject, this focuses on that first meeting when there is mainly a physical attraction. The stories highlight events or situations that occurred when both began to share their everyday lives. In most of the stories, affective acceptance or avoidance behaviors in the process of getting to know each other were observed. These behavioral actions evolved in stages and depend on the acceptance of the person one wants as a partner. As love stories classified as a type “history”, we get an example in the case of a woman (F) who narrated the events in detail: “I met my partner on a youth retreat. It was the first time I had been to a retreat. I noticed that this guy was looking at me a lot but I did not pay much attention to him. A few weeks later, I was invited to the youth group at my church and to my surprise the guy who kept looking at me at the retreat attended the group. He was the first to speak to me, but like me, he was very shy. He had not captured my attention until we had a Halloween party at his house and he asked me to dance. We started to call each other and clearly neither of us missed the youth group meetings. About a month later, he timidly asked me to be his girlfriend but I told him I had just ended a relationship and wanted to think about things. I asked for a week to give him an answer, but in reality I knew I would say yes to him. One day before the expiration of the term, a rumor began to circulate about the name of a girl who liked him. And before he could renege, I ran to him to say yes and I remember it as if it were today. I remember the first kiss that took me to heaven. Today we’ve had three and a half years of marriage after 5 years of dating. I am very happy” (F).

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Regarding the typology of love stories, a total of eight stories have been identified: 1) recovery, 2) fantasy, 3) history 4) addiction, 5) game, 6) travel, 7) emotional, and 8) attraction. The types are common to both genders except love stories classified as fantasy, travel and game, which were expressed only for some women, whereas among men only one love story of addiction was obtained.

Discussion The narratives show love stories about how couple relationships started, the social context in which the relationship developed, and behaviors assumed after identifying attraction. All participants recognized that they had a story to tell. On the other hand, in these love stories, they refer to the memory (of remembering and forgetting) on which the couple identity is constructed; that feeling of “ourselves” recognizing the story as unique and exclusive, recreating a couple culture. The results in the study reveal a variety of love stories, which differ in the content and meaning given by those who wrote them. This is consistent with the results obtained in the studies by Sternberg (1994, 1995, 1996, 1999). A conceptualization of love in which affection, happiness and physical attractiveness – necessary elements to start a stable relationship – are based on these stories and their narratives.

2. Semantic Networks The experience of loving another person, with whom an intimate world of feelings is shared, motivates the existence of a couple relationship. Love is a social construction that reflects a time and historical moment (Nina, 2012; Sternberg, 1995). Love evokes a range of feelings that relate to: (1) the loved one, (2) the feelings accompanying love, (3) ideas and associations to love, and (4) behavioral actions between the lover and the beloved (Sternberg & Barnes, 1988). Each of these elements has a significance that varies according to the culture and the historical moment. When analyzing couple love, as the experience of loving another person with whom an intimate world of feelings and emotions is shared, one should think about the concept itself and the various psychosocial processes involved in it (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1989; Noller, 1996; Salgado, 2003). Love includes features that can be classified into behaviors, judgments, attitudes and feelings (Díaz-Loving, 1999; Noller & Feeney, 2006). In addressing their meanings in a couple relationship, it is recognized that four elements will always be present: (1) the beloved, (2)

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the feelings that accompany love, (3) the ideas attributed to love and, (4) the relationship between one who loves and one who is loved (Hendrick & Hendrick, 2000). Based on Sternberg’s model, a study was conducted to understand how people conceptualize love during the various stages of couple relationships: courtship, newly married couples, couples with children and couples in the “empty nest” phase (Nina & Walters, 2005). To achieve this objective the natural semantic networks technique developed by Valdez (1998) was applied, because this is one of the most powerful techniques for assessing the significance of concepts.

Participants The sample consisted of 95 people selected for availability (34 men and 61 women), who formed four groups according to the couple relationship stage: 25 couples in the dating stage, 20 newlywed couples, 25 couples with children and 25 in the “empty nest” stage. The ages ranged from 20-82 years with an average of 39 years of age, and an average of two children.

Instruments The semantic network technique consists of giving the participant a sheet of paper with a word stimulus at the top. Participants are asked to write on the sheet all the words that best define the stimulus concept. In this study the stimulus word was love. Following this, people should establish a hierarchical order according to the closeness of their defining words with the word stimulus. In consideration of this, the number one was assigned to the nearest word, and so on with each of the written words. Based on this list, it was possible to discern a representative network of the organization and distance of the information, and thus the meaning of the concept.

Procedure Participants in various public places were invited to participate. When they agreed to participate, the researcher explained to them the instructions: (1) write a list of words defining the concept love, (2) write five to ten words maximum, (3) after writing the defining words they should establish a hierarchy of the words given. After finishing the task,

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participants put the instrument in an envelope and handed it to the researcher.

Results Regarding the defining words in common, we found that the word understanding was the only one present at all stages of the couple relationship. Its position varied in the hierarchical order, occupying the first place in newly married couples, couples with children, and “empty nest” couples. Furthermore, the results generally reflect a conceptualization of love as a set of qualities that a person who loves or is loved should have. For instance, we find words such as: understanding, communication, sincerity, trust, commitment, respect and fidelity. These aspects are expected in a relationship where there is love. This suggests that no matter in what couple stage the person is at, the expectation is that these qualities are present in the relationship. Also, all defining words obtained relating to the stimulus of love have a positive emotional charge. This shows a healthy perception of this feeling, eliciting no negative words. For couples in the dating stage, a total of 69 defining words for love were generated. Love was defined as respect, trust, communication, understanding, fidelity, affection, joy, friendship, sincerity and love. The concept of respect was the defining word closer to love. It was also defined with words that have an affective charge, as affection, love, understanding and joy. For newly married couples, a total of 65 defining words for love were generated. Love was defined as: understanding, communication, passion, trust, commitment, sincerity, respect, affection, fidelity and sharing. The defining word closest to love was understanding. Moreover, it can be observed that words that have to do with the process of the relationship are presented, for instance, understanding, fidelity, sincerity and trust. For couples with children, a total of 69 defining words for love were generated. The following defining words have been obtained: understanding, children, commitment, respect, loyalty, communication, delivery, sharing, happiness and dedication. Understanding was the word nearest to love. As observed, love was defined by the words children, dedication and sharing; aspects regarding the coexistence of couples with children. At the relationship stage when couples have children, these terms seem to be identified with a high degree of responsibility where couple love is felt in family relationships and commitment to the children.

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For “empty nest” couples, people in this stage generated a total of 79 defining words for love. The following words have been identified: loyalty, understanding, security, God, stability, responsibility, respect, dedication, love and trust. Some defining words were related to religious beliefs and comfort or protection about the relationship. Those pairs at the “empty nest” phase reflected a perception of love as a state of stability where spirituality takes precedence over affection. They are the only ones to define love as God, security, patience, stability and responsibility.

Discussion Regarding the aspects in common, the word understanding seems to be a significant element in all couple stages in Puerto Rican culture. The desire of the other to understand what one feels in the couple relationship is important in defining love. It is also significant, contrary to what is presented in the literature, that sexuality is not among the top ten defining words of love, and that fidelity varies according to the relationship stage. These results demonstrate that the definition of love depends on the life cycle phase of the couple. Finally, love conceptualization reflects the social reality in which the couple lives, which is very distant from what Hollywood movies present.

3. Marital Communication Communication is a key element to maintain the stability of a marital relationship (Nina, 1996; Noller & Feeney, 2006; Vangelisti & Perlman, 2006). In the literature, it is seen consistently as an indicator of how healthy a relationship is or is not. However, the perception of what is good communication in a marital relationship is variable; it may depend on the ways which spouses exchange information, or on their own life story (Brehm, 1992; Guerrero, Anderson, & Affi, 2007; Nina, 1991). To Noller and Fitzpatrick (1993) the variability of the communication processes reflects the experiences of couples regarding the basic patterns of daily living such as: space, time, energy, affection, power and meaning. That is: (1) the public or private space which the couple shares; (2) time, i.e., the relationship life history in the past, present and future; (3) the energy that motivates them to remain as a couple; (4) the affection dimension, which refers to the feeling of loving and being loved by another; (5) power, determined by the freedom to select a partner and the

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influence to begin the relationship; and (6) meaning, which refers to the identities that the relationship can provide its members. Couple communication serves several functions including: (1) organizing the relationship (Nina, 2011); (2) constructing and validating a vision of the world together; and (3) protecting the couple’s vulnerabilities (Fitzpatrick, 1988; Vangelisti, 2004). The couple, when communicating, can exchange information on perceptions, feelings and fears about the relationship (De Cristoforis, 2009; Hendrick, 2004; Jorgensen & Gaudy, 1980). As well, they can exchange information about their past lives, attitudes and aspects of her/his present personal life, as well as on the functioning of the marital relationship (Coddou & Mendez, 2002; Hendrick & Hendrick, 2000). Investigations on the subject have focused mainly on marital conflict involving communication processes, affective expressions, emotional support and forgiveness when a transgression occurs in the relationship (Díaz-Loving, 1999; Vangelisti, 2004). Based on previous theoretical discussion, two instruments have been developed for the investigation of marital communication: a dialogue inventory and a communication scale.

Inventory of Couple Dialogues This study was conducted in order to understand the communication process in the context of a marital relationship (Nina, 2013), where the amount of communication is analyzed, as well as the information content, the intimacy level, the valence and who initiated the conversation. For that reason, the Inventory of Couple Dialogues was developed as a technique by which one can record a spontaneous conversation in a marriage context. In this instrument, the participant should write down a recent dialogue with his/her partner, related to the last week of coexistence.

Method Participants A total of 20 spouses participated. They were residents of metropolitan San Juan, selected for availability, aged 21-60 years with an average of 30 years of age, and with an average of 11 years of marriage. The majority indicated that they had completed university-level education (65%), with one child on average.

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Instrument Considering the study objectives, the Inventory of Couple Dialogues was designed in order to analyze the communication process in couple relationship in their daily lives. This instrument consists of two pieces: (1) in the first, an example of how to answer the instrument and instructions to the participant are described, and (2) on the following page the participant had to write a recent dialogue with his/her partner. The dialogue should be related to the last week. Procedure Participants invited other people to participate. When these people agreed to participate, the researcher explained the instructions to them. After the task, participants deposited the instrument in a sealed envelope and delivered it to the researcher.

Results In terms of the number of words, spouses wrote four paragraphs with a maximum of ten sentences, with women writing longer dialogues. Interestingly, in most of the written dialogues, the husband initiated the conversation. The following is an example of the dialogue obtained: Man: Girl, I’ve arrived home. I’m tired and I have not eaten anything. What’s for lunch? Woman: Well, what could I prepare? Man: What? Woman: Rice, beans and chicken. Man: Same as yesterday. But, why don’t you prepare anything else? Woman: I do not know what [you want]. Do you want me to serve it or not? Man: No way. I’m hungry.

Dialogues were studied using content analysis (Ander-Egg, 1995), which resulted in five categories of analysis: (1) expectations and responsibilities, (2) parental role, (3) control and power, (4) dissatisfaction, and (5) verbal violence. Concluding, the dialogues obtained in the study refer mainly to the couple’s daily lives, especially issues pertaining to relationship organization and function.

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Discussion In general, dialogues refer to the couple’s daily lives, particularly regarding the organization and function of the relationship. Participants narrated various dialogues expressing disagreements at times when there are contingencies or obstacles that disrupt stability in daily life. To express their disagreement or expose the conflict causes an intimate psychological distance between them. The dialogues reflect existing egocentric perspectives, i.e., that the problems are related to or are determined by the individual’s perception of the problem and even by their perception of what a marital relationship means. People see the problems according to how they related to them, which does not necessarily match the way others deal with the same problem. Marital conflicts in which criticism is recurrent encourage negative communication. The discussion highlights negative qualities in the partner, often pointing to what was not done or said, which produces and reproduces, in a circular way, the climate or tone in communication. It was interesting that participants remember dialogues in which they demonstrate a type of conflict in couple relationship, and not one that stressed positive aspects in the relationship. In the dialogues, positive situations were not expressed, contrary to what happens in other studies regarding groups in Anglo-Saxon and Latin American culture. It is important to highlight, moreover, that in none of the dialogues was a level of intimacy obtained in terms of expressions of affections, feelings and emotions, contrary to the literature (Vangelisti & Perlman, 2004). We conclude that communication is not just an exchange of information, but it occurs in a context of strategy and tactics. When one blames the other or self-responsibility is excluded, perspective on the real issues is lost, which threatens the couple’s survival.

Marital Communication Scale (COMARI) Considering Altman and Taylor’s theory of social penetration (1973), a scale of marital communication was developed, which was initially developed for Mexican spouses (Nina, 1996). This scale measures the amount and content of communication between the relationship members. This Likert-type scale consists of 41 items with answers that ranged from Little to Much (range of 1-5), including issues such as: (14) things that you dislike, (21) who is responsible for domestic work, (33) social issues, (10) moments I trust him/her.

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To validate this scale, it was applied to a sample of 425 Puerto Rican spouses with an average age of 33.7 years. The data obtained were subjected to factor analysis with an oblique rotation, resulting in three factors which explain 41.2% of the total variance of the test. Thus, 41 items with factor loadings greater than .40 were obtained to measure three dimensions: (1) Factor: Negative feelings and functionality (15 items: e.g. Situations where I get angry with my family), with an Alpha .92. (2) Factor: Rules and limits of the couple (11 items, e.g. what should he/she do in his/her spare time?), with an Alpha .95. (3) Factor: Children and external factors (12 items, e.g. How to reduce our expenses), Alpha .90. In the Puerto Rican couple, the marital communication construct showed multiple facets. Thus the theoretical position that communication in marital relations is characterized as a multi-dimensional variable is confirmed. That is, communication is a variable ranging from personal themes to everyday issues. It should be pointed out that the dimensions of marital communication were different from those obtained in studies with Mexican marriages. For the Puerto Rican couple, it was significant to talk about negative aspects, such as couple conflicts or limits, different from the studied Mexican couples.

Conclusions Considering the trajectory of research that has been conducted on Puerto Rican marriage in the last decade, one can say that there is a culture of the Puerto Rican couple, i.e., one can identify unique characteristics that demonstrate their own identity. These data are significant for psychology due to the strong influence of American culture in Puerto Rican daily life, due to the political relationship with the United States. Although this investigation has addressed only some relationship aspects, it shows the value that is given to affective behavior, the need to define the rules and duties of spouses in a relationship. Likewise, it is important to express misunderstandings and feelings that produce dissatisfaction in marital communication. Given the psychological work in the country, these studies bridge the gap on this issue in Puerto Rican psychological literature. However, as researchers, we face several challenges when investigating couples, especially the marriage aspect of couple relationships: (1) this is not a subject of interest in the field of psychological research in Puerto Rico; (2) universities do not have a workspace to develop this kind of investigation. So, in the investigation process, it is necessary to deal with several barriers when trying to get institutional, administrative, or research ethics

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committee support; (3) socio-demographic transformations of the new 2010 census indicate that Puerto Rico has become an aging society. There is a decline in marriages, leading to new types of couples. So, one should pay more attention to the relationships of older adults; and (4) the importance of studies on couples relationships should be recognized in order to promote scientific production and theoretical advance based on the Puerto Rican culture. Finally, there is still a long way to go, so one does not get the last word.

References Altman , I. & Taylor, D. (1973). Social penetration: The deveploment of interpersonal relationship. New York, NY: Rinehort & Winston. Ander-Egg, E. (1995). Técnicas de Investigación Social Buenos Aires: Humanitas. Brehm, S. (1992). Intimate Relationships. New York: McGraw-Hill. Coddou, F. & Méndez, C. (2002). La aventura de ser pareja. Buenos Aires: Editorial Grijalbo. De Cristoforis, O. (2009). Amores y parejas en el siglo XXI. Buenos Aires: Letras Vivas. Diaz-Loving, R. (1999). Antología psicosocial de la pareja. México: AMEPSO. Duck, S. (2000). Handbook of personal relationships. New York: Wiley & Sons. Fitzpatrick, M. A. (1988). Between Husbands and Wives: Communication in Marriage. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Gottman, J. (2000). Vivir en pareja. España: Plaza Janes. Guerrero, L., Anderson, P. & Affi, W. (2007). Close Encounters: Communication in Relationships. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Hendrick, S. (2004). Understanding Close Relationships. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. Hendrick, C. & Hendrick, S. (2000). Close Relationships. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Hendrick, C. & Hendrick, S. (1989). Research on love: Does it measure up? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56(5), 784-794. Hendrick, C. & Hendrick, S. (1986). A theory and method of love. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 392-402. Jorgensen, S. & Gaudy, J. (1980). Self-disclosure and satisfation in marriage: The relation examined. Family Relations, 29, 281-287. Nina, R. (2013). Los Idiomas de la Pareja. Investigaciones sobre la comunicación marital. San Juan: Editorial Isla Negra.

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—. (2012). El significado del amor en matrimonios de largo tiempo. Revista Análisis, XIII (1), 75-93. —. (2011). ¿Que nos mantiene juntos? Explorando el Compromiso y las Estrategias de mantenimiento en la relación marital. Revista Intercontinental de Psicología y Educación, 13(2), 197-220. —. (2008). El uso del diario en el conflicto marital. Psicología Social en México. México: AMEPSO, XII, 261-265 —. (2007) Análisis de Psicosocial sobre las historias de amor. Revista Puertorriqueña de Psicología, 18, 62-71. Nina, R. & Walters, K. (2005). ¿Qué es el amor para la pareja puertorriqueña? Psicología Comunitaria, Reflexiones, implicaciones y nuevos rumbos. San Juan: Editorial Publicaciones Puertorriqueñas. Nina, R. (1996). Comunicación y pareja conyugal. Psicología Contemporánea, 3(1), 66-74. —. (1991). Comunicación y estilo: un análisis en la relación marital. Investigación Psicológica, 1(1), 17-23. Noller, P. (1996). What is this thing called love? Defining the love that supports marriage and family. Personal Relationships, 3, 97-115. Noller, P. & Feeney, J. (2006). Close Relationships: Functions, forms and processes. New York: Psychology Press. Noller, P. & Fitzpatrick, M. (1993). Communication in Family Relationships. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Salgado, C. (2003). El desafío de construir una relación de pareja. México: Grupo Editorial Norma. Sternberg, R. (2000). La experiencia del amor. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Paidós. —. (1999). El amor es como una historia. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Paídos. —. (1996). Love stories. Personal Relationships, 3, 1359-1379. —. (1995). Love as a story. Journal of Social and Personality Relationships, 12(4), 541-546. —. (1994). Love is a story. The General Psychologist, 30, 1-11. —. (1989). El triángulo del amor. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Editorial Paidós. Sternberg, R. & Barnes, M. (1988). The Psychology of Love. New Haven: Yale University Press. Vangelisti, A. (2004). Handbook of Family Communication. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. Vangelisti, A. & Perlman, D. (2006). The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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Valdéz, J. L. (1998). Las redes semánticas naturales: Usos y aplicaciones en psicología social. Estado de México. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México.

INTERVENTION POSSIBILITIES IN CASES OF MARITAL VIOLENCE IN BRAZIL BEATRIZ SCHMIDT, SIMONE DILL AZEREDO BOLZE, MARIA APARECIDA CREPALDI AND MAURO LUIS VIEIRA FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL

Intra-family violence, which refers to relations of abuse committed within a family against any of its members, is considered a public health problem. Among the various forms of intra-family violence, the violence between spouses is highlighted. It is evaluated as endemic and as a matter that warrants attention and management by health services (Brazil, 2002). Therefore, the present study aimed to characterize marital violence and to present possibilities of intervention, especially in the context of the Family Health Strategy (ESF). The investigation is based on the assumption that ESF teams act towards the development of health actions, with actions directed to families in their context, in an integral, continuous, active and decentralized manner, with an interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach (Brazil, 2006). Teams function as a primary resource of access for families that use the Unified Health System (SUS). The training of participating professionals is therefore recommended, in order to prepare them to identify and intervene in cases of conjugal violence.

Violence: conceptual aspects Etymologically, the word violence derives from the Latin vis which means force, power, force employment, beyond abundance, amount, and essence. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), violence is defined as “The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation” (WHO, 2002, p. 5).

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It is associated with high costs to the health and justice systems, beyond absences and productivity loss at work, and it is also related to depression, different personality and behavior disorders and, more specifically, to antisocial personality disorder (Brazil, 2002; Schraiber, D’Oliveira, & Couto, 2006). In Brazil particularly, deaths caused by violence (external causes) occupy third place in the ranking of mortality, second only to circulatory diseases and neoplasia, according to documented information collected from DATASUS, the database of SUS (Brazil, 2011). For these reasons, the phenomenon of violence has been recognized as a worldwide health problem, since it raises serious repercussions for the development and health of those involved, and is considered the “challenge of the century” (Brazil, 2008). Reaching the entire social fabric, violence occurs in private and public spaces, in institutional, group and interpersonal relations (Schraiber, et al., 2006). Among the various types of violence, the WHO (2002) proposes a classification system including three general categories: (a) self-inflicted violence, including suicidal behavior and self-injury; (b) interpersonal violence, composed of intra-family or community subcategories; and (c) collective violence, which is subdivided into social, political and economic. As violence can take many forms and affect people in diverse contexts, it is considered that each type should be studied according to its particular characteristics. Thus, this chapter will focus on interpersonal violence, specifically on the violence that occurs between spouses in a family context, which is defined as a polysemic phenomenon that can manifest in many forms: physical, psychological, sexual, patrimonial and moral violence (Brazil, 2012).

Intra-family and domestic violence Domestic violence refers to “any action or omission that harms the well-being, the physical or psychological integrity, or the freedom and the right to full development of another family member” (Brazil, 2002, p. 15). It may be exercised within or outside the home by a family member, without people necessarily presenting ties of consanguinity, but with a power relationship with one another. The meaning of intra-family violence is not just about the physical space in which violence occurs, but it also includes the relationships related to it. Domestic violence differs from intra-family violence by involving other group members who live together in the home, including, for example, employees or other people in sporadic contact. Specifically, the expression “domestic violence” as a phenomenon emerged in women’s

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social movements and this was, in many situations, the term used to describe instances of intra-family violence in the home context, reaching women due to their gender condition (Brazil, 2002). It is only in the last 25 years that violence in the family environment has come to no longer be seen as a private problem but as a crime that requires state intervention, and a matter which has become a target of public policies (Andrade & Fonseca, 2008; Schmidt, Schneider & Crepaldi, 2011). With regard specifically to marital violence, data collected in the “Information System for Notifiable Diseases” – SINAN (Brazil, 2013a) realize that reports of domestic, sexual and/or other types of violence have shown an upward trend in recent years. Notifications made, particularly concerning situations of domestic violence during the years 2009 to 2013 (with partial data from January to July), amounted to a total of 62,590 occurrences. It is noted that in 2009, a total of 4,529 notifications have been registered, whereas in 2011 this number rose to 15,785. Analysis of SINAN data (Brazil, 2013a) indicates that over 90% of victims of the domestic violence incidents recorded on the system are women. However, the proportion of men offended against, characterized as victims in these relationships, also increased from 6.29% in 2009 to 8.37% in 2011. The underreporting of domestic violence should also be discussed, which is addressed by some authors that focus on this issue (Alvim & Souza, 2005; Zaleski, Pinsky, Orange, Ramisetty-Mikler, & Caetano, 2010). It is conceived that cases of intra-family violence are more common than what is represented in official rates. This underreporting may be attributed to women’s shame and fear of reprisal, or even men’s fear of humiliation and “wounded” honor. Additionally, it is possible that the tenuous assistance offered by the state in some cases does not make people feel safe enough to make a report (Alvim & Souza, 2005). One of the main legal instruments that deal with domestic violence refers to Law 11.340/2006, popularly known as the “Maria da Penha Law”, which contributed, among other things, to provide the basis for the formulation of intervention strategies regarding domestic violence. This normative act defines domestic and family violence against women as “any act or omission which causes death, injury, physical, sexual or psychological suffering and moral or material damage” at home, in the family or in intimate affective relationship (Brazil 2012, p. 18). The Law also provides for an integrated public policy of assistance to women victims of domestic violence through a coordinated set of actions by the Union, States, Federal District and municipalities, as well as nongovernmental actions and initiatives.

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Although the Law 11.340/2006 has been created particularly for providing protection and assistance to women victims of violence, it is emphasized that judgments have already been handed down that, by analogy, are based in such statute aiming to protect men who have suffered violence in the family context, at home or in affective relationships (JusBrasil, 2013). Thus, there are indications that the protective measures contemplated in the “Maria da Penha Law” can be applied by the judicial authority to people who have been offended against in general, regardless of gender, in cases where vulnerability is observed, although this position is no majority (Cunha, 2012). Despite the innovations introduced by Law 11.340/2006, it should be noted that there are weaknesses in the implementation of this normative act, such as the inefficiency in the implementation of protective measures, the lack of human and material resources, the fragmentation of the assistance network and actions of conservative sectors of society to delegitimize the statute (Meneghel, Mueller, Collaziol, & Frames, 2013). However, in general, as the number of complaints based on the “Maria da Penha Law” has shown to be significant (Brazil, 2013b), it is possible to assume that people are increasingly seeking legal support when they feel vulnerable in situations of experienced violence, for example, in couple relationships.

Conjugal violence Conjugal violence can be conceived from more than one explanatory model; thus, we chose to emphasize in this chapter gender and relational models, as proposed by Scatamburlo, Moré and Crepaldi (2012). To differentiate between them, such authors note that in the gender model, the studies use clinical samples that reveal the pattern of perpetration of violence that occurs of the man against the woman. On the other hand, the relational model relies on population samples, which indicate that rates of perpetration of violence between couples occur bi-directionally; i.e., there are aggression by men against women and vice versa. The point of intersection between the above two models may be found in intergenerational transmission, whose concept refers to the phenomena of interactions between two generations. Historically, an important group of studies on intergenerational transmission is guided by the repetition of violent behavior across generations, i.e., victims of maltreatment during childhood have a greater probability of becoming adult abusers (Belsky, Conger, & Capaldi, 2009).

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It is understood that children learn from their parents how to maintain social relationships through observation, modeling and reinforcing patterns of interaction in a family context, since they tend to imitate the adult behavior taken as a model (Bandura, 1978). Thus, in two-parent families, the relationship between the couple as parents or primary caregivers is usually the first and most frequent model of interpersonal exchange between romantic partners that a child witnesses. Thus, marital relationships of parents also play an important role in the social development of children, helping them shape their behavior in peer interactions. Also, the experiences with the family of origin are linked to the ways in which children will negotiate intimate relationships later in life (Schmidt, 2012). In this chapter, it is assumed that one cannot take a deterministic stance on intergenerational transmission, as there are individuals who can break generational patterns. However, intergenerational and family history should be taken into account in the assessment of violence, because a review of prospective and longitudinal investigations have indicated that a parenting generation predicts the continuities of parenting in the next generation, in a degree of relationship varying from modest to moderate. Therefore, these results indicate that children, over time, come to believe that specific practices of family relationships are appropriate and effective. Thus, they adopt them in their own families when they become parents (Conger, Belsky & Capaldi, 2009). At present, the development of theories are being fostered, which encompass two subtypes of intra-family violence, namely, parental and conjugal. It should be noted that there are indications of associations, from moderate to strong, between parental and interparental aggression; moreover, the results of a literature review conducted by Slep and O’Leary (2001) suggest that these two forms of violence have a large number of related factors in common, such as stress, lack of social support, exposure to violence in the family of origin, conflicts between mother–father and parent–children, low income, depression, etc. Thus, violence can be understood as a disruptive tactic for resolving marital conflict. One type of violence considered common among couple members is psychological aggression, which may include actions taken by one spouse that aim to harm the partner’s self-esteem, identity or development, through humiliation, discrimination and/or criticisms of sexual performance. This type of violence can also involve attempts to offend the spouse, such as insults, name calling, increased voice tone, threats of throwing objects, or even abandonment of an argument that has not yet come to an end. In a study of 104 Brazilian couples, behaviors

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related to this tactic of conflict resolution were described by more than 80% of women and men interviewed (Bolze, Schmidt, Crepaldi & Vieira, 2012). According to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, the risk factors in marital relationships to the outbreak of violence between couple members are: (a) the occurrence of violence in previous relationships by at least one of the spouses; (b) characteristics such as detachment and economic interest, present already at the beginning of the relationship; (c) difficulty in dealing with others and aggressive relationship, with a predominance towards isolation and withdrawal; (d) a long time spent living in situations of violence and accumulated strain; (e) low negotiating capacity of the couple in conflict interactions; (f) gradual increase in degree, intensity and frequency of violence episodes; (g) high emotional and/or economic dependence of partners; (g) lowered self-esteem and little autonomy of each partner; (h) possessiveness and jealous feelings exacerbated by couple members; (i) abuse of alcohol and/or other drugs by one partner or both; (j) seropositivity of women, i.e., infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (Brazil, 2002). However, a key element in satisfying relationships is the use of appropriate strategies for conflict resolution, which are usually transmitted during childhood. However, if couple members did not have experience in negotiating conflict constructively in the context of their families of origin, they can, even in adulthood, modify behavioral patterns learned by generational legacies. The experience of living in close supportive relationships with others, such as spouses or health professionals, enhances the ability to break the cycle, i.e., the disruption of disruptive behavioral and relational patterns (Belsky, et al., 2009). Thus, it is understood that, in cases of conjugal violence, a mechanism promoting changes can be found in the care provided by ESF teams, as explained below.

The Family Health Strategy (ESF) and marital violence Considering intra-family and conjugal violence as a public health problem because of the repercussions it brings in human development, interpersonal, community and social relations, it is necessary to prepare ways to identify it and intervene against it in health services (Schmidt et al., 2011), especially by family health teams. Implemented in 1994, the ESF, also called a reference team, aims to modify the assistance model, aiming to develop a model of care based on the principles of SUS, through universal access, comprehensiveness in

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health care and planning and politico-administrative decentralization (Brazil, 2006). The main purpose of the ESF is to reorganize the practice of health care on new bases and replace the traditional model, leading families closer to health and thereby improve the life quality of the population (Brazil, 2009). An ESF team should consist of at least a doctor (general practitioner), nurse, nursing assistant or nurse technician, and community health workers. ESF teams work for promotion, prevention, recovery, rehabilitation and palliative care, focusing on the family unit and emphasizing the creation of ties, commitment and co-responsibility among professionals and the population served by them (Brazil, 2006). Thus, whereas ESF workers conceive of users in context, from the perspective of integral care, it is perceived that they present full conditions to cope with domestic violence, according to the privileged position that such teams occupy and also the consequences of family violence on the psychosocial development process and the health of those who experience it (Andrade & Fonseca, 2008). However, the difficulty of detecting the presence of aggressive acts and occurrence of violence in the marital dyad should be emphasized. Often, the victim does not talk about suffering any kind of aggression perpetrated by the spouse, which makes recognition and professional intervention difficult. Thus, it is understood that when there is suspicion of domestic violence, the family health team member should listen to the victim and advise the victim about necessary procedures or referrals. The importance of early identification is stressed, because the violence episodes tend to become progressively more severe and recurrent (Schmidt et al., 2011). There may be situations, however, in which the ESF worker does not feel safe or comfortable enough to perform the necessary service to people involved in incidents of conjugal violence, i.e., victims or perpetrators of spouse abuse. In such cases, it is salutary that the professional or the team seeks assistance in the other resources available in the Brazilian Health Service (SUS). It is understood that a good option to deal with this kind of demand is to contact the Support Center for Family Health (NASF), which will be specified below.

The Support Center for Family Health (NASF) and conjugal violence Created in 2008, the NASF aims “to support the insertion of the ESF in the service network and expand the breadth and scope of activities of basic

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care, and increase its resoluteness, reinforcing the processes of territorialization and regionalization in health” (Brazil, 2009, p. 10). There are three types of NASF, each with their specific duties and a working group composed of senior professionals in different health areas (Brazil, 2013c). Among these, there is the psychologist, who can organize his/her work process with the team using tools such as Matrix Support, Extended Clinic, Single Therapeutic Project, Health Project in the Territory of Support and Support Agreement. Among these, the present chapter will focus on Matrix Support, which is constituted as a new organizational arrangement for the management of health work, aiming to reach dialogical integration between different specialties and levels of care, in search of a more appropriated and interdisciplinary service model (Ballarin, Blanes, & Ferigato, 2012). Matrix Support consists of a group of professionals who do not necessarily provide direct and daily interactions with the users of the SUS, but whose duties consist of assisting the reference teams (ESF). They work as a care and technical-pedagogical network that can be triggered by the ESF team. This network seeks to ensure, in a dynamic and interactive way, specialized teams in the reference teams. Their work is anchored in the care dimension, which is concerned with direct clinical action towards users, and the technical-pedagogical dimension, the aim of which is to give education support with the reference team and to the reference team. One of the main assumptions of NASF is that knowledge should be shareable; that is, there is a particular knowledge held by each expert who acts in a team, but there is also a common knowledge that enables joint actions (Brazil, 2009). With respect to the psychologist’s practice in particular, it is understood that this professional’s specialism is to work with people’s emotions. However, it should be noted that it is not possible for any member of the healthcare team to avoid dealing to some extent with the affections in therapeutic relationships. Thus, the psychologist who works in Matrix Support in situations of conjugal violence or any other situation should not be solely responsible for meeting and following cases. The task of this professional is to provide support and knowledge to the ESF team, to enable the team to handle cases of violence. In some cases, the psychologist can make consultations in conjunction with other professionals from the ESF, with an aim to offer a clinical perspective through direct shared user intervention (care dimension) and at the same time to promote the ESF team’s empowerment, knowledge generation and ability to build responses (technical and pedagogical dimension) (Lucena, 2009). So, the

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psychologist can contribute towards the diffusion or circulation of his/her professional knowledge.

Possibilities for intervention in cases of domestic violence As previously indicated, psychologists should, among other tasks, act as consultants to the ESF teams in situations of conjugal violence. The type of intervention that is offered will depend on the particularities of each case, because each marital problem must be analyzed specifically (Epstein, Baucom, & LaTaillade, 2006). We should clarify that systems permeated by violence, in general, are rigid and present resistance to change. In addition, couples who engage in aggressive interactions often exhibit such behaviors as common acts or practices. For this reason, violence must be considered not as a natural phenomenon. In the following paragraphs, some possibilities for intervention, based on Ravazzola (2007) are outlined, in order to indicate possible actions performed by ESF teams in situations of domestic violence: • Work as a multidisciplinary group (at least two professionals); • Address the issue and perform the care calmly, carefully and firmly; • It is essential to establish limits to avoid the reproduction of other violence situations during the intervention (such as teasing or conversations that generate abuse); • Compose an alliance with various social systems and devices (health, justice, social work) and offer different resources and treatment modalities; • Inform those involved in a violent relationship about where to search for other support agencies which specialize in the problem; • Hold conversations and debates in order to break the sense of autoresponsibility by the victim, who usually has a tendency to blame her or himself for the occurrence of violent acts; • Do not take complaints as a personal issue. There are situations where the professional shows up more outraged by the violence act than those who have suffered it. One should be aware that the victim’s attitude to belittle the seriousness of violence can constitute a defense mechanism. The professional should act to promote changes in order to cease violent interactions; • Discuss the roles and functions in families with women and men, as well as review concepts of what is expected of them;

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• Do not ask “why did this happen?” Such questions lead to the perception that there is a justification for violent acts that are actually unjustifiable; • Gather the family whose relationships are permeated by conjugal violence and possibly members of their social support network, with different members of the healthcare team, which includes a call for interventions characterized by simple language, empathic experiences, lack of judgment and proposing concrete commitments for the future. It is also recommended that couples who engage in violent interactions have psychotherapeutic treatment, which may occur together or separately, depending on each specific situation. In some cases of conjugal violence, couples therapy or mediation are not indicated (Avila, 2004). However, other intervention experiences report the benefits of meeting the victim and offender (Araújo, 2003). As power relations in these cases are usually uneven/asymmetrical, with a dominant and a subordinate member in the couple, it is important to work the bases on which violent behaviors occur in order to deconstruct dysfunctional patterns and enable the development of new ways of relating. Thus, following both the victim and the aggressor is recommended, which may occur in individual or group therapy. The work should involve three main areas: a) lower the power of the aggressor; b) strengthen the victim; c) prevent violence repetition. In summary, care in cases of violence should try to control and stop violence; promote social and motivational skills; nurture the flexibility of stereotyped gender roles; reduce social isolation; rethink cultural beliefs that contribute to legitimize violence and promote self-esteem and assertiveness.

Final Thoughts This chapter aimed to address theoretical and practical aspects in cases of conjugal violence. Brazilian data on the prevalence of violent interactions between couples draw attention to the need to give it greater visibility as well as to treat this phenomenon as an aspect of public health. Considering health as a multi-determined phenomenon, the importance of acting as a multidisciplinary team should be emphasized, because conjugal violence is characterized as complex, requiring attention from multiple perspectives and contributions from diverse knowledge areas. Thus, it is understood that healthcare in situations of violence is undertaken by teams, and there is not a dominating knowledge in relation to others.

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Furthermore, to address cases of conjugal violence in healthcare services is not an easy task. Recurrently, professionals end up only treating physical symptoms generated by these abuses, without feeling able to approach unseen aspects of violence, i.e., those which do not necessarily entail signs and symptoms on the victims’ body, but those which have a psychological impact, generating pain and emotional suffering. So, we highlight the importance of including the phenomenon of conjugal violence in the training of health professionals in undergraduate, graduate, and extension courses, considering the immediate and longitudinal developments of violent relationships in the life course of individuals and families.

References Alvim, S. F., & Souza, L. (2005). Violência conjugal em uma perspectiva relacional: Homens e mulheres agredidos/agressores. Psicologia: Teoria e Prática, 7(2), 171-206. Andrade, C. J., & Fonseca, R. M. (2008). Considerações sobre violência doméstica, gênero e o trabalho das equipes de saúde da família. Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP, 42(3), 591-595. Araújo, M. F. (2003). Violência conjugal: Uma proposta de intervenção com casais. In T. Féres-Carneiro (Ed.), Família e casal: Arramjos e demandas contemporâneas (pp. 185-200). São Paulo: Edições Loyola. Ávila, M. E. (2004). Mediação familiar: formação de base. Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina. Retrieved from http://www.tj.sc.gov.br/institucional/mediacaofamiliar/apostila.pdf Ballarin, M. L. G. S., Blanes, L. S., & Ferigato, S. H. (2012). Apoio matricial: Um estudo sobre a perspectiva de profissionais da saúde mental. Interface – Comunicação, Saúde, Educação, 16(42), 767-778. Bandura, A. (1978). Aprendizaje social y desarrollo de la personalidad. Madrid: Alianza. Belsky, J., Conger, R., & Capaldi, D. M. (2009). The intergenerational transmission of parenting: Introduction to the special section. Developmental Psychology, 45(5), 1201-1204. DOI: 10.1037/a0016245 Bolze, S. D. A., Schmidt, B., Crepaldi, M. A., & Vieira, M. L. (2011). Conflito conjugal: Uma revisão da produção científica brasileira. Pensando Famílias, 15(2), 51-69. Brasil (2002). Violência intrafamiliar: Orientações para a prática em serviço. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde. Retrieved from http://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/cd05_19.pdf

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—. (2006). Portaria nº 648, de 28 de março de 2006. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde. Retrieved from http://dtr2001.saude.gov.br/sas/PORTARIAS/Port2006/GM/GM-648.htm —. (2008). Impacto da violência na saúde das crianças e adolescentes: Prevenção de violências e promoção da cultura de paz. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde. Retrieved from http://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/impacto_violencia_saude_c riancas.pdf —. (2009). Diretrizes do NASF: Núcleo de Apoio a Saúde da Família. Brasília: Ministério da Saúde. Retrieved from http://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/publicacoes/caderno_atencao_basica_dir etrizes_nasf.pdf —. (2011). DATASUS. Retrieved from http://tabnet.datasus.gov.br —. (2012). Lei Maria da Penha, Lei nº 11.340: Conheça a lei que protege as mulheres da violência doméstica e familiar. Brasília: Secretaria de Políticas para as Mulheres. Retrieved from http://www.spm.gov.br/publicacoes-teste/publicacoes/2012/lei-mariada-penha-edicao-2012 —. (2013a). Sistema de Informação e Agravos de Notificação – SINAN. Retrieved from http://dtr2004.saude.gov.br/sinanweb/index.php —. (2013b). Com 7 anos em vigor, Lei Maria da Penha pune a violência doméstica. Retrieved from http://www.brasil.gov.br/noticias/arquivos/2013/08/08/lei-maria-dapenha-completou-7-anos-de-vigencia —. (2013c). Portaria nº 256, de 11 de março de 2013. Retrieved from http://www.brasilsus.com.br/legislacoes/gm/118256-256.html Conger, R. D., Belsky, J., & Capaldi, D. M. (2009). The intergenerational transmission of parenting: Closing comments for the special section. Developmental Psychology, 45(5), 1276-1283. DOI: 10.1037/a0016911 Cunha, R. S. (2012). Lei Maria da Penha para homens: Se aplica. Carta Forense. Retrieved from http://www.cartaforense.com.br/conteudo/artigos/lei-maria-da-penhapara-homens-se-aplica/9079 Epstein, N. B., Baucom, D. H., & LaTaillade, J. J. (2006). Marital problems. In J. E. Fisher & W. O’Donohue (Orgs.), Practioner’s guide to evidence-based psychotherapy (pp. 396-407). New York: Springer. JusBrasil (2013). Lei Maria da Penha é aplicada para proteger homem. Retrieved from http://direito-publico.jusbrasil.com.br/noticias/157860/lei-maria-dapenha-e-aplicada-para-proteger-homem

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Lucena, M. (2009). A prática da psicologia no NASF. In A. Holanda et al. (Orgs.), A prática da psicologia e o núcleo de apoio à saúde da família (pp. 31-42). Conselho Federal de Psicologia: Brasília. Meneghel, S. N., Muller, B., Collaziol, M. E., & Quadros, M. M. (2013). Repercussões da Lei Maria da Penha no enfrentamento da violência de gênero. Ciência e Saúde Coletiva, 18(3), 691-700. DOI: 10.1590/S1413-81232013000300015 Ravazzola, M. C. (2007). Violência nas relações familiares: Por que uma visão sistêmica e de gênero? Pensando Famílias, 11(1), 11-28. Scatamburlo, N. P., Moré, C. L. O. O., & Crepaldi, M. A. (2012). O processo de transmissão intergeracional e a violência no casal. Nova Perspectiva Sistêmica, 44, 35-48. Schmidt, B. (2012). Relacionamento conjugal e temperamento de crianças com idade ente quatro e seis anos (Master’s Thesis). Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis. Retrieved from https://repositorio.ufsc.br/handle/123456789/100663 Schmidt, B., Schneider, D. R., & Crepaldi, M. A. (2011). Abordagem da violência familiar pelos serviços de saúde: Contribuições do pensamento sistêmico. Psico, 42(3), 328-336. Schraiber, L. B., D’Oliveira, A. F., & Couto, M. T. (2006). Violência e saúde: Estudos científicos recentes. Revista de Saúde Pública, 40, 112120. DOI: 10.1590/S0034-89102006000400016 Slep, A. M. S., & O’Leary, S. G. (2001). Examining partner and child abuse: Are we ready for a more integrated approach to family violence? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 4(2), 87-107. World Health Organization (2002). World report on violence and health. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/ en/ Zaleski, M., Pinsky, I., Laranjeira, R., Ramisetty-Mikler, S., & Caetano, R. (2010). Violência entre parceiros íntimos e consumo de álcool. Revista de Saúde Pública, 44(1), 53-59. DOI: 10.1590/S0034-89102010000100006

MOTHERS HEAD OF FAMILY AND RELATIONSHIP WITH ADOLESCENT CHILDREN IN COLOMBIA MARTHA CECILIA ARBELÁEZ ROJAS, LUCERO CUERVO AMAYA, MÓNICA LILIANA MARTÍNEZ QUINTERO AND YEISON DAVID ORTIZ VARGAS UNIVERSIDAD CATÓLICA DE ORIENTE, COLOMBIA

Context of Women In much of the world, women do not have support for the core functions of human life. They are worse fed than men, are less healthy, and are more vulnerable to physical violence and sexual abuse. It is much less likely for women to be literate and there is much less probability for women to have a high school or technical education. If they try to start working, they face greater obstacles, including intimidation from family members or a spouse, discrimination in work agreements and sexual harassment, often without an effective legal remedy. Similar barriers often prevent their participation in political life. In many countries, women are not equal before the law; they do not have the same property rights as men, the same rights to establish a contract, or the same rights of association, mobility, and religious freedom. Often charged with the double day of strenuous work and full responsibilities for the house and childcare, women lack opportunities for recreation and to cultivate their imaginative and cognitive faculties. All these factors affect their emotional well-being: women have fewer opportunities than men to live free from fear and enjoy rewarding forms of love. According to the Human Development Report (1999) of the program of the United Nations for Development, there is no country where women

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are treated as well as it treats its men and gender inequality is strongly correlated with poverty (Nussbaum, as quoted in Molyne & Razavi, 2002). Social, cultural, economic and political characteristics have influenced the conditions under which a woman is born and raised in Colombia. According to a special report in the magazine Semana (2013), it is difficult to be a woman in Colombia: “female revolution in the country is more a mirage than a palpable reality.” Despite some progress, sexism (machismo) is still alive in homes, offices, public places and war zones. Women are excluded for being mothers; they suffer harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Although Colombia has made progress that other countries might envy, men earn more than women, have fewer jobs, and there are more jobs for them. Women often work in the informal labor market, which is unprotected and full of obstacles. Regarding violence against women, in conflict zones, women are recruited as sex objects and prostitute themselves for food. Thus the traditional mix of poverty and violence in conflict zones rages against the female gender. However, according to the Demographic and Health Survey (2010), in Colombia, among women of childbearing age, 2% are uneducated; 10% have not finished elementary school; 12% have finished elementary education; 26% have not completed high school; and 25% have finished high school. An important aspect is that 24% of these women have higher education; in 2000, this figure was only 15%. The same survey found that in terms of household characteristics, leadership feminization has been observed for some time. In 1995, only about a quarter (24%) of household heads was formed by women; in 2000, this number increased to 28% and in 2010 it reached 34%. The sex of the household head is important, since there is a link between this and the level of household poverty. In this sense, one could think that the so-called feminization of poverty is associated with the breakdown of the traditional family or the existence of single-parent households. However, according to Perez (2003), this concept refers not only to the lack of financial resources to cover basic needs, even though women have employment; the feminization of poverty is associated with the unequal participation in the management and use of resources within the household, with the unequal participation of men and women in the labor market and the lack of public facilities and lack of protection for women. According to Perez (2003), the feminization of poverty also influences unfavorable insertion in traditional family structures: the devaluation of the domestic work and care that women provide in the household; the

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dimension of the low self-esteem of women prevents them from taking their own decisions, or assuming power in the family business; and they do not have their own space and time for themselves. Considering the above aspects, one might think that a woman facing the status of being the head of a household is exposed to situations of even greater psychosocial risk, since in this condition she has to make a great effort to comply with the multiple social, economic and psychological roles expected of her.

Mother as Head of Household The relationship between labor and women in Colombia has generated interest from researchers. The modern woman is faced with the implementation of new roles, without abandoning traditional values. At times, she is forced to work to cover family expenses, because even with a partner who works, the economic contributions are not enough to support the family. In other circumstances, when the economic aspect is not urgent, the woman wishes to continue her personal or professional development outside the home. Thus, she faces double or triple work shifts because, having fulfilled her eight hours of work, she comes home to fulfill the roles of wife, mother or daughter. In this sense, Alvarez (2011) found that women who work as employees face a work–family conflict; not just because of work overload, but also due to the ambiguity of roles. Women’s health is affected by changes in mood and physical fatigue. The impact of this conflict will be attenuated if she receives social support (at home or from a spouse) and counts on internal resources for decision-making and priority setting. Another study found that gratification in family–work relationships is related to greater well-being and self-esteem and less depression and anxiety. Greater work–family interference was associated with major depression, anxiety and a number of symptoms (Feldman, et al., 2008). The health status and psychosocial risk of women are even more serious when, due to multiple reasons, women are left alone to face the various roles and become head of the family. In Colombia, the National Congress of the Republic defines by Law 1232 (2008) that a woman is considered the head of the household when she, married or single, is responsible for the household and for the emotional, economic or social well-being of her own minor children or other people unable to work, either by permanent absence or physical,

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sensory, mental or moral incapacity of the spouse or permanent partner, or substantial deficiency of help from other close family members. Traditionally in Colombia, men have assumed the role of the provider and breadwinner in the family, as women were responsible for procreation and child care. Gender differences are undeniable. Men are more favored than women in many ways, from education to work. Proof of this, for example, is the existence of a so-called “glass ceiling” (understood as those latent rules that exist in companies that hinder the arrival of women to senior posts) for the female section of society. Recognizing this is essential, as this is one of the factors that make the leadership exercised by women within the family environment more difficult than when a man exercises it (Aragón, 2007). The obstacles that women have faced still persist, despite the achievements that are recognized for women today. These obstacles are constantly present in the workplace. Companies’ hierarchies are governed by rules and the ideal employee is still male. The reason for this is that women are still perceived as disadvantaged in terms of command and authority capacity. These stereotypes do not appear only in the business world, but also within the family and educational environment (Ortega, 2005). Not even higher educational levels ensure access to jobs in the formal sector, or even better working conditions for women in Colombia. Another important factor affecting women heads of households especially, is the fact that in many companies there is the idea that one must make a choice between personal life and work life, one should prevail over the other. For a woman head of the household, that choice turns out to be very difficult, and this is a reason for these women to be rejected by large firms more easily than those who have a partner as support, or do not have the responsibility to meet both the economic and emotional needs of her family. Even so, men remain more favored, as they are the ones who after all have been culturally designated to supply the needs for his family in economic terms; for this reason, there is no doubt about his ability to discern between what concerns his working environment and his family environment (Ortega, 2005). There are also internal obstacles to women’s advancement such as selfesteem, insecurity, guilt complex for the renunciation of family, invisibility, fear of excelling, and perfectionism. All these problems are due to the social structure and a sexist and androcentric education (Aragón, 2007). According to Rico and Lopez (1998) in a few cases, women include in their self-esteem the huge amount of courage and resourcefulness with

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which they face the material and emotional survival of their children. On the other hand, women seem to feel that their role in the family cannot be delegated; so even if they have a partner who could replace them, they feel that things will not work if they are not in charge of household affairs. It is considered that the phenomenon of female heads of household is a social, economic, psychological and cultural process that has not been explored enough, and that is generating change in the social representations of family, and the roles and functions of both men and women.

Methodology The investigation was conducted using a qualitative approach to case analysis. It began with a literature review and identification of participants through the Second Family Commission of the Municipality of Rio Negro (Antioquia, Colombia). These mothers had searched for counseling for having abused their children. The data collection was carried out by in depth interviews, which were recorded. Eight interviews were conducted: five interviews with mothers and three with their adolescent children. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and data have been subject to coding and analysis, to identify emerging categories. After being informed about the study purpose and scope, participants signed an informed consent form.

Results and Discussion After the analysis of interviews, it was possible to show that mothers expressed the following feelings:

Mothers’ Feelings When mothers were required to tell the researchers about their experiences as mothers, they commented: “Those were very difficult days also, because at that time I was also finishing college. Then besides being a mother, besides being … a teacher and besides being a student … yes, it was very difficult because the time … was little, apart from that my son was very sick, then I had to practically combine my work life, my life as a student, my life as a mother. Besides that I had to take care of home to help my mom since I lived with her, then yes … those days were very difficult.” (D3)

Another mother said:

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“That’s something very difficult, really … first of all, I lived in the house of my parents-in-law and I had to [go] at noon with my daughter, because I worked in the afternoon. At noon I had to go to the place where I left her … it was difficult because of the large number of people on buses and I [had] the girl in my arms … arrived, left her at the school and also left the milk that I had taken from my breast. I left her there and they received her at 12:30 and at 6 pm I picked her up, then I left running, from my work … it was always difficult, very difficult … very difficult … (crying).” (L1)

Ambivalent feelings One of the interviewees reported that she had ambivalent feelings regarding motherhood and parenting, due to the difficulty that can be generated when one assumes the role of mother in the position of head of household; however, she managed to develop a love bond and positive feelings towards her son. D3 said about it: “Very mixed feelings, there were good feelings, bad feelings, yes … really, things were quite contradictory and complicated … of course, because at that time I had not planned to have my son, then at the time when he was born, because I felt my life had suddenly favored the mother’s role, but suddenly not as a woman … being a single mother, having to carry an obligation, suddenly alone.”

Several authors have already highlighted the importance of family and/or social support to face a crisis or to adapt to a new situation, when individuals are facing difficult situations. In this regard, the absence of a partner or family support makes the situation harder for a mother who is head of the household. The mothers interviewed expressed this as follows: “… Mmmm, yes, sometimes he was aware of my situation … (her son’s father) because he noticed I was sad, distant, crying, but it was the same … but I had feelings … I had to face everything and go on.” (D3)

In this regard two mothers commented: “… It is very hard for you to know that you have to leave your children, mainly a one month old child, and to know that I have to leave, leave my little children.” (N2) “… And there were feelings of loneliness, I was so sad … I was sad to see that I was with a man, but I was not with a man because he was not really a companion as one really needs …” (L1)

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Guilt Another feeling evident in the mothers interviewed, connected to the upbringing and education of their children is guilt, blaming themselves for not being available for their children in time, space and socially expected roles, since they had to work, to meet economic needs. One mother said: “I think I need time, I feel that sometimes I have not spent much time with my daughter and that saddens me, anguishes me … that saddens me because I wanted to share more time with her, and she calls me very often … and then … the time I should spend with her, I am studying and that makes me very sad and I get worried. Sometimes I think that if I were a good mom, I’m not a good mom, because I think I’ve neglected her … I always think that I’ve neglected her …” (L1)

Apparently these feelings of sadness for not being with their children as desired generate ambivalent feelings in mothers, perhaps because they feel they are giving all they can, yet this is not enough; apparently they feel indebted to their children. One might think that this can lead to feelings of guilt as they are unable to fulfill the role of the socially expected ideal mother (always with the children, while the father works and supports the family financially). Guilt is refreshed by the continued claims that children make regarding her absence due to work. So mothers commented: “K said to me, ‘Mommy do not work today, do not go now, see, let’s stay sleeping till late’ … I mean, for him the greatest happiness is that Monday I do not [go to] work.” (N2) Some of these mothers combine their role as mother and worker with academic responsibilities: “… I get to the street very quick to rush to college and arrive around 9 pm or 9:30 pm … She (my daughter) told me that I am never with her … often she becomes sad, tells me that I have no time … many times when she needs me, I’m not present.” (L1)

At other times, mothers feel bad for the children who make claims regarding the separation from their fathers. A mother commented: “… Although he (my son) accepts that I’m not with his father, he sometimes tells me … Oh, Mommy, if you were with my dad, things would be different …” (D3)

According to the theory proposed by Solé and Parela (2004), these feelings of guilt that occur in all humans affect women when they separate from their spouses or when the spouse dies, when they tend to feel guilty.

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Feelings of guilt are also present when a mother does not dedicate enough time for her maternal functions, due to labor issues, and she thinks she is a bad mother who should compensate for this some way, and that she is always at fault with regard to her children.

Anger It was found that these women express their frustration in violent relationships with their children. One mother explained: “… Because, look, there are some problems … unfortunately, sometimes, when I get angry, they have to pay for it … I myself, for instance, I am aggressive towards them …”

Regarding the feelings of anger, for many women, to assume single motherhood sometimes represents a significant burden of stress; one might think that this, combined with an unstable and/or stormy marital relationship, carries in itself the risk of violence and inevitably triggers child abuse. Rosales (2013) states that although home should be a safe place, in many cases, it becomes a risk area for children and adolescents. Child abuse is one of the main forms of violence in Colombia, and one of the most common causes of death amongst children.

Loneliness Another feeling very strongly evidenced in mothers is loneliness because of having to assume the responsibilities and roles of both mother and father. This impression of loneliness that mothers report is often accompanied by feelings of frustration, anger and sadness, as below: “… All my life, I was running around to take care of my daughter … I remember crossing on red, green, yellow lights, and I was running … most times I’ve done it alone.” (L1)

Another mother commented: “… It is very hard, it’s very hard to raise children alone, is too hard.” (N2)

Strategies Another important finding is that in their quest to resolve their feelings and role conflicts, mothers develop strategies to cope with their situation.

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Forget themselves The mothers interviewed reported that in their quest to meet all needs demanded by their children (economic and emotional), they forget themselves and put their children’s demands and/or needs before their own. A woman interviewed said: “Ehhhh … because all my time was dedicated to J, so this is a situation when a woman realizes that all her time is for her child and sometimes you forget yourself … that is, several things are neglected, as friendships or to have someone at your side because everything revolves around the son, all time, all free time.”

And also: “… My time is dedicated to J and not to me, or I’m forgetting myself …” (D3)

Another woman interviewed said: “… Everything becomes a struggle … because, with children, you have to stop being yourself … if you see a cute dress … ‘wow’ that dress is worth $150 thousand and you say ‘what a beautiful dress. Buy it!’ But no, you think … one has no shoes, the other has no shirt … then what do you do? … Forget the dress … it is better to buy shoes for your children.” (N2)

Donald Winnicott (1960) describes primary maternal preoccupation as the mother’s willingness and ability to give up all her personal interests and concentrate on her baby. Thanks to that, the mother can distinguish exactly the cries of her child and she knows what he/she needs and feels (e.g. if he/she is hungry or sleepy). However, there are two kinds of maternal mental disorders that may affect this situation. At one extreme is the mother whose personal interests are too compulsive to be abandoned, which prevents her from being involved with her child. At the other extreme is the mother who tends to be constantly worried about something and her child then becomes a pathological concern. This mother possibly is able to dedicate herself to the child, but it is part of the normal process that the mother recovers an interest in herself to the extent that the child may tolerate it. According to the author, in one case, we found that the mother is still very focused on her son, and is beginning to ask questions about herself, “… J is growing, then [there] will come the moment that J will go and I will be alone, and J no longer will go out with me as he does so far

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because he will have his own social life, his friends, he will have his hobbies, places to go, then [what will I do]?” (D3)

Compensation and Repair Strategies According to Solé and Parela (2004), the guilt produced for neither being the ideal mother nor giving children the ideal maternal care makes mothers look for compensation mechanisms to repair those feelings of guilt, through gifts, excessive permissiveness or compensating the amount of time for its quality. With regard to the latter, two interviewees state: “I try to stay with my child as long as possible … when he’s at school and suddenly when he comes back, I try to stay with J, accompanying him on what he needs, concerning his tasks, talking to him and many things …” (D3)

Another mother said: “C and I share, we try to share some solutions, there are not many but we try to find them, we try to have an ice cream, sometimes the economic situation is difficult but then we try to do small stuff in order to be together.” (L1)

Permanent communication If the mother is not able to be physically present, she tries to keep in contact with the child by phone. A woman said: “… Then what do I do? … At work I call her three, four and five times, ‘What are you doing? What did you do at school? What do you need?’” (L1) Another mother said: “… I’ve always considered myself [to be] a very dedicated mother to J and I constantly called him … yes, all was by phone because as I worked on the highway and I could not come home [during] lunch hours.” (D3) In this regard Joplin, Francesco, Shaffer and Lau (2003, cited in Alvarez, 2011) found that parents working outside the home begin to communicate with their children through electronic and digital media, trying to reestablish the work-family balance, while they are cared for by nannies. At other times, the mother plays with her children, making an extra effort to compensate for her absence. One mother said: “We play cards, watch television … other times I play with them … but I am not willing to ride a bicycle …” (N2)

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Two mothers interviewed informed that they desired to overcome their current situation, as follows: “… The time I should dedicate to my daughter, I’m devoting to other things because I want to progress. It’s because I want her to study, because I want her to work, to see her in a good situation and not suffering … because there is no money for college, there is no money for school …” (L1)

Another mother said: “… When I was pregnant, I saved some money when it was possible … I myself saved some money. With the money, we have built these four parts (of the house) … then I told myself, I cannot continue like this, today or tomorrow I [will] die and what will become of these children? … If I die, that’s the only thing my kids [will] have …” (N2)

In the following paragraphs, we discuss the findings about the experiences of the mothers’ adolescent children.

Feelings of loneliness An adolescent (female) said: “Sometimes I’m alone, or I have problems at home, then I miss my mom at night when she goes for English classes … [this is] what has happened for about five years.” (C4) Another young man said: “I remember when I was very young … my mom sent me off … and when I came back home, she was never there…” (J6)

Perceptions of the mother’s work The study also found some perceptions about their mothers and their work. A young man says: “Yes, to endure the sun, to wake up so early in the morning … she arrives [home] so tired … because her work is very hard. It is ‘impressive’ to see her raising two children alone … she is very courageous.” (K5) Two teenagers expressed concern about their mothers losing their jobs and the economic consequences and instability this would bring to family. A young man said: “The first thing to do is to ask God to keep her work … because she is at a very good job now …” (J6) Another teenager said: “Her work is very important because if she loses her job … she will have no money … she will not be able to finish

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college … I will have to leave high school … and she will not be able to help at home.” (C4)

Perception of the relationship with mother Regarding the perception of children about their relationship with their mothers, it was found that they describe it as good, despite the conflicts that may occur in the relationship. A young man said: “Very good, there are moments to enjoy … other moments are serious and difficult.” (J6) Another teen said: “… Sometimes there are arguments … sometimes it seems very good, but sometimes when she hits my brother or me I feel bad because sometimes she comes home and she is in a bad mood … but she has already left behind that stress and that anger …” (K5) Another interviewee expressed: “The relationship is very good, it pleases me. Many times I ask her to improve her temper because many times it is very strong … I say that if she improves her temper she will be much stronger … but it’s good, compared to other girls whose mothers even beat them …” (C4) For each child, the perception of the time his/her mother devotes to him/her is different, depending largely on the strategies mothers use when away from home to be “present.” An adolescent (male) said about it: “From a score of 1-5, it is 5, that is, excellent because she always takes care of me, if she is outside the home she calls me to check how I am … always takes care of me, it is very good.” (J6) For some teens, the mother’s strategies to compensate for her physical absence are considered successful, while others disagree. A young woman said: “When do I see her? During breakfast she is with me for five or ten minutes, and when she arrives [home] … if I’m not asleep … for about half an hour … but she phones me …” (C4) Another teen said: “Yeah … it’s too bad when I go to school because when she goes to work, I stay at home, and when she comes back I have to go to school; she spends more time with my brother, that’s obvious … I come back at night, then I have to do my homework but my mom goes to bed because she is tired …” (K5)

Perception of relationship with father We have also explored how children perceived their relationship with their fathers. In this regard a young man said: “My dad does not live with me, my dad can visit my school, I can go with him to the store where he works, or he comes home at night, and then he calls me and I answer, he

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greets me, but as he does not live with me. He is not as good as my mom as a companion, because my mom sleeps with me, my dad sleeps in the house where he lives.” (J6) Another teenager said: “… I was seven years old and my mom decided to come to Rio Negro and we have stayed here, but the relationship with my dad is not very good … and I have not talked to him for two months … I do not care to know anything about my dad …” (C4)

Conclusions In the study, it was observed that mothers are expected to form an “ideal” home with their spouse; however, as they did not succeed they decided to continue their lives alone as mother heads of household. This caused emotional and economic difficulties, beyond work overload, which, in turn, generated tensions in the relationship with their children. In order to minimize the work–family conflict, the participants reported to employ strategies to compensate for their absence in their children’s lives. In some cases, their children consider that they succeeded. However, others think that their mothers were not successful, even recognizing their mothers’ efforts and the importance of their jobs. Women heading their households reveal feelings and emotions such as guilt, loneliness, sadness, and anger, besides high levels of stress as they have to raise their children alone. These women have to assume the roles of mother, worker and father at the same time. The investigation of the subjective experience of these women, their feelings and emotions, and their difficulties may help to understand some conditions related to abuse perpetrated against their children. It is suggested that, in order to promote the mental health of this population, emotional and institutional support networks to these households should be provided. There is an urgent need to explore the living conditions of women heading their households and the impact on their physical and mental health. It is important to note that support from family in the upbringing and education of a child would greatly contribute to the single mother. Assuming some of her roles and responsibilities would generate lower levels of stress. Possibly the guilt in these mothers is generated by the short time they share with their children, causing them to feel indebted to them, which would, in turn, affect their performance and authority at home. With regard to the experience of their children, it was found that they recognize and value the effort made by their mothers; however, they miss her presence at home. The adolescents also reported a distant relationship with

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their fathers, causing detachment and disregard for maintaining this relationship.

References Álvarez, A. & Gómez, I.C. (2001). Conflicto trabajo-familia en mujeres profesionales que trabajan en la modalidad de empleo. Pensamiento Psicológico, 9(16), 89-106. Aragón, P. (2007). El techo de Cristal: El Autoempleo como forma para superar ese techo de cristal. Microsoft. Centro para Empresas y Profesionales. Resumen. Recuperado de http://www.microsoft.com/spain/empresas/rrhh/techo_cristal.mspx Colombia. Congreso de la República. Ley 1232 (17 de julio, 2008). Por la cual se modifica la ley 82 de 1993, Ley Mujer cabeza de familia y se dictan otras disposiciones. Diario Oficial. Bogotá DC: 2008. Diario 47.053 Feldman, L., Vivas, E., Lugli, Z., Zaragoza, J., & Gómez O. V. (2008). Relaciones trabajo-familia. Salud Pública de México, 50(6), 482-489. Molyneux, M., & Razavi, S., (2002). Gender, justice, development and rights, Oxford University Press. Ortega E., & Rivera E. (2005). Género y poder: Vida Cotidiana y Masculinidades, City University of New York. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, 17(002). Pérez, A. (2003). Feminización de la pobreza, Mujeres y recursos económicos. Materiales de reflexión, CGT. Comisión federal contra la precariedad, 3, 12-15. Profamilia. (2010). Encuesta Nacional de Demografía y Salud-ENDS. Recuperado del sitio de internet: http://www.profamilia.org.co/encuestas/ Revista Semana. (21 de octubre, 2013). Informe especial: Violencia de Género. (1642), 66-70. Rico, A., & López Téllez, N. (Septiembre 1998). Informalidad, Jefatura Femenina y Supervivencia. Revista Javeriana, Tomo 131, Año 66. Rosales, Á. (30 de octubre de 2013). Encienden las alarmas por casos de niños agredidos en casa. El espectador.com. Recuperado de: http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/encienden-alarmascasos-de-ninos-agredidos-casa-articulo-443311 Solé, C., & Parela, S. (2004). Nuevas expresiones de la maternidad. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

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Winnicott, D. (1960). La pareja madre-lactante. Recuperado de http://www.tuanalista.com/Donald-Winnicott/9415/La-pareja-madrelactante-(1960).htm

DYADIC ANALYSIS OF MARITAL SATISFACTION: EFFECTS OF INTERACTION ON THE RELATIONSHIP CAROLINA ARMENTA-HURTARTE, ROZZANA SÁNCHEZ-ARAGÓN AND ROLANDO DÍAZ-LOVING NATIONAL AUTONOMOUS UNIVERSITY OF MEXICO

Different studies on couple relationships address two dimensions, particularly: satisfaction and relationship quality. Several studies have identified that satisfaction and relationship quality are associated with aspects such as interaction in the relationship and communication between couple members. It has been proposed that the interaction process is essential for assessment of marital satisfaction (Karney & Bradbury, 1997). Interaction in couple relationships is fundamental because the spouses during cohabitation learn from experiences with a partner to analyze whether they are satisfied or not, which influences their behavior (Karney & Bradbury, 1997). The behavioral exchange that occurs in a couple may reveal the dynamic process present in the relationship based on the reciprocity between them (Schmitt, Kliegel & Shapiro, 2007). Behaviors that emerge during couple interaction are: support, living together, affiliation, admiration and reciprocity (Sanchez-Aragón & Díaz-Loving, 2002), which have been categorized into three dimensions: (1) emotions, (2) behaviors and (3) cognitions (Higginbotham & Lamke, 2004). Despite the importance of interaction on marital satisfaction, it is necessary to emphasize that this explains more precisely satisfaction (Schmitt, Kliegel & Shapiro, 2007) when both members of the relationship are evaluated. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct studies with interrelational perspective (Roche, 2006), i.e., studying both couple members and the impact they have on each other. Generally, studies about couple relationships are based on individual analysis, focusing on the investigation of only one member of the

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relationship, ignoring the information provided by the other party, and this does not make a comprehensive study of the couple possible. The importance of considering both members is based on the premise that the various relationship elements are valued differentially by each couple member. For this type of dyadic analysis, the model of interdependence actor-partner has been proposed, which considers the impact of individual aspects on the behavior of others and on one’s own behavior (Kenny, Kashy & Cook, 2006). Therefore, given the need for this information, the aim of this study is to analyze the influence of individual aspects and perceptions of the interaction on perceived marital satisfaction of both members in a relationship.

Method Participants An accidental nonrandom sample of 220 adult heterosexual couples living in Mexico City (440 total participants) was used. The age range of participants is 20 to 59 years with a mean age of 38.36 years (SD 9.82 years). The educational level of participants was distributed as follows: 2.7% basic education (primary and secondary), 55.2% medium level (baccalaureate and technical) and 42.1% higher education (undergraduate and graduate). All participants were cohabiting with their partner either as a free union (21.5%) or married (78.5%). Regarding children, 35.3% had one child, 43.6% had two, 18.6% had three children, and finally, 2.1% had four children. The lengths of the relationships varied from one to 40 years with an average duration of 15.78 years (SD 9.03 years).

Instruments In order to achieve the goal of this study, the following scales for assessing the impact of interaction on perceived marital satisfaction for both relationship members, in their short versions (the first five factors with the highest factorial weight have been taken from each scale), have been used: (1) Inventory of reactions to couple interaction (Díaz-Loving & Andrade-Palos, 1996). This scale consists of 20 items with a Likert fivepoint reply (strongly disagree to strongly agree). Factors evaluated by this scale are: Unhappy-frustration, indicates feelings of frustration, anger and

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uneasiness caused by the interaction with the partner (Į = .86); Pleasure for interacting relates to pleasure, happiness and interest in activities with the partner (Į = .80); Fear-avoidance is the degree of fear, or fear produced by the interaction with the partner (Į = .83); Pleasure to know, describes the interest to know better and know more about the partner (Į = .74). (2) Couple Behavioral Inventory (Sánchez-Aragón, 2000). This scale consists of 35 items, with Likert replies with three possible answers concerning the frequency with which they perform the behavior (never, occasionally and always). This scale has seven factors: Support, acceptable behaviors to express and implement couple interaction (Į = .85); Coexistence, daily instrumental behavior aimed at coexistence (Į = .76); Physical affiliative, ways of acting in intimacy with the partner at an expressive level (Į = .70); Admiration and exclusivity, implicit behaviors in the couple relationship giving the character of exclusivity (Į = .75); Rejection and exclusion, insufficient and negative behaviors toward couple interaction (Į = .89); Negative instrumental behaviors, physical or psychological aggression aimed at violence (Į = .81); Negative expressive behaviors, those aiming at intimidation and manipulation (Į = .80). (3) Scale of maintenance strategies (Retana-Franco & SánchezAragón, 2006). This scale consists of 20 items with a Likert five-point reply (no frequent to very frequent). These items are distributed on four factors: Communication and compassion, refers to behaviors that make the other person know that he/she is important (Į = .88); Expression of love, expressions of affection for the partner (Į = .86); Giving, to give gifts and souvenirs (Į = .73); News and sociability, the changes that avoid monotony (Į = .72). (4) Intimacy Presence Scale (Osnaya-Moreno, 2003). This consists of 35 items, also with a Likert five-point reply (totally disagree to totally agree), which assesses seven factors of given and received intimacy: Emotional support, supportive behaviors and understanding (Į = .88); Be the one to the other, perceived feelings of joy and happiness when one is with his/her partner (Į = .83); Sexuality, the ability to communicate and share emotions and sexual activity (Į = .72); Emotions, the longing for sexual union when one is happy with his/her partner (Į = .63); Acceptance, reduce defects and accept the pair (Į = .63); Friendship with others, enjoying the experience of having common friends and social groups (Į = .71); Tolerance (Į = .50) . (5) Inventory of relationship closeness (Berscheid, Snyder & Omoto, 1989) adapted to the Mexican population (Hurtarte-Armenta, 2013). It consists of 15 items in three subscales: Frequency, time spent with partner

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(Į = .56); Force, the impact of the partner on decision making (Į = .90); and Diversity, activities of the couple together (Kuder-Richardson, 1987). (6) Coding Inventory of Couple Interaction (Heymann, Eddy, Weiss & Vivian, 1995). This scale is an adaptation of a list of behavioral coding with 43 items about behaviors conducted with the partner with a Likert five-point scale (totally disagree to totally agree). This scale consists of six factors, including: Coexistence (Į = .94), devaluing (Į = .77), withdrawal (Į = .75), problems (Į = .70) and guilt (Į = .66).

Procedure The questionnaire was applied to couples, ensuring that they did not communicate with each other. The application was carried out in various public places in Mexico City (e.g. squares and parks). Participants were told the investigation’s purpose and they were also assured that the information provided was confidential and anonymous. In order to fulfill the objective of the study, a regression analysis using the enter method with the information obtained was performed. The dependent variable was the couple member’s own marital satisfaction and the marital satisfaction of the partner, while the independent variables were their own personality, the partner’s personality, their own perception about the partner’s personality, and interaction in the relationship.

Results In order to achieve the objectives of this study, in the first instance, a second-order factor analysis for each of the psychometric scales was performed in order to eliminate multicollinearity in regression analysis. After obtaining the second-order factors, progress was made with the regression analysis using the enter method. The results concerning the influence of interaction on own marital satisfaction and partner’s marital satisfaction indicate the existence of differential impacts on men and women. At first, when it comes to the perception of interaction by women about their own marital satisfaction (R2 = .558), it was found that when the time spent living with the partner is higher, marital satisfaction for women decreases (ȕ = - .152, p = .046). For men, it was observed that their perception of interaction has an influence on their marital satisfaction (R2 = .608), where the dislike of interaction with his partner decreases the perceived satisfaction (ȕ = - .306, p = .005); however, the positive behavior (ȕ = .403, p = .001) and negative

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interaction (ȕ = .272, p = .021) that they have with their partners promote marital satisfaction for men. Regression analysis to determine whether the perception of the interaction of a couple member affects the marital satisfaction of his/her partner was also performed. In this case it was almost found that perceptions of interactional aspects of women have no effect on marital satisfaction for men. However, when it comes to the influence that the perception of interaction of men has on women’s marital satisfaction (R2 = .349), it was found that considering the partner in decisions favors marital satisfaction (ȕ = .260, p = .047).

Discussion Since the objective of this study was to identify the most relevant determinants of the dimensions of interaction affecting the couple member’s own and the partner’s marital satisfaction, it was found that there are aspects of interaction that differentially affect one’s marital satisfaction and the partner’s marital satisfaction. For women, it was found that their perception of coexistence frequency – the time shared with the partner during the day – affects their marital satisfaction. It should be considered that the amount of time spent with the partner is itself an indicator of the relationship, since it has been identified that those couple members subject to stress or anxiety seek not to share activities or spend time together (Gottman & Silver, 1994; O’Leary & Smith, 1991). On the other hand, Williams (1979) emphasizes that the evaluation of time together is not enough to indicate interaction quality; the quality of interaction can be evaluated as positive or negative based on the proportions of positive and negative time, and the degree of the couple’s agreement regarding the quality of time spent together. Clearly, within the literature, coexistence time enables other aspects of the relationship to be identified. To Adler-Baedler, Higginbotham and Lamke (2004) time is an indicator of positive emotions and behaviors as it enables coexistence in couple relationships and promotes marital quality. Another effect of time spent with the partner is the perception of greater closeness with the other person (Fower, 1990). In Mexico, it has been identified that the time couples spend together is a component of satisfaction in interaction, the pleasure of living together, and appreciation of the partner (Canetas Yerbes, 2000). Also, the time spent with the partner makes it possible to understand and analyze, from different experiences with their partner, if they are happy in their relationship and

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what influences their subsequent behavior towards the partner (Karney & Bradbury, 1997). On the other hand, based on literature, it can be considered that when women perceive more frequent cohabitation with their partner, their marital satisfaction can be diminished due to interaction quality, either due to low interaction quality, the presence of negative interaction, the expression of negative emotions during cohabitation, or finally they do not perceive quality in the time spent living together. Similarly, one should consider that frequency evaluation of coexistence is divided into three times of the day (morning, afternoon and evening), which can be independent in each couple relationship (Berscheid et al., 1989) and it also may be associated with the time spent on other activities, such as childcare and work. Concerning the impact of the interaction of men in their own marital satisfaction, it was found that there are behavioral aspects of interactions with partners that are important to their marital satisfaction. Particularly, it was found that positive behavior – when they support their partners, live with them, physically express affection and admiration and exclusivity towards the partner – favors their own marital satisfaction. These behaviors indicate that the couple also has a positive interaction and some of these behaviors (e.g. physical expression of affection) are considered to help relationship maintenance (Retana-Franco & Sánchez-Aragon, 2006). Importantly, in the analysis of this study, we propose that interaction is composed of a wide range of behaviors in the relationship. This allows us to extend the situations and reasons – matching functions, elements and dimensions – by which the couple communicates (e.g. Acevedo, Restrepo, & Tovar, 2007; Sanchez-Aragón, Rivera-Aragón, Díaz-Loving, 2001; Roche, 2006). From the identification of those interaction behaviors which favor the evaluation of marital satisfaction (Díaz-Loving, 1990; Díaz-Loving & Sánchez-Aragon, 2002), one can similarly identify those behaviors that are a result of the reciprocity one has from the partner, which influence marital satisfaction (Schmitt et al., 2007). This implies that the positive interaction of men is due to the behavior of women – from exchange – and it is also observed that the dislike regarding couple interaction results from exchanges with the partner. However, given that the reciprocity of positive behaviors during interaction was not evaluated in men in this study, one can only refer to when men perform positive behaviors of interaction – support their partner, live with her, express physical affection and admiration, and exclusivity – and this influences their marital satisfaction, because they enhance the relationship quality (Schmitt et al., 2007), as

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shown in the literature. It is also assumed that when they do not receive affable behavior from their partners, they perceive dislike in the interaction with their partners – fear, alienation, discontent and frustration – thus, undermining his own marital satisfaction. The results of the effects of the interaction behavior of a partner on the other’s marital satisfaction differ between men and women. In the case of women, interaction behaviors of women have no effect on the marital satisfaction of men. From the assumption of reciprocity (Schmitt et al., 2007) and interpersonal meta-perception (Kenny, 1994), it was expected that an effect of the interaction behavior of women on her partner’s satisfaction would be observed; these postulates indicate that based on the interaction with the partner, one can make a series of inferences or interpretations of the behavior of the couple, which helps assessing marital satisfaction (Gottman & Silver, 1994; O’Leary & Smith, 1991). Based on this result, one may question the significance or interpretation that men give to their partner’s behavior, so it is necessary to conduct a study on this aspect – attribution – that affects couple relationships. On the other hand, it was found that there is an effect on marital satisfaction of women given by the strength of influence of a partner in decision-making, particularly when the man gives in or gives way. Force concerning giving in involves the influence of the partner on the behavior, thinking, decisions and goals of the other (Berscheid et al., 1989), i.e. when the man perceives that his decisions are influenced by their partner – particularly accepting responsibilities, attending social events and important things in his life – his partner will perceive greater marital satisfaction. The strength of the influence of the partner focuses on making decisions, which involve changes in the relationship or in the individual. It is considered that in a couple relationship, there is consensus in decisionmaking (Adler-Baedler et al., 2004; Spanier, 1976) reflecting the relationship’s organization and functioning (Cortés Martínez et al., 1994). Therefore, decision making is a fundamental aspect of couple interaction (Gottman & Silver, 1999; Schmitt et al., 2007) that is embedded and linked to other important aspects of the relationship (e.g. negotiation) and the meaning of unity and integration in the relationship. Due to the characteristics of the sample which was investigated, it can be considered that they have a great commitment, either emotional (Cañetas Yerbes, 2000) or social – e.g. marital status or the presence of children – so that decision making is essential in the relationship. Thus, the influence of the partner is more important in decision-making and in the evaluation of marital satisfaction, because they are part of the couple’s relationship functioning.

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In general, it was found that interaction in the couple relationship has an effect on the couple member’s own and the partner’s marital satisfaction; however, this is different for men and women. Similarly, from the results, it is inferred that these elements of interaction may occur due to a single aspect which causes interaction in the relationship. Since the impact of individual aspects of interaction on the relationship is an inference, it is important to evaluate the integration of a model in which the three dimensions are considered: contextual, personal, and interactional. Knowing the aspects that influence satisfaction and relationship quality, it is possible to promote these aspects in couple relationships to maintain the quality of the relationship and interactions.

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Díaz-Loving, R. & Andrade Palos, P. (1996). Desarrollo y validación del inventario de reacciones ante la interacción de pareja (IRIP). Revista de Psicología Contemporánea, 3(1) 90-96. Díaz-Loving, R. & Sánchez Aragón, A. R. (2002). Psicología del amor: Una visión integral de la relación de pareja. México: Editorial Porrúa. Fowers, B. J. (1990). An interactional approach to standardized marital assessment: A literature review. Family Relations, 39(4), 368-377. Gottman, J. M. & Silver, N. (1994). Why marriages succeed or fail. New York: Simon & Schuster. Gottman, J. M. & Silver, N. (1999). The seven principles for making marriage work. New York: Three Rivers Press. Hendrick, S. S. (1988). A generic measure of relationship satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50(1), 93-98. Heyman, R. E., Eddy, J. M., Weiss, R. L., & Vivian, D. (1995). Factor analysis of the Marital Interaction Coding System. Journal of Family Psychology, 9, 209-215. Karney, B. R., & Bradbury, T. N. (1997). Neuroticism, marital interaction and the trajectory of marital satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(5) 1075-1092. Kenny, D. A. (1994). Interpersonal perception. USA: Guilford. Kenny, D., Kashy, D., & Cook, W. (2006). Dyadic data Analysis. USA: Guilford Press. O’Leary, K. D. & Smith, D. A. (1991). Marital interactions. Annual Review of Psychology, 42, 191-212. Oropeza-Lozano, R., Armenta-Hurtarte, C., García-Arista, A., PadillaGámez & Díaz-Loving, R. (2010). Validación de la escala de evaluación de relaciones en la población mexicana. Revista Psicología Iberoamericana, 18(2), 56-65. Osnaya-Moreno, M. (2003). La intimidad en las parejas mexicanas, su conceptualización, variables que la influyen y correlatos. Tesis de doctorado no publicada. Facultad de Psicología, UNAM. Retana-Franco, B. & Sánchez-Aragón, R. (2006). Evaluación psicológica de la estabilidad de la relación romántica. Revista de Psicología Social y Personalidad, XXII, (1). Roche, R. O. (2006). Psicología de la pareja y de la familia. Análisis y optimización. Barcelona, España: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Sánchez-Aragón, R. (2000). Validación empírica de la teoría bio-psicosocio-cultural de la relación de pareja. Tesis de doctorado no publicada. Facultad de Psicología, UNAM.

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Sánchez Aragón, R. & Díaz-Loving, R. (2002). De lo aceptable a lo ofensivo en la relación de pareja. Revista de Psicología Social y Personalidad, XVIII(1), 55-76. Sánchez Aragón, R., Rivera, A., S. & Díaz-Loving, R. (2001). El amor en el tiempo. En: N. Calleja Bello & G. Gómez Perezmitré (Eds.), Psicología social: investigaciones y aplicaciones en México. México: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Schmitt, M., Kliegel, M., & Shapiro, A. (2007). Marital interaction in middle and old age: A predict of marital satisfaction? Journal of Aging and Human Development, 65(4), 283–300. Spanier, G. B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38(1), 15-28. Williams, A. M. (1979). The quantity and quality of marital interaction related to marital satisfaction: A behavioral analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 12(4), 665-678.

THE MEANING OF FRIENDSHIP FOR BRAZILIAN INTERNAL MIGRANTS AGNALDO GARCIA,LORENA SCHETTINO LUCAS AND TAYSSA GRASSI RODRIGUES FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF ESPÍRITO SANTO, BRAZIL

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (2010), in 2009, approximately 20.1 million people in Brazil lived in a region where they had not been born. The most important group of Brazilian migrants left the Northeast region (53.9% of migrants), migrating mainly to the Southeast region. The second most important group left the Southeast region (20.6% of migrants), heading mostly to the Midwest region, probably due to the growth of Brasília and the occupation of agricultural frontiers. With the exception of the North region (which has the largest flow of migrants heading for the Midwest), migrants from other regions considered the Southeast as the place of greatest attraction. International or internal migration affects the composition and dynamics of the social networks of the people who move, including their friendships. Thus, the relationship between friendship and migration, of how friendships affect and are affected by human spatial mobility, represents an important field of research with social and cultural implications. Although internal migration is an important social phenomenon in Brazil, literature on friendship and migration is still scarce (Garcia & Miranda, 2012). The present study investigated the meaning of friendships to Brazilian internal migrants who had moved to another state in Brazil after turning 18 years old.

Friendship and International Migration While intercultural, interethnic and/or interracial friendships have been largely investigated (Garcia & Miranda, 2012), the literature relating to friendship and the migratory process is not so wide. For instance, Kugele (2006) investigated friendships of young nomadic adults and the influence

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of growing up in different cultures and moving frequently, discussing the relevance of friends on social reintegration and communication to maintain and establish friendships. Haug (2003) investigated interethnic friendships and social integration among Turkish and Italian immigrants in Germany. It was found that Italian immigrants had more German friends than Turkish immigrants. In an investigation on friendships of immigrants from Taiwan to the U.S., Tsai (2006) points out that immigrants usually make new friends after arriving in a new country. The author concludes that, due to a limited knowledge of English, immigrants remained distant from Americans and lived near their ethnic community, which was seen as a protection factor. In Latin America, a few authors investigated the relation between friendship and migration, mainly the involvement of friends in international migration. Zenteno (2000) concluded that migration networks from Mexico to the U.S. are formed by family and friends, among others. These networks based on kinship, friendship or community bonds are considered personal networks. In this case, legally admitted immigrants in the United States may favor immigration. The probability of crossing the border and getting a good job in the U.S. is higher among people that already have relatives and friends in the country. Regarding Brazilian international migration to the U.S., Fazito and Rios-Neto (2008) also observed personal networks involving migrants, family and friends in Brazil and in the U.S. Martes (2000) points out that social networks involving relatives and friends help to reduce the psychological and economic costs of Brazilians who migrate to the United States. Lisboa (2007) has also indicated that friends in the destination country favored the migration of Brazilian women to Europe. So, some authors have highlighted the importance of friends in international migration. According to Truzzi (2008), people planning to migrate rely more on information from relatives, neighbors or friends. Soares (2002) also indicates that people tend to migrate to places where they have relatives or friends.

Friendship and Internal Migration in Brazil Despite the importance of internal migration in the country, little is known about the network and the role of friends when one moves from one state to another, either before or after moving. A few Brazilian studies investigated internal migrations recognizing the role of friendships. Diniz and Santos (2006) observed, in the Amazon region, that relatives and friends were important links between those who remained at the original

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place and those who migrated to other areas. Figoli and Fazito (2009) reported that indigenous migration in Manaus was affected by social networks including relatives and friends. Bassi, Barbosa and Araújo (2006) suggested that the presence of family and friends at the destination can reduce risks and doubts about migrating to another place inside Brazil. According to Matos and Ferreira (2004), the literature on the subject has shown that migration is sustained by a network of social relations involving bonds of solidarity among a group of individuals linked by ties of friendship, kinship and work experience. Tassara and Rabinovich (2007) investigated Brazilian migrants who had São Paulo as a destination, concluding that most had some sort of contact in the city before migrating, especially with relatives (84.4%) and friends (34.4%). Arriving at São Paulo, 71.9% counted on their relatives already living in the city and 12.5% counted on friends in the city. At the time of the survey, 65.6% lived with relatives and 9.4% with friends. Gomes (2006) pointed out some contradictions in internal migration movements, such as the coexistence of solidarity and competition, but the role of friends in these networks was not discussed. The same occurs with Saquet and Mondardo (2008), who discussed the construction of territories in migration through networks of social relations. Lyra (2005) recognized relationships based on kinship, friendship and common origin as the most important in return migration. Gonçalves (2001) pointed out that at departure and arrival, migrants go through a traumatic rupture process involving loneliness, longing and anomie with the need to create and strengthen groups to receive them, so friendships, among others, are considered extremely important, as well as solidarity networks among the migrants themselves. Garcia, Pereira and Macedo (2013) investigated Brazilian internal migration and interpersonal relations, obtaining data from 100 adult Brazilians who had moved to another state. The main reasons for moving were work, studies, or relationships and family. The migrants cited a total of 467 significant people in their lives, but only 35.1% lived in the same city or town where they lived. Relatives, including romantic partners, represented 61.2% of all significant people while friends represented 34.9% of their personal network. However, the proportion of local friends considered as significant (45.4%) is higher than the proportion of local relatives (28.3%). This could be considered an adaptation to living far from family and a possible compensation. Despite the importance of internal migration in the country, little is known about the network and the role of friends when one moves from one state to another, either before or after moving. The objective of this

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research was to investigate the meaning of friendships for Brazilian adults who were living in another state of the country, where they had not been born.

Method Participants were 20 Brazilian adults who had migrated from the North, Northeast, Midwest, South and Southeast regions of Brazil to the State of Espírito Santo, in the Southeast region, after turning 18 years old, and who had lived there for at least six months. Participants had been identified based on indications of university students at the main university in the state and they were invited to participate. An individual semistructured interview on the perceived relations between friendship and migration was conducted. The interviews were recorded on audio with the participants’ permission and transcribed. The data were subjected to content analysis (Bardin, 1977; Franco, 2008; Flick, 2009). Responses were organized into pre-established categories, according to the literature on the subject. Subcategories were proposed, inductively, according to their similarity and internal consistence.

Results The results include data on the perception of how friendships are related to the migratory process.

1. Old Friends and Migration No participant reported having come under the direct influence of friends in their decision to move to another state, despite recognizing that friends had an opinion about the displacement, favorable or not, like: “After I made that decision, I told my friends, and so, it was a shock, it was very painful for me” (P16). Although friends were not seen as influential regarding the decision to move, they participated in discussions about migration and were recognized as a source of support: “It was a decision that I shared with some friends, to reflect together, whether it was worth. Then it was my decision, but of course they participated” (P12). Some respondents highlighted that friends were against their moving to another state: “[Friends] were against … You know, because we were friends since ever, childhood … We had a great connection” (P5). There were also those who were supported by friends in their decision.

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Moving to another state implies leaving friends behind. Participants considered that these friendships declined or did not, depending on how deep they were. Those who still maintained contact with close friends from the origin state after moving mentioned that this contact was made by visiting friends’ homes, but also by participating in social networks with them and phoning to keep in contact. In contrast, friendships which were not considered close seem to dissipate over time: “In the beginning, friendships remained; we had contact, but after about five or six years the contact ended. So if I meet these people, I will greet them, but the original friendship does not exist any longer” (P11).

Some believed that the only tie that remains is the family tie: “… Practically my friends are gone. I do not have friends in Manaus any longer. My only link there is my family … I felt that when I arrived there … That I had missed my friends” (P9). In sum, moving to another state affected former friendships, sometimes causing their end.

2. Making New Friends: Cultural Factors and Difficulties New friendships in the state of destination were made at school, work, church, and in the neighborhood. Among those who moved in order to be closer to their own family or the spouse’s family, some reported that the main friendships were made with people within the family, especially in the beginning. However, with time, the friendship circle expanded with the help of relatives. Friendships were made with people from different geographical origins, including people born at the destination state, people from the state of origin, and from other states. According to some reports, it was easier to establish friendships with people from other states (migrants as well), as they considered the local population “closed”: “It took time for me to know more intimately people from Espírito Santo. Soon after I had arrived, I started interacting more with people from Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and some gauchos (from Rio Grande do Sul), but it was by chance, it happened maybe because they were more receptive” (P13).

In another case, someone from the same state was considered easier to communicate and become a friend: “When you find someone who is from your land, he has the same identity” (P12).

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Some had a negative perspective about locals: “As I said, I think that there is difference between those who are from the state and those who came from another state. I feel that, I think that those who come from another state generally are more receptive. Usually they are more polite, and the people from Espírito Santo, I feel some problem with them; not everybody, but with most of them” (P17). Several considered the local people as not receptive. They claimed that they are “closed” in relation to their private lives, little is known about their families and that they do not have the habit of inviting someone for activities within their own homes. This was understood by some as distrust, and by others as a way to keep some distance between each other’s lives: “They do not want you to go into their homes and you participate in their lives and they participate of yours, I feel it for many years” (P10). Some felt that it was difficult to make new friendships in the state, for instance due to a lack of common background with locals: “When I came, I did not know if it was for myself to feel differently … I had the impression that I had some difficulty in making friends, but more in the sense of being unable to identify with people” (P16).

As shared activities are usually considered important in friendships, the perception of cultural differences in activities usually shared with friends was investigated. Some migrants did not perceive influence on activities shared with friends because they were from another state. Others, however, perceived differences in activities – such as surfing and eating habits – as cultural differences, which were not considered important. On the other hand, some felt offended by certain customs, for instance, a woman felt offended at first by the way locals talked: “There is no sentence that they speak that does not have a bad word … It was such a shock that I felt affronted, it seemed they were cursing me all the time” (P4). Another pointed out that a feature of the people from Espírito Santo that bothers him is to be unpunctual. Other participants informed that they engaged in some new activities because of new friends: “Because the activities you did in your state are different from what you do now. But I don’t see this as something negative, it is enriching and sometimes even funny to perceive differences, in time scheduling, activities” (P15).

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However, they consider that cultural differences are not sufficient to cause conflicts. In another case, cultural differences were perceived in activities, but they were not seen as relevant to friendships: “Maybe because I’m from the South, there are a few different little things such as time of meals, these daily silly things, but nothing that interferes with or hinders me” (P4).

Sometimes, difficulties arising from cultural differences were perceived in other types of relationships, but not in friendships: “Maybe [in] daily activities, like going shopping or dealing with a salesperson, and so on, I believe so. But concerning my friends, I think there is no kind of conflict” (P17). Even when cultural differences were perceived, it was not clear if those might generate some kind of conflict: “I think sometimes an ‘almost conflict’ is initiated by cultural differences. Even though they are minimum they always exist; there will be different opinions, but I don’t know if this is due to a particular feature of people from this state” (P18). The perception of prejudice against people from other states was not emphasized. On the other hand, jokes about a person’s origin were common, but usually this was not seen as prejudice. These jokes were about use of language (or accent), different habits and also personal appearance. For instance, migrants from Bahia reported being called lazy, which was considered as behavior that revealed some prejudice: “It is a prejudice, say, joke, get it? That ends up becoming a prejudice … A slight prejudice! Those jokes about people from Bahia to be lazy” (P6). On the other hand, some did not consider these jokes as prejudice: “Prejudice? No, no … Sometimes there is a joke due to the fact you are from Minas Gerais, but nothing to exclude you, more in the sense of playing, [to] cherish your identity” (P12). Some reported not to feel prejudice because they related with people from the same state: “Perhaps because there were already many people from Minas Gerais here and most of my friendships were established with them” (P11). Moreover, others have attributed the fact that they come from another state to helping them make friends: “No, on the contrary, I even find it odd that being gaucho opened the doors. I do not know exactly why, but talking to people, I realized that for most, gaucho is synonymous of a person who works hard. Actually we work a lot, but this is not a rule; but like it or not, it helped us” (P13).

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Thus, despite the fact that prejudice has not been clearly perceived, jokes related to differences were common and sometimes perceived as a form of discrimination.

3. Family and Friends Participants compared friends and family several times. Regarding the possibility of friends replacing family members, some felt that friends do not replace family, although they provide support and help a lot: “No, they do not replace family. No way! To me, family is still in the foreground. Despite having friends as if they were brothers and they help us in many moments, nothing replaces [family]. Even living far [away] I call them every day, then I speak [for] one hour” (P20). And also: “No, not for me. But it is a source of support; friendship is very important in a person’s life. It is not just you and the family, and friendships are things we build. I imagine it would be too complicated to live in a place [if] you don’t have a closer, affectionate relationship” (P12). “I participated in the life of each one of them. So I find [it] so difficult to change my family for my friends. We have a story” (P4).

On the other hand, some respondents reported that friends can become like family members due to the close bond formed, even if they not replace them: “I think so. It is clear that family is irreplaceable, but you can count on friends, create a relationship of affection and care, and of course you establish a kind of family relationship, where one takes care of the other, as a family really” (P15).

Many considered friends as a continuation of family, people one has chosen to be family: “True friendship is everything, is the continuation of the family. Family comes in first place, but friends are those that I can choose. I have already disappointed a lot, but there are friends who are for all times, not only when you are happy, not only in your achievements” (P18).

Others believe that friendships can replace some family relationships. Among these, all claim that friends are more important in their lives than many family members who for some reason turned away or were never close. They even report that friends are more present in their lives than these relatives. However, for these respondents, friendships were no

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substitute for closer family relationships, such as those with father, mother, brothers and sisters. Some respondents said that friends have replaced their family, which remained in the state of origin. They report that due to the disunity of the family, they did not have contact with many relatives, a fact accentuated by moving to another state. In these cases, friendship bonds became even stronger than family bonds.

4. The Meaning of Friendship in the Context of Migration and for Life Friends have been considered fundamental for adaptation to a new environment, especially for those who did not have family in the destination state. Friends played the role of “guide”, providing information about places and services for the newcomer, such as schools, supermarkets, job opportunities, and places to go, among others. Participants from small towns reported that coming to major cities brought great difficulties, which friends helped them to solve. According to one: “I, thanks [to] God, made friends here who helped me during this period of adjustment” (P9). This kind of support could be considered as concrete and informational. Friends were also important for social adaptation, including companionship: “Friends are very important for adaptation, for company in activities; they helped me not to feel displaced” (P14). In social terms, friends are also seen as mediating other friendships, both for those who already had family in the state and for those who did not. Friends helped migrants to integrate socially, introducing them to other people, helping them not to feel alone or displaced. Two participants indicated the importance of friends to their social integration in the new state: “I think that friends here have made a great difference, because it was a process of adaptation and while we got to know people, and it was interesting to introduce us to other locals, to take to places, hang out together beyond [the] work environment; it was very good and important” (P13). “I do not know how it would be if I had not had met such people. I felt totally alien to this place, displaced, perhaps by coming from the countryside. But I hang out with them, we talked in the afternoons, these types of activities. They helped me … how can I say? To adapt, to fit [in]!” (P16).

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In short, friends act as city “guides” and also help the social integration of migrants, mainly when family is absent. Some considered locals to be receptive and thoughtful. In this case, local friends were closer and more reliable than friends from the state of origin. Friends were considered to help in building a positive idea of the state: “These are the people who will introduce me [to] the state, not only places, but what the state is, you know? And they are also those who will make me feel good here. As I had good meetings, I have a positive image of the state” (P14).

Friends are considered relevant to develop a positive perception of the new state: “So, now I know more about the culture, style, even about dressing, the way one talks. I had already an idea, because I came here every year to spend New Year’s Eve, but when you make friends, they bring it to you, right? I liked this place … but the new friends made me like it even more” (P19).

In some cases, the perception of a problematic reception from the locals contributed to build a negative image not only of local people, but also about the state as a place to live and have success: “The view I have here is that they are very closed; not only because I live in a small town, but people from Espírito Santo, in general, are difficult to make friends [with]. I’m so different from the people here. For example, to open a business is complicated, it does not go forward. I know that because I had a bar and it did not work” (P18).

Others mentioned that they had a previous idea of the state before moving and that, after moving, new friendships confirmed or changed this idea. The way the state is perceived is also influenced by social contacts, and friends may help to build a positive opinion about the state as a whole. In general, friends were considered very important for life. Participants highlighted the help from friends when in difficulty; that they were essential to well-being, sharing good moments and as company. According to some respondents, it would be very difficult or even impossible to live without friends: “They [friends] are a very important part in our life, because without friends it is impossible to live well [and] be happy, so for me friends are essential. Indeed, you choose your friends, right? I think it is a great joy to

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choose your friends, not perfect friends, as I am not perfect, but the ones I identify myself [with] more, [with whom] I have more affinity” (P17).

The importance of friends is also related to providing support or assistance: “Look, it’s … It has a unique importance. Mainly those people who are closer, because [a] friend is one who is your confidant, [who is] loyal and sincere. So for me, [friendship] has a very important role to help us sometimes when we are going through a personal, professional or emotional challenges. So I think a friend is both a source of support, as well as someone to help you to identify things that are not so appropriate and that you cannot see yourself. A friend, a true friend, points these things, he is not that person who just wants to please you. So for me I think it has an indispensable role” (P12).

In sum, the importance of friends is generally recognized, not only for help or support in difficult times but they also contribute to the migrants’ well-being and happiness.

Discussion and Conclusions Although the literature on internal migration and friendships recognizes that personal networks affect migration, the participants in this investigation did not recognize friends as influential in their decision to move. Possibly, they did not have friends in the destination state or their moving to another state did not depend on them. The migration process affects friendships. After moving, only the closest friendships from the origin state remain. Migration also enables the formation of new friendships. On arrival, participants perceived that other migrants, some even from the same state of origin, were easier to communicate with and become friends. Some had greater ease with making friends with people from their origin state, showing the importance of cultural identification. Literature on internal migration seems to deal mainly with previous friends affecting migration decisions. In this study, it was observed that new friendships are initiated at the destination. Some investigations about friendships of foreign students in Brazil (e.g. Garcia & Goes, 2010; Garcia & Rangel, 2011; Garcia, 2012) show some similar patterns, such as the contact with previous friends and a tendency to make friends with people from the same place or other migrants, when available. These new friends may be from other states, from the state of origin or from the state of destination. The way migrants were received was related

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to the image they have of the state today, especially those who have moved recently. When considering feeling welcomed, the image they have of the state is generally positive. A similar pattern was also observed in students from other countries living in Brazil (e.g. Garcia & Goes, 2010; Garcia & Rangel, 2011; Garcia, 2012) who considered that friendships also affected the perception they had about Brazil. Regarding the formation of friendships with local people, some had difficulties and considered locals as being “closed” and unwilling to establish new friendships. Difficulties in making friends from a different country after moving have been reported in literature (e.g. Tsai, 2006), which were attributed at least partially to cultural differences, such as language. Although, in the present case, all participants spoke the same language, some participants, especially those who had moved recently, perceived more cultural differences when compared with those who had already lived in the state for a long time, including differences in food habits, religious behavior, music, and sports, among others. However, cultural differences have not been considered sufficient to generate conflicts. Thus, despite the fact that prejudice has not been clearly perceived, the presence of jokes related to differences has been considered by some as prejudice. Friends are considered important in the migration process. Gonçalves (2001), for instance, pointed out the importance attached to friendships during the arrival of migrants at a new place. However, literature on internal migration has not investigated how friends behave, and how migrants perceived their influence. In this study, friends are perceived as an important source of different kinds of support. An important role was attributed to friends in providing the information necessary for one to adapt to the local environment. Friends also share emotions and contribute to the migrants’ well-being, supplying emotional support. In third place, they provide companionship and help migrants to develop new social relationships, contributing to their social integration and participation. Friends as an important source of social support were also recognized by foreign students in Brazil (e.g. Garcia & Goes, 2010; Garcia & Rangel, 2011; Garcia, 2012). The relationship between family and friends is complex. For instance, if a migrant has family where he/she lives, friendships made within the family are reported. On the other hand, some considered friends as part of the family. It was observed that, sometimes friends and relatives have similar functions, both acting to facilitate new social relationships, for instance. Sometimes, friends were considered not to replace family

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relations; in other cases, participants report having friends who replaced family relations. Finally, friendships were considered to be very important and essential to the process of adaptation of migrants and for life in general as well. Thus, in relation to the existing literature on internal migration and friendship in Brazil, this study adds information on the role of friends in the migratory process, which has already been recognized (Ferreira & Matos, 2004; Lyra, 2005). Thus, it shows more clearly the involvement of friends in the migration process, which has been little investigated (Gomes, 2006; Saquet & Mondardo, 2008). The work explores the role of friends, whose importance had been recognized by Gonçalves (2001). Further research should compare the friendships of internal and international migrants more specifically, and also the family and friendship relationships related to the migration process.

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Franco, M. L. (2008). Análise do Conteúdo. 3. ed. Brasília: Liber Livro Editora. Garcia, A. & Goes, D. C. (2010). Amizades de estudantes africanos residindo no Brasil. Psicologia: Teoria e Prática, 12 (1), 138-153. Garcia, A. & Miranda, R. F. (2012) Amizades interculturais, interétnicas, inter-raciais e internacionais. In: L. K. de Souza e C. S. Hutz (Orgs.). Amizade em Contexto: Desenvolvimento e Cultura (pp. 229-260). São Paulo: Casa do Psicólogo. Garcia, A. & Rangel, P. M. V. (2011). Amizades de universitários caboverdianos no Brasil. Psicologia Argumento, 29, 201-208. Garcia, A. (2012). Amizades de universitários estrangeiros no Brasil: um estudo exploratório. Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas), 29 (4), 471479. Garcia, A., Pereira, F. N., & de Macedo, M. D. C. (2013). Family and Friends: Internal Migration and Social Network of Brazilian Migrants. Paper presented at the Interamerican Conference on Psychology. Brasilia: Interamerican Psychological Association. Gomes, S. C. (2006). Uma inserção dos migrantes nordestinos em São Paulo: o comércio de retalhos. Imaginário, 12 (13), 143-169. Gonçalves, A. J. (2001). Migrações Internas: Evoluções e Desafios. Estudos Avançados, 15 (43), 173-184. Haug, S. (2003). Interethnische Freundschaftsbeziehungen und Soziale Integration: Unterschiede in der Ausstattung mit sozialem Kapital bei jungen Deutschen und Immigranten. Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 55, 716-736. Kugele, K. (2006). Junge Global Nomads und ihre Freundschaften. Auswirkungen des Aufwachsens in mehreren Kulturen auf Erleben und Verhalten in Freundschaftsbeziehungen. Gruppendynamik und Organisationsberatung, 37, 155-172. Lisboa, T. K. (2007). Fluxos migratórios de mulheres para o trabalho reprodutivo: a globalização da assistência. Estudos Feministas, 15, 805-821. Lyra, M. R. S. (2005). Sulanca X Muamba: Rede social que alimenta a migração de retorno. São Paulo em Perspectiva, 19 (4), 144-154. Martes, A. C. B. (2000). Brasileiros nos Estados Unidos: um estudo sobre imigrantes em Massachusetts. São Paulo: Paz e Terra. Matos, R., & Ferreira, R. N. (2004). Inserção ocupacional de emigrantes da Áreas Metropolitanas de São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro. Revista Brasileira de Estudos de População, 21 (1), 83-100.

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Saquet, M. A., & Mondardo, M. L. (2008). A construção de territórios na migração por meio de redes de relações sociais. Revista NERA, 11 (13), 118-127. Soares, W. (2002). Para Além da Concepção Metafórica de Redes Sociais: fundamentos teóricos da circunscrição topológica da migração internacional. Doctoral Dissertation. UFMG: Belo Horizonte. Tassara, E. & Rabinovich, E. (2007). Movimentos migratórios na metrópole de São Paulo no século XXI: um estudo quali-quantitativo. Estudos e Pesquisas em Psicologia, 7 (3), 502-520. Truzzi, O. (2008). Redes em processos migratórios. Tempo Social, 20, 199-218. Tsai, J. H.-C. (2006). Xenophobia, ethnic community, and immigrant youths’ friendship network formation. Adolescence, 41, 285-298. Zenteno, R. M. (2000). Redes migratorias: ¿Acceso y oportunidades para los migrantes? In R. Tuirán (Ed.). Migración México–Estados Unidos. Opciones de Política (pp. 229-245). Cidade do México: Consejo Nacional de Población.

WHAT MEXICAN CHILDREN SAY ABOUT FRIENDSHIP CLAUDIA LÓPEZ BECERRA NATIONAL PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY, MEXICO

Friendship is one of the most common relationships that humans have in life. In childhood, friendships play important roles in the emotional and social development of children; for example, providing affection and emotional support (Prinstein, La-Greca, Vernberg & Silverman, 1996), a basis for social comparison, emotional security, and also promoting a sense of group belonging, which is necessary for social interaction (Asher, 1978; Duck & Sants, 1983; Furman & Robbins, 1985; Sancilio & Hartup, 1986; La Gaipa, 1981). In the conceptual and empirical literature related to friendship in childhood and adolescence, emphasis has been placed on playing and on association and companionship as basic characteristics or components of friendship in these stages (Buhrmester & Furman, 1987; Davies, 1984; Hinde, 1979; Sullivan, 1953; Furman & Robbins, 1985; Weiss, 1974). It has been discussed that opportunities for interaction with a close peer are fundamental aspects of the experience of friendship, and when asked about the characteristics that define friendship, adolescents and children mention play and companionship, which are one of the few traits identified by both groups (Berndt, 1982; Bigelow, 1977). It has also been found that friends provide protection against unexpected changes, assist in development with regard to the standards and expectations of culture, promote exploration and learning, and validate the sense of self, giving the individual a feeling of affection, intimacy and secure alliance (Bukowski, 2001; Furman & Robbins, 1985; Sullivan, 1955). For through these relationships, not only do children learn to get along with others, but they are also introduced to the social world, where they have their own rituals, activities, traditions, and social codes, etc. Friendships make specific contributions to development, which are not provided by any other relationship, as the feeling of equality, and group and community membership, which cannot be experienced with adults because of the asymmetry of adult-child relationships.

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Likewise, friendships enable the child to experience a wide range of feelings and values, both positive (love, affection, support, trust, loyalty) and negative (jealousy, anger, aggression, resentment, anger), contributing to emotional control and differentiation of emotions (Lopez, 1985).

Changes in friendship in the stages of childhood A challenge inherent in the study of friendship is at what time friendships first arise. Children who are frequently together are capable of simple reciprocal and complementary interactions when they are only one year old (Howes, 1996), and before their second year, pairs of children seek each other out; their play becomes more associative and cooperative, and they have an obvious pleasure in being in the company of the other. Children who are at preschool (4 to 5 years old) work together and at this age, “rudimentary” friendships may appear. It is also during this period that children label their playmates as friends for the first time. As a three-year-old said: “Now we are friends because we know our names” (Rubin, 1980). After childhood, the enormous changes that children suffer when they grow and mature reflect in their friendships as the changes are based on cognitive development, as children increase their ability to consider the perspectives of others and understand their wishes and views. Several investigations have documented how changes in friendship conceptions are based on changes in development (e.g., Bigelow & LaGaipa, 1975, 1980; Selman, 1981; Youniss & Smollar, 1985). Such investigations have taken different conceptual and methodological approaches. It has been found that children aged between six and eight years emphasize common activities and proximity as important aspects of friendship, increasing with age (9-10 years) and children begin to focus on common interests and reciprocity, e.g. mutual aid, before they are ten. Selman (1981) suggested that children’s friendships are characterized by fair cooperation; they begin to fully understand the views of their friends and recognize that conflicts are easier to solve when the interests of both parties are satisfied, but build friendships based on their own interests rather than mutual interests. If conflicts are not resolved when they arise, children tend to feel that their relationship has ended. In children over eleven years old, more abstract concepts such as acceptance, loyalty, true commitment and finally intimacy are developed. It was found that children aged between 10 and 12 years old say that friends should provide privacy and support; realizing, that for these purposes, close friends have to be psychologically compatible: i.e. to share

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interests, to have a personality that is mutually agreeable. Rubin (1981) notes that many children know they can talk to someone, that they can tell someone their problems, and that they can understand. According to Strommen (1982), in the stage of intimacy (between 9 and 12 years), one of the different evolutionary stages of friendship, the skills and abilities to be able to engage in genuine friendships are consolidated, and children go beyond appearances or observable behaviors. It is the stage to share, more than any other time, personal information, emotions, problems and conflicts. According to Selman (1981) decentration enables the child to understand the relationships based on reciprocity: I evaluate what my friends do, but they also evaluate what I do. This cognitive possibility of mutual evaluations gives a new character to friendship; that is, to think that friendship is based on mutual trust and mutual assistance, which are the pillars for maintaining friendship. Blieszner and Roberto (2004) mention that after infancy, changes in children as they grow are reflected in their friendships, which become more complex. Based on this, this study aimed to explore how children 911 years conceive friendship and what is a best friend, and how they described their friendships.

Friendship for boys and girls Gender differences in the concept of friendship have been documented. Girls have a faster development of friendship understanding than boys, focusing on interpersonal intimacy and support from an early age (Bigelow & LaGaipa, 1980). Girls emphasize the potential for intimacy more than boys (e.g., Berndt, 1981). There are a few investigations on friendship between people of different sexes (Monsour, 2002; Sippola, 1999). Interactions between individuals of different sexes are functionally important for the later emergence of romantic relationships (Kuttler, LaGreca, & Prinstein, 1999; Leaper & Anderson, 1997).

The close friend When formal education begins, the child interacts with peers who are in many ways different from him/her in interests, personality, background and beliefs; differences about which they learn to talk and share, and through which they establish friendships. Constant contact with classmates fosters greater sensitivity to the needs and feelings of others, which encourages close friendships to develop, as

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children need the opportunity to interact frequently and deeply with their peers, in a context that favors mutual cooperation in a joint activity; so that school emerges as a favorable environment to find a “best friend” among peers, usually of the same sex and age. Close friends can provide greater emotional security; these relationships are colored with love and tenderness, and offer safety to participate in the process of trial and error in friendship relations which involve social, emotional and intellectual components. According to Berk (1999) close friendships have the following characteristic features: (a) they provide opportunities to develop a wide range of social, emotional and intellectual skills as through intimacy, friends become more sensitive to the strengths and weaknesses, the needs and wishes of the other. They get to know themselves, which supports their identity development; (b) they provide support for the ability to express emotions that strengthen their personal well-being, because when increasing sensitivity and mutual interest, anxiety and loneliness are reduced, while a sense of well-being and self-esteem is stimulated; (c) they help to improve attitudes toward school, and through intimate bonds of friendship a good fit is favored in general. Younnis and Smollar (1985) point out that sharing objects and pleasant activities among peers can lead them also to share thoughts and innermost feelings, creating a feeling of mutual consideration. So, they can achieve social skills through these interactions, as training for future relations within adult society. Rubin (1980) explains that relations between classmates favor the formation of personal identity. Children construct images of themselves, especially through the perception of those with whom they most identify: peer groups, friends, and “best friends”. The child receives feedback from them and compares him/herself with them in terms of physical, social, emotional, intellectual and other attributes. Another important function of friendship during childhood and adolescence is to protect children from becoming victims of other children (Davies, 1984; Rizzo, 1988).

Friendship of Mexican children With the purpose of investigating what children in Mexico City think about friendship, two exploratory studies were developed: the first was to explore what kind of behavioral patterns are observed in the interaction of children from 9 to 11 years old, with his/her best friend at school during break time, for which systematic observation was used, developing a behavioral taxonomy of behavior with the best friend (see Table 1).

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Through this procedure, we aimed to observe objectively the situations chosen as “interaction with best friend at school”, from small details to the totality of behavior in their natural environment. For the development of behavioral taxonomy, the behaviors that pairs of friends showed (pairs were previously selected) for two days in the breaks between classes were observed. The behaviors presented were recorded, to select those performed more often and those that could be included in a single category so that we could define them (see Table 1). Once categories were established, it was possible to conduct systematic observation, recording the occurrence of a behavior; in this case, the behavior by children with his/her best friend at school in the breaks. The procedure followed to collect the data was first to apply a short questionnaire to children about who were their friends, if they had a best friend, who he/she was, and where he/she had met this friend. Based on the replies, the pairs of children that would be observed during the breaks were selected. The sample consisted of boys and girls aged between 9 and 11 years; students of 4th, 5th and 6th grade from a public school in Mexico City, of which 50% (16) were girls and 50% boys. All children reported a child of the same sex as a best friend. Table 1. Definition of interacting behaviors with the “best friend” during the “break” Search: Leaving the classroom, they direct their gaze to different points of the courtyard to look for friends. Follow: Going from one side to another, walking behind a friend, in the direction where he/she goes. Walk together: They accompany each other walking by the yard at recess, close to each other, either holding hands, arms or loose. Play: Recreational activity that involves jumping, running, chasing each other, playing with marbles, playing “stop” and plane, and play fighting. Share food: They invite each other for lunch and snacks. Communication: They talk, laugh, shout or whisper to each other. Walk in groups: Children related to the friend or the observed child gather. Embrace: Affectionate display or gesture, which consists of holding someone closely in one’s arms. Embrace 1: The action of a boy passing an arm around his friend’s neck. Embrace 2: The action of a girl passing an arm around her friend’s waist.

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After analyzing the records, the results show the behaviors performed by girls, boys and by both with their best friend while they are with him/her at break time. It is noted that there are certain behaviors performed by girls and others performed by boys. They play, run, chase each other, walk together, they talk, show affection, etc. (see Table 2). Also based on observation, the frequency of behaviors that children performed with their best friend was obtained (see Table 3). The data show, first, that the most representative behaviors observed in the interaction of children with the best friend are playing, communication, walking together, following, hugs (whose shape varies between boys and girls), and sharing food. Table 2. Behaviors presented by children with his/her best friend during the “break” Girls Hold hands Walk in pairs Walk embraced

Boys Chase each other (play) Play fight Embrace

Both Search

Walk in group Motivate each other to relate with girls

Communicate Share food

Follow

Accompany each other Show disposition to help Cooperation Walk together Run (Play) Jump (Play)

Play (P) 4 7 18 15 16 5 7 9 6 12 10 8 5 11 7 8

148

Children Pair 1 Pair 2 Pair 3 Pair 4 Pair 5 Pair 6 Pair 7 Pair 8 Pair 9 Pair 10 Pair 11 Pair 12 Pair 13 Pair 14 Pair 15 Pair 16

Total

192

Communication (C ) 17 11 14 14 36 9 8 10 8 13 14 9 7 9 6 7 127

Walk together (WT) 15 6 8 1 15 6 9 9 7 10 10 6 4 8 7 6

What Mexican Children say about Friendship

Table 3. Frequency of observed behaviors

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42

Follow 3 6 3 4 5 3 2 3 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 77

Hugs 6 2 1 3 6 1 1 2 1 4 5 1 2 4 0 2 36

Share food (SF) 12 0 3 6 0 0 1 1 1 4 5 1 0 1 1 0

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Study 2 This study aimed to explore how 120 Mexican children (53 males and 67 females), 9-11 years old, who were elementary students in the Federal District, conceive friendship and what a best friend is. They responded to an open questionnaire with nine self-administered questions aimed at understanding aspects of friendship. The technique of content analysis was used and all responses that subjects issued to each question were extracted. Categories for each question based on its conceptual consistency have been created. When asked “Friendship is …” the children gave different answers that reflect how they conceive this relationship. After analysis, seven categories have been obtained, including: Affection – an expression of feelings, loving someone other than family. It is a nice feeling, a feeling that makes you make friends, something like giving love; Trust/Loyalty – someone who you trust; something valuable, for you can trust him/her with your secrets. When a person never betrays someone; Living together/Fun – is when you live with someone, hang out with someone, or do things with someone that both like; Support – someone who is with you in good and bad times, when you have a group of friends to help you through the tough times; Evaluation of Friendship (value) – is a nice gift, something good, something beautiful that you have with a person, a beautiful thing. When questioned about how they make friends, answers include: “I play with them, I talk to them … being nice, I make him laugh, I do not fight …” Regarding what is the “best friend” for children, after content analysis, six categories have been obtained. One of the main categories that emerged was Support with answers like: one who is with you through good and bad moments; one you can count on for everything, someone who is there to support you. Confidence is present in children’s responses as: “Trusting all my secrets, a person to whom I can tell everything, I talk to him about my problems.” The remaining categories are listed in Table 4. Later, the frequency for each category of the question of who is a “best friend” was analyzed, comparing boys and girls. Girls see the best friend as something very valuable, to whom one has a special love, and boys see the best friend as someone with whom to play and have fun (see Table 5).

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Table 4. Defining the categories – “the best friend is …” Communication Affection Fun/Play Friend Evaluation

Advise, listen to me Like her, almost like my brother With whom I play, you have much fun An indispensable person, treasure, valuable

Table 5. Comparison of response categories for boys and girls – “a friend is …” Sincerity Support Trust Affection Communication/Advice Fun/Play Friend Evaluation

Girls 64 65 70 67 62 42 90

Boys 36 35 30 33 38 58 10

A very interesting element refers to children’s responses about “what they do when they get angry with a friend”. Children’s responses were grouped into six categories ranging from asking forgiveness or apologizing, not talking anymore, not giving attention anymore, trying to fix things, thinking about what failed, to having an emotional reaction such as feeling sad, angry, crying, or just continuing the relationship and talking to each other again after a while (See Table 6). In other words, there are children who prefer to act to solve their anger towards a friend, possibly as Selman observed (1981) because they think that if the conflict is not resolved, the friendship will end. But, there are also children who only experience a variety of feelings or just think about what happened. Table 6. Response categories “What do you do when you get angry with a friend” Apologize Stop talking

I forgive him, if he is my best friend I forgive everything; if it was my fault, I apologize I stop talking to him/her because he/she was rude; I stop talking; I stop talking and I do not give attention to him/her; when the anger is over I talk to him/her

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Fix things

I try to talk to him, then we soon reconcile; I try to fix the problem; I say to him/her that we should be friends again; I try to clarify everything; I say it is not good to fight; I send a letter saying something; I say how much I like him/her

Think about it

I think about what failed; I sleep just thinking about it; I reflect on why we have fought I cry and I get sad; I miss him/her; I feel bad; I get angry I keep talking to him/her; I talk again to him/her after a while

Emotional reaction Continue the relationship

The responses of boys and girls reiterate that beginning in childhood, the presence of certain qualities is essential in order to consider that their relationship with another child is friendship. For them, friendship means to have friends where the presence of affection/love, trust/loyalty, support, living together/fun, and communication is essential, developing the concepts of friend and friendship from the sense of reciprocity, cooperation and trust, based on feelings. According to Hernandez (2000), when children are friends, they play, form groups, undertake projects, quarrel, expose their own opinions, manipulate things in search of some social position, and participate in many other activities that they have organized among themselves. As for what to them is a best friend, their responses show, as mentioned by Fehr (1996), that what distinguishes a best friend from other people who are important is a matter of degree, coinciding with the findings of Hardy, Doyle and Markiewics (1991), who investigated 3rd6th grade children in Montreal. They believed that good and best friends were comparable in terms of company, but best friends were characterized by increased aid, support and closeness. The best friendships are more intimate than ordinary friendships. Participants in the study report that the best friend is “like a kin in whom I have all confidence” who is always offering her/his support. Coinciding with that, Yager (1997, p. 18) found that the best friend is seen as a close confidant, who knows secrets that nobody else knows. Trust implies a high level of support, so a best friend “is someone who is there, no matter what happens.” In conclusion, the possibility for children to establish intimate friendships provides opportunities to develop a wide range of social, emotional and intellectual

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skills, since through intimacy, friends become more sensitive to the strengths and weaknesses, the needs and desires of the other. They get to know themselves, supporting the development of identity. They provide support for the ability to express emotions that strengthen their personal well-being, because when increasing sensitivity and mutual interest, anxiety and loneliness are reduced, while a sense of well-being and selfesteem (Berk, 1999) is stimulated. Conceptions of friendship reflect the expectations, values and beliefs of individuals about what friends should be (Bigelow, 1977). At the same time, there has been the assumption that these concepts are related to the perceptions we have of this interpersonal relationship (Berndt & Perry, 1986), with how our relationships with peers, culture or context have been (Corsaro, 1985). From this perspective, studies have been developed such as McDougall, Hymel and Merrill-Palmer (2007). It seems that beginning from childhood, for Mexican children, friends are an important group of selected people, and friendship has a wide emotional base. At the forefront of interest are collaboration, cooperation, sharing, giving and receiving help (Diaz-Guerrero & Szalay, 1993).

References Asher S. R. (1978). Children’s peer relations. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.). Social and personality development (pp. 91-113). New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Berk, L. E. (1999). El desarrollo del niño y del adolescente. Madrid: Prentice Hall. Berndt, T. J., & Perry, T. B. (1986). Children’s perceptions of friendships as supportive relationships. Developmental Psychology, 22, 640-648. Bigelow, B. J. (1977). Children’s friendship expectations: A cognitivedevelopmental study. Child Development, 48, 246-253. Bigelow, B. J., & LaGaipa, J. J. (1975). Children’s written descriptions of friendships: A multidimensional analysis. Developmental Psychology, 11, 857-858. Bigelow, B. J., & LaGaipa, J. J. (1980). The development of friendship values and choice. In H. Foot, A. Chapman, & J. Smith (Eds.), Friendship and social relations in children (pp. 15-44). New York: Wiley. Blieszner, R., & Roberto, K. A. (2004). Friendship across the life span: Reciprocity in individual and relationship development. In F. R. Lang & K. L. Fingerman (Eds.), Growing together: Personal relationships

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across the life span (pp. 159-182). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Bukowski, W. M. (2001). Friendship and the worlds of childhood. In D. W. Nangle and C. A. Erdley (Eds.), New directions for child and adolescent development: The role of friendship in psychological adjustment (pp. 93-105). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Corsaro. W. A. (1985). Friendship and peer culture in the early years. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Díaz-Guerrero, R. & Szalay, L. B. (1993). El mundo Subjetivo de Mexicanos Norteamericanos [Mexican-North Americans’ subjective world]. México Trillas. Duck, S., & Sants, H. (1983). On the origin of the specious: Are personal relationships really interpersonal states? Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1(1), 27-41. Fehr, B. (1996) Friendship Processes. Sage Series on Close Relationships. USA: Sage Publications. Furman, W., & Robbins, P. (1985). What’s the point? Selection and treatment objectives. In B. Schneider, K. H. Rubin, & J. E. Ledingham (Eds.), Children vs peer relations: Issues in assessment and intervention (pp. 41-54). New York: Springer-Verlag. Hardy, C. L., Doyle, A. B. & Markiewicz, D. (1991, June): Friendship status and friendship quality. Poster presented at the annual convention of the Canadian Psychological Association, Calgary, Alberta. Hardy, C. L., Bukowski, W. M., & Sippola, L. K. (2002). Stability and change in peer relationships during the transition to middle level school. Journal of Early Adolescence, 22,117-142. Hartup, W. W., & Sancilio, M. F. (1986). Children’s Friendship in E. Schopler & G. B. Mesihov (Eds.), Social behavior in autism. New York: Plenum Press. Hernández, J. M. (2000). Las relaciones interpersonales en la infancia. Malaga: Aljibe. Howes C. (1996). The earliest friendships. In W. M. Bukowski A. F. Newcomb & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep friendships in childhood and adolescence (pp. 66-86). New York: Cambridge University Press. Kuttler, A. F., La Greca, A. M., & Prinstein, M. J. (1999). Friendship qualities and social-emotional functioning of adolescents with close, cross-sex friendships. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 9, 339-366. Leaper, C., & Anderson, K. (1997). Gender development and heterosexual romantic relationships during adolescence. In S. Shulman

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& W. A. Collins (Eds.), Romantic relationships in adolescence: Developmental perspectives (pp. 85-103). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. La Gaipa, J. J. (1979). A developmental study of the meaning of friendship in adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 2, 201-213. López Becerra, C. (2007b). Amistad: Conceptuación y Mantenimiento, Una Visión Psicosocial. Tesis de Doctorado no publicada, Facultad de Psicología, UNAM, México. —. (2009, Mayo). Significado de la Amistad en la Infancia. Mesa de Trabajo efectuado XXXVI Congreso del Consejo Nacional para la Enseñanza e Investigación en Psicología A. C. Numero especial XXXVI Congreso Nacional. López, F. (1985). La formación de los vínculos sociales. Madrid: servicio de publicaciones del M. E. C. McDougall, P., & Hymel, S. (2007). Same-gender versus cross-gender friendship conceptions: Similar or different? Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 53(3), 347-380. Prinstein, La-Greca, Vernberg & Silverman (1996). Children’s coping assistance (pp. 242-272). New York: Cambridge University Press. Rubin, Z. (1980). Children’s friendships. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Selman, R. L. (1981). The child as a friendship philosopher. The development of children’s friendships, 2, 242. Strommen, E. A. (1982). Psicología del Desarrollo: Edad escolar. México: El Manual Moderno. Sullivan, H. S. (1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. New York: Norton. Yager, J. (1997). Friendshifts: the power of friendships and how it shapes our lives. Stamford, CT: Hannacroix Creek Books. Youniss, J., & Smollar, J. (1985). Adolescent relations with mothers, fathers, and friends. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

FRIENDSHIP, MEDIA AND CULTURE IN BRAZIL LUCIANA TELES MOURA AND AGNALDO GARCIA FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF ESPÍRITO SANTO, BRAZIL

This chapter aims to discuss the use of “friendship” in the Brazilian press as a possible way to investigate social and cultural aspects of friendship in Brazilian society and culture. Culture is a complex concept with different approaches. Santaella (2003) argues that the difficulty lies in the excess of concepts, since all fields of study have their own interpretations of culture. We understand culture as: “A fuzzy set of basic assumptions and values, orientations to life, beliefs, policies, procedures and behavioral conventions that are shared by a group of people, and that influence (but do not determine) each member’s behavior and his/her interpretations of the ‘meaning’ of other people’s behavior” (Spencer-Oatey, 2008, p. 3).

This chapter is based on the assumption that cultural products, such as books, movies, songs, and written media, may contribute to the understanding of cultural aspects of interpersonal relationships. Cultural products are goods and services that include the arts (performing arts, visual arts, architecture), heritage conservation (museums, galleries, libraries), the cultural industries (written media, broadcasting, film, recording), and festivals (Dayton-Johnson, 2000, p. 3).

It is also based on Brazilian discussion about the nature of friendship as something influenced by culture. According to Sérgio Buarque de Holanda (1987), one of the most important Brazilian historians, who discussed the cultural origins of Brazilian society, some of Brazil’s social characteristics could be traced back to our Iberian origin. In his book Raízes do Brasil (Roots of Brazil), originally published in 1936, the author discusses the multiple cultural influences in the history of Brazilian society. In this book, the idea of the Brazilian “cordial man” highlights the importance of the Portuguese legacy in the colonization of Brazil. This typical Brazilian “cordiality” would be related to problems in relationships

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between public and private instances. The idea of cordiality is related to the Brazilian affective way of thinking and behaving, related to family life but not adapted to formal political society, giving rise to a lack of limits between public and private spheres. Although the author does not discuss the social and cultural history of friendship in Brazilian society, some references relate friendship and cordiality. According to the author, since colonial times, to deal with Portuguese and Spanish traders, some kind of immediate or informal bond was necessary before the establishment of any formal relations, as usual in business and contracts. He cites a brief history about a businessman from Philadelphia who realized that to conquer a client in Brazil or Argentina, one must start making him a friend. In this case, friendship is fundamental and other formal relations are affected by this kind of informal relationship. The Brazilian anthropologist Roberto DaMatta also discussed some aspects of the cultural history of Brazilian society, and some considerations on friendship may also be found in his work. DaMatta (1997) makes a distinction between the person and the individual in Brazilian society. According to the author, while the individual is under impersonal authority (common law), the person is not subject to regular laws as he/she has “family or patronage”, “history, personal relationships or biographies” (p. 236). A “person of society is related essentially with some personalities” (p. 236). In this society, personal relationships help to obtain a better position in life. The existence of “person” and “individual” is called the Brazilian dilemma. According to Souza (2001), a “person” is defined as a “relational being” in a social system, in which family and friendship relations, among others, are fundamental. DaMatta (1987) points out that, in order to implement impersonal laws to create order in our public world, it is necessary to criticize the friendship and patronage networks present in our political, institutional and juridical life. So, in Brazilian society, market interests and the public sphere are influenced by emotions and affections arising from private friendships (DaMatta, 2003). DaMatta (2001) describes Brazilian society as a “relational universe” which favors family and friends, and rigidly applies the law only to other people. It also compares two forms of society, “relational” and “individualistic”, and connects Brazilian society to the first (DaMatta, 1987). According to the author, the feeling of friendship in Brazil makes someone support a friend, even if the friend is wrong (DaMatta, 2003). The relevance of friendship may also be observed in other investigations. For instance, Tamayo (2007) investigated the hierarchy of Brazilian values based on a sample consisting of 419 subjects and the 60

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most important values were identified. The most significant four values were inner harmony, true friendship, freedom and work. On the other hand, some authors consider it impossible to define a national identity in any instance, or a typical character of the Brazilian people – such as friendliness, kindness, emotion, etc. (Ortiz, 2003). Rezende (2002) also considers it dangerous to characterize a form of relationship that represents an entire nation. The country has so many variations and internal peculiarities that one needs to define what group one is talking about to describe some specific characteristic. The author says that beyond culture, aspects such as gender, age, socioeconomic status, beliefs and even origins are crucial to guide the friendship that will be established between two people. The decision to investigate friendship in printed press, as a cultural product, is considered a possibility among others. As newspapers cover different areas of human life, they are an interesting option to use to investigate the diversity of a concept such as friendship. They also reflect historical moments. Sodré (1999) discusses the history of the Brazilian press, pointing out that the press is linked to a historical context, reflecting different historical stages. Newspapers are also accessible to a large number of people in different social classes. Agrimani (1995) recognizes the growth of the press among the most popular classes in Brazilian society, which was not only due to economic development and poverty reduction, but was especially because of the adjustments that newspapers were subjected to, in order to meet the tastes and preferences of readers. Thus, newspapers adapt more and more to public expectations. So, apparently, the printed press not only influences life styles but it also adapts to popular preferences. Articles about interpersonal relationships are frequent in the printed press. Different newspaper sections deal with several aspects of human relationships, possibly because this type of matter increases the newspaper’s audience. The press is also responsible for presenting to the public, even superficially, some scientific studies on interpersonal relationships. However, mass media explores the “self-help” approach, presenting relationship “models” and “tips” on how to get along better (Schwertner, 2010). Investigations about personal relationships in the Brazilian printed press usually refer to romantic relationships (e.g. Casali, 2006). Friendship is characterized as a spontaneous relationship marked by freedom not comparable to more formal types of relationship (Bell, 1981; Fehr, 1996). People behave differently with friends and non-friends. Friends show more affection, reciprocity, intimacy, social activity and greater willingness to

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solve conflicts (Erbolato, 2001). Furthermore, the development of friendship provides well-being, stability and self-confidence (Argyle, 2001). The objective of this chapter is to analyze how friendship is depicted in a newspaper of large circulation in Brazil. To the extent that the press, especially daily newspapers, are part of the daily life of society, to investigate the treatment given to friendship can help understand the role that such a relationship holds in people’s lives. In this chapter, we consider that media and society exert reciprocal influence.

Method This study investigated the use of the word “friendship” in one of the most important Brazilian newspapers, with an average daily circulation of around 300,000 copies, for a period of three years (2008-2010). Data were obtained from all editions produced in this period using a search engine to access the material. Thus, we sought to identify all materials containing the word “friendship” in both the title and the body text. As a result, 1,695 articles have been selected, and in them, the word “friendship” was used 1,862 times. In 28 articles, friendship composed the title. All material collected was organized and analyzed systematically based on a list of predetermined aspects. As this study aimed to investigate newspaper articles, content analysis as proposed by Bardin (1977) was selected as the most suitable methodological approach, to permit an approach that goes beyond what is apparently visible in the news. The use of content analysis in the investigation of newspaper articles has been traditional since the beginning of the 20th century (Caregnato & Mutti, 2006). From then on, content analysis has been recurrently employed in the investigations of newspaper articles (Amorim, 2008). Three steps were followed to perform the analysis of the data collected. Based on the information described on a form, a pre-analysis was taken, considering the importance of obtaining an overview of the data collected. Then the material was explored and analysis categories were defined. The last step included interpretation, data processing and preparation of the final discussion, integrating the theoretical aspects and data that were obtained.

Results The word “friendship” occurred 1,862 times in 1,695 articles. Based on thematic content analysis, ten thematic groups have been proposed.

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1. Cultural products (721 citations) – The group with the largest number of occurrences of the word “friendship” referred to products such as movies, books, television shows, songs, theater plays and video games. In general, the word “friendship” was used in the titles of these products or appeared in their synopses or summaries. Movies accounted for nearly one third of the entire sample (32.3%), corresponding to 596 uses of the word (one Brazilian and 11 other movies from different countries). Other themes included book lists and synopses (75 citations), television shows, especially synopses of series, mini-series, cartoons and summaries of soap-operas (29), songs (5), and synopses of theater plays. There were a high number of repetitions within this category, for example, a particular movie was quoted several times. Movies, for instance, indicate that friendship is present not only in Brazilian cultural products, but in products from other countries as well. In this case, the word friendship was associated with international cultural products about 500 times, suggesting that strong cultural influences may be perceived at least in the printed press when the idea of “friendship” is analyzed. 2. Life Histories (411 citations) – Friendship was frequently mentioned in episodes of human life, mainly as part of the life history of famous people. Famous characters included athletes, prominent personalities in the media, and artists, among others. These reports usually highlighted the positive aspects of friendship, but crises were also mentioned. In 28 occurrences, friendship was mentioned as an essential factor to achieve success, especially in artistic, scientific and social fields. In other cases, the influence of a friend on the life and work of another personality was recognized. Friendship involving sports appeared 101 times. Friendships were also part of gossip columns about celebrities (89 citations). The main emphasis was on the simple statement of famous people who were friends. No record of friendship between artists and their fans was found. The friendships between famous professionals were also indicated (59 references). Ten texts reported the existence of old friendships between important figures in world history, and another seven texts highlighted friendships between religious leaders. Some articles discussed relationships between neighbors (six citations), addressing mainly difficulties in meeting and mingle with those who live nearby. Friendships in the lives of famous people were reported frequently, possibly to insert characters in a relational world inhabited by other famous people. It is also suggested that the indication of these friendships may also map alliances between groups represented by these people and what they represent to Brazilian society, as public characters.

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3. Friendship and Politics (202 citations) – These citations refer to friendship in political activities and most are from speeches and statements made by politicians themselves, mostly written in the first person. Emphases were on the friendships which were built by politicians over a mandate, references to old friendships between politicians, and friendship between presidents of different countries. Some citations reported the friendship between specific politicians. It was also observed that friendship was used to express a system of favoritism in politics. In the present item, as it was observed in the relationships of other famous people, friendships seem to go further beyond the private sphere and may be understood as political alliances in a relational universe where friends may represent influence and power. Friendship between presidents of different countries, for instance, may be seen as a concrete example of cooperative relations between countries. 4. Friendship between Countries and Peoples (105 citations) – Several articles refer to international friendship between countries and peoples. These articles usually showed advantages arising from this kind of friendship as peaceful coexistence among nations, strengthened trade relations and friendly relations between peoples. The term “friendship diplomacy” was used in some texts to describe the ideal of closeness and cooperation between countries. These citations suggest that there is a continuum from personal relationships to relationships between countries or nations. So, friendship is used not only to indicate relationships between two individuals, but also between two organizations, groups, sport teams, music styles, geographical or political areas, governments, and so on. 5. Places (30 citations) and Events (11 citations) – Several articles mentioned places in Brazil and in the world with friendship as part of the name. The use of friendship to denominate these places seemed to indicate an intention to enhance intercultural and international aspects. Among all the places, the highest rate of repetition was for the “Friendship Bridge” (21 mentions), usually related to news about crimes of misdemeanor and smuggling in the border between Brazil and Paraguay. This item is closely connected with friendship between countries and peoples, and may be considered an extension of that item. Apparently, these places make international or intercultural friendship something concrete. In some articles, friendship was related to some event (as a name), or the article referred to events to promote friendship, especially for young people. 6. Friendships with Animals and Objects (52 citations) – Sometimes, friendship is associated with objects, animals and trademarks. Objects could be perceived as friendship facilitators, or people could consider objects as friends. Even the possibility of friendship with trademarks was

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discussed. The major emphasis was on objects to promote friendship. As in the previous item, objects are seen as mediators of friendship. The three next thematic groups are related to common people, as friendship is related to romantic and family relationships; or friendship is associated with gender and age, making it possible for common people to find his/her place in relation to friendship. 7. Friendship, Sex and Age (20 citations) – This item discusses friendships between common people and not between famous personalities. In this case, friendship is associated with gender and age, making it possible to readers to identify themselves in these groups. These articles described typical male and female patterns for the establishment of friendship. They also commented on age influences on friendships, especially among children and youths. 8. Friendship, Romantic Relationships and Family (56 citations) – The relations between friendship and other kinds of interpersonal relationships were approached. Twelve articles discussed friendship within the family. The main emphasis was placed on describing links between parents, children and siblings, considering friendship as essential to a healthy family life. In this sense, most citations referred to the friendship between parents and children. On the other hand, 31 articles discussed how friendship and romantic relationships were related. Some texts discussed difficulties in distinguishing love and friendship, and the importance of doing so. Sometimes, transformations in a relationship, from friend to lover and vice versa, were the central points. However, others discussed the possibility of sexual relations between friends. These themes apparently indicate that friendship has no clear limits regarding romantic or family relationships. 9. Horoscope (180 citations) – Friendship was also frequently found in horoscopes. This item also deals with friendships between common people. In this case, friendship is associated with a zodiac sign, making it possible to readers to identify themselves with one of the 12 signs. In general, messages were very short and direct. Three major emphases were perceived: the indication of it being a good day for making friends, the apparent duality between friendships and romantic relationships, and tips for maintaining friendships. 10. Expressions (74 citations) – Articles revealing sentimental aspects given to the word friendship in expressions, such as messages addressed to friends; slang; games and activities; popular sayings; and thoughts on the subject in religious, poetic and philosophical texts.

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Discussion This study investigated how friendship was depicted in the Brazilian press, and how this could contribute to the understanding of some cultural aspects of friendship in Brazil. This was the third of a series of studies investigating friendships in cultural products, such as TV mini-series and friendship in publicity, aiming to understand the extension and the diversity of friendships in Brazilian culture, based on some cultural products. We are based on the assumption that media reflects, at least partially, how friendship is considered in Brazilian culture and that there is a mutual influence effect, and so media and culture affect each other. The concept of friendship in the material analyzed was diverse and complex. The following points could be highlighted: 1. The Positivity of Friendship – As an interpersonal relationship, friendship is frequently associated with satisfaction, joy, emotional involvement, trust, companionship, and happiness, and it is responsible for creating some of the most significant moments of life. However, conflict and separation are also reported; but even in typically competitive scenarios, such as sports or electoral disputes, friendship was seen as positive. Many studies also describe this emphasis on the positive side of friendship (e.g. Argyle & Henderson, 1985; Bell, 1981; Kipper, 2003) and associate friendship with qualities such as loyalty, tolerance, acceptance, understanding, generosity and support, among others. According to Argyle (2001), relationships are important for happiness and physical and mental health factors. Berscheid and Regan (2005) also value the important role of friendship in promoting well-being and health. On the other hand, friendship may be criticized when related to political or economic favoritism. 2. Friendship and Personal Advantage – A utilitarian perspective about friendship was also observed in the association of friendship with benefits arising from it. Many of the texts have shown that having a friend means having a special advantage over others, as, for example, in an indication for a job vacancy, in obtaining invitations to parties, or even in exemptions from criminal liability in some situations. Friendship was described by artists, athletes, politicians, journalists, anonymous people or instant celebrities, mainly as a form of relationship that provides positive achievements. Friendship improves individual performance. This association between friendship and benefits was also present in the political patronage and favoritism that led to the creation of an exclusive verbal expression for the situation: the vice of friendship.

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The press portrayed with great emphasis that friendship guarantees to those involved in the relationship a number of benefits that would not be granted to people who were outside the network. This relationship was observed in different sectors of human activity, with great emphasis on the political context. Holanda (1987) and DaMatta (1987, 1997, 2001, 2003), based on Brazilian historical development, have proposed this kind of phenomenon as a cultural trait of Brazilian friendship. Holanda (1987) argues that social relations in Brazil are covered by a garment of cordiality that serves to conquer the other to make him a friend. This essentially political process culminates with the appearance of a typical form of Brazilian friendship, which favors the friend over others, even when this friend is wrong or he is involved in episodes of illegality. DaMatta (2003) suggests that Brazilian society is influenced by the interests of the public sphere and private friendships. Other studies point to the tendency of favoring friends in the labor market, for instance, in professional recruitment and selection (D’Avila, Regis & Oliveira, 2010). Even Brazilian children recognize that one should be more generous towards a friend (Vale & Alencar, 2009). 3. Friendship and Levels of Complexity – The meaning of friendship is not restricted to interpersonal relations in printed press, but friendship occurs in different levels, including groups, institutions and nations, in a complex structure. Friendships occur between individuals and between groups, nations and peoples. In society, friendship is present in private and public spheres. However, it is possible to observe a dialectical perspective in the international–interpersonal and also in the public–private dyad. In the first case, friendship between presidents, for instance, not only refers to a personal bond but also reflects the relations between nations. The same occurs with the private–public dyad. Friendships between politicians, for instance, are not confined to the private sphere but affect public and institutional life as well. If friendship is usually considered as positive, in this case, personal friendships affecting institutional order are criticized. Brazilian anthropologists have already pointed out this problem in the institutional and political order in the country. 4. Friendship and Romantic Relationships – These two kinds of relationship present fuzzy borders. There seems to be a duality between friendship and romantic love. This connection came from movie titles (“dating or friendship”, for example) to horoscopes tips (e.g. the suggestion of developing the ability to discern between love and friendship), through analysis of sex and age differences in the definition of friendship (men have difficulty differentiating friendship and sexual interest). The question “dating or friendship” seems to expose this duality.

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This duality may be described as a conflict between both, so it is necessary to choose between one or another form of relationship and to learn to discriminate between both. Friendship is also proposed as complementary to romantic love to ensure the survival of a relationship, so lovers should also be friends. Friendship and romantic relationships are also seen as the origin of the other and vice versa. Friends may become lovers and lovers may become friends. On the other hand, friends could also be lovers, and the term “friends with benefits” was also used in various contexts. There is a possible dialectical movement between love and friendship. Fehr (1996) reviewed the concepts of friendship concluding that this is a form of interpersonal relationship free of sexual involvement, and Bell (1981) states that romantic involvement affects friendship profoundly, changing the relationship status. On the other hand, Borges and Schor (2002) investigated the sexual initiation of young Brazilians and reported that 20% of the sample had had their first sex relation with someone recognized as a friend. Monsour (1992) also found references to sexual involvement between friends in a survey of American college students. Although many authors differentiate these two forms of relationship, Duck and Perlman (1985) indicate the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, highlighting the ability of people to reinvent their ties with others. 5. Friendship and Family Relationships – The limits between family relations and friendship are also not clear in the texts analyzed. In this case, there are different positions, sometimes advocating that family relations should be permeated by friendship. In this sense, fathers and mothers should be a father-friend, a mother-friend, a husband-friend and so on (in Portuguese, “friend” is used as a substantive as well as an adjective). Others dissociate the role of friends and relatives. For some scholars (e.g. Kehl, 2000), this relationship is positive. Others argue the danger of linking the figure of friend to family and kinship, forcing an unnatural homogeneity among members of the network (Gomes & Silva Jr., 2008; Derrida, 1997). 6. Friendship and Famous and Anonymous People – Friendship may also be seen as a phenomenon affecting famous and anonymous people, possibly as a particular aspect of media. Friendship is present in the life histories of famous people, including politicians, artists and others, making it possible to see these characters in their relational world, what may possibly affect how their fans or supporters will perceive these public characters and also how to relate with other fans or supporters, as groups. On the other hand, friendship as a kind of personal relationship affecting anonymous people deals with friendship in different ages and genders and, in horoscopes, with direct commands about how to behave. In this case, it

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should be suggested that printed press has a typical manner in inserting friendship in their pages, representing a very specific way to observe cultural aspects.

Final Comments Friendship represents a complex conception in the material analyzed. First over all, friendship is not restricted to a person-to-person relationship, but several levels of complexity are observed, from individuals to groups and nations. The importance of considering different levels of complexity in the investigation of personal relationships had already been emphasized by Hinde (1997). Even so, data suggest that these several levels are dialectically related, and relations on a particular level (person-to-person) may affect and be affected by relations on other levels (for instance, nation-to-nation). This is reflected in the newspaper content. Friendships as a kind of relationship are also related to other kinds of relationships, such as romantic and family relationships. In this case, these different types of relationship also present dialectical relationships, as proposed by Hinde (1997). As expected, friendship was predominantly depicted as something positive. On the other hand, a negative side of friendship was observed in the context of obtaining personal advantages, mainly in public affairs, which has been discussed by Brazilian scholars in recent decades. Friendship was present throughout the newspaper, in different sections, about crime, culture, chronicles, politics, reader’s letters, interviews with celebrities, and so on. This suggests that friendship in Brazil is present in different aspects of daily life. Some limitations of the present study are the use of a single newspaper. Newspapers are characterized by their regionalism. So, future research would profit from using material from different publications. Newspapers basically record events. Thus, it is natural to observe that friendship in the news was widely linked to events, such as political scandals. As different cultural products have different characteristics, the investigations of friendship in as many different media and cultural products as possible would contribute to understand friendship in Brazilian society and culture.

References Agrimani, D. (1995). Espreme que sai sangue. São Paulo: Summus. Amorim, T. A. (2008). Nanotecnologia na imprensa: análise de conteúdo do jornal Folha de São Paulo. Revista Eletrônica dos Pós-Graduandos em Sociologia Política da UFSC, 4 (2), 20-36.

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Gomes, L. G. N. & Silva Júnior, N. (2008). Implicações políticas da semântica familialista nos discursos de amizade contemporâneos. Psicologia em Estudo, 13 (2), 267-275. Hinde, R. A. (1997). Relationships: A dialectical perspective. Hove: Psychology Press. Holanda, S. B. (1987). Raízes do Brasil. 19ª edição. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio. Kehl, M. R. (2000). Existe a função fraterna? Em M. R. Kehl (Org.), Função fraterna (pp. 31-47). Rio de Janeiro: Relume Dumará. Kipper, A. (2003). Sobre a amizade: relações de trabalho e bem-estar subjetivo. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Graduate Course in Developmental Psychology. Federal University Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre. Monsour, M. (1992). Meanings of intimacy in cross- and same-sex friendships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 9 (2), 277295. Ortiz, R. (2003). Cultura brasileira & identidade nacional. São Paulo: Brasiliense. Rezende, C. (2002). Os significados da amizade: duas visões de pessoa e sociedade. Rio de Janeiro: FGV. Santaella, L. (2003). Cultura das mídias. 3ª Edição. São Paulo: Experimento Schwertner, S. F. (2010). Laços de amizade. Modos de relacionamento jovem em tempos de conectividade digital. Doctoral Dissertation. Graduate Course in Education. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. Sodré, N. W. (1998). História da imprensa no Brasil. Mauad Editora Ltda. Souza, J. (2001). A Sociologia Dual de Roberto DaMatta: Descobrindo nossos mistérios ou sistematizando nossos auto-enganos? Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, 16 (45), 47-67. Spencer-Oatey, H. (2008) Culturally Speaking. Culture, Communication and Politeness Theory. 2nd edition. London: Continuum. Tamayo, A. (2007). Hierarquia de valores transculturais e brasileiros. Psicologia: Teoria e pesquisa. V. 23, n. especial, 07-15. Vale, L. G. E., Alencar, H. M. (2009). Generosidade para com Amigo, Desconhecido e Inimigo: Juízos Morais de Crianças e Adolescentes. Interação em Psicologia, 13 (2), 299-310.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF WOMEN’S ROLE IN BRAZILIAN FAMILY GENERATIONS KATIA NAHUM CAMPOS AND MARIA LUCIA SEIDL-DE-MOURA STATE UNIVERSITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

In recent decades, family has undergone a series of transformations. Social changes have brought many consequences for its constitution, giving rise to the emergence of new family configurations. However, even with these changes, we cannot deny the importance of family in the development of the individual. Despite the existence of several different configurations, family continues to be the most important reference for individuals, especially if we take into consideration that parents are the primary identificatory models for their children. In this scenario, Magalhães and Féres-Carneiro (2004) discuss what is transmitted across generations and how it is transmitted in a society subject to an accelerated process of change. Generational transmission is extremely important for understanding the subjectivation processes in the contemporary world. Family articulates the relationships among its members and between different generations. The relationships network built in each family is present in one way or another in the choices we make in life, in which desires, expectations and values are passed on for generations. Magalhães and Féres-Carneiro (2004) highlight that family, even permanently affected by the rapid transformation of society, continues to operate as an important agent recreating subjectivities and supporting the mechanisms involved in this process, indicating the relevance of studies about the contemporary family and generational transmission. It is necessary to highlight the changes in gender relations due to major changes in the scope of women’s achievements, reflecting on the role of women in family and their roles as a mother, wife and housewife. With the entry of an increasing number of middle-class women into the labor market and the modernization process by which the country has undergone in recent decades, the family model formed by a providing father and a

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housewife mother began to be questioned, at least among certain segments of the Brazilian urban middle classes (Rocha-Coutinho, 2007). According to Rocha-Coutinho (2007), in the segments composed by men and women living in large cities – usually with a university degree and advocating individualistic, anti-authoritarian and egalitarian values – the hierarchical family, with well-defined roles in terms of gender and generation, is giving way to a kind of egalitarian family in which the different roles and responsibilities of men and women, as well as the hierarchical positions of parents and children, are diluting. Therefore today, Brazilian women, at least those belonging to the middle and upper classes, are raised to compete and grow professionally, to believe and seek personal success and value their financial independence. However, at the same time, Brazilian women are still taught to support their families, as wives and mothers. This chapter aims to briefly present and reflect on the historical changes regarding the place of women in the family and on female transgenerational aspects.

The place of women in the family: Historical transformations in Brazil For a long time, throughout the history of Brazil, patriarchal values which date back to the colonial period were referenced. There was an idea of submission of all who were under the power of the pater familias (the head of a household or family, usually the father). In the family structure, the woman should obey her father and husband, and be passed from her father’s authority to her husband’s authority through a monogamous and indissoluble marriage. Male dominance was undisputed. There was little or no room for individual projects and expression of any private desires and feelings, because the family group was what mattered and, within it, the sovereign will of the patriarch (Scott, 2012). Rocha-Coutinho (2006) suggests that the family centered on the figure of the pater familias had enormous importance in Brazilian society throughout the colonial period, which does not mean, however, that it was the only family model in that period. In this type of family structure, relationships of greater intimacy between different family members were often absent and values such as honor, tradition and obedience were among the major legacy from one generation to another. During the nineteenth century, much of the Brazilian population lived in the countryside. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Brazil was changing slowly, especially concerning family relationships and the status

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of women. During this period, when a baby girl was born, parents of families of higher and middle classes would begin to worry. The girls’ fate was socially determined. In the future, they ought to marry a son of a not too distant relative, someone close to the family or an important politician in the region. However, in order for this to happen, it was extremely important that the girls got a trousseau and dowry. The menarche announced that the girl was ready for marriage. The bride’s virginity was crucial for the alliance (Arend, 2012). In relation to women, Nader (1998) points out that historically, a woman’s life was tied to the family, which restricted women’s roles because of ideological subordination to male power. The family and religious education taught women just what they should know to behave correctly in domestic life, respecting and obeying her husband, the head of the family. In Brazil, for generations, the image was that women, mainly those who belonged to the wealthy classes, remained in the private family environment, and could not participate in family decisions or public life, which was the role played exclusively by men. As pointed by Pinsky (2012), masculinity was associated with strength, courage and rationality, while female characteristics were maternal instinct, fragility and dependence. Marriage, as women’s main goal, often generated distress due to the need to find a partner. Moreover, it was only through him that women could exercise their sexuality. Virginity had a mythical character and it was a kind of proof of women’s value in society. Female sexuality was strictly linked to procreation. In turn, the masculine reputation was based on the number of love and sexual conquests (Fleck, Hackner, & Falcke, 2005). According to Fiorin, Patias and Dias (2011), the Catholic Church played a significant role in the education of girls from an early age in Brazil. Catechesis taught women to marry and have children. In this context, women were not encouraged to study, and education in Brazil was predominantly for men. Over the years, the role of women, along with family, has been transformed. There has been a larger participation of women in the public space, in the labor market, gaining legal rights and greater autonomy in their affective choices. The changing role of women is closely linked to family structure and reproduction. It is observed in Brazilian history that the relationship between gender and family features the constant emergence of new values and attitudes, promoting new forms of interaction, which coexist with traditional and conservative ways of relating (Magalhães, 2010).

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Pinsky (2012) points out that in the 1920s, major changes affected women’s image. Opportunities for wage employment grew along with the education of young women, enabling more women to find employment in shops, offices and primary schools. In the mid-twentieth century, several differences were already present in Brazilian women’ representation when compared to the past. Upper and middle class women and their freedom to come and go increased to the extent that the ability of parents and husbands to keep daughters and wives under surveillance declined. Young women got a little more autonomy, which implied a higher level of responsibility for their own bodies, their virginity and what was defined as moral behavior. In the mid-twentieth century the rules about what was appropriate or not for a “family girl” were widely known, more than at the beginning of the century, although there were variations (cosmopolitan; local differences among inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo or Bahia; social class or cultural background differences). In the 1950s, even though women’s integration into productive activity was still proportionally small, it was observed as a break with the past. Professional qualifications were required, and women were competing on equal terms with men in the labor market, making them family members with a paid job. With the gradual process of female emancipation, many traditional values regarding gender roles have changed. However, even with greater approval of working women, this role was still hierarchically below the “good wife”, mother, and “ideal housewife” (Pinsky, 2012). Scott (2012) points out that from the 1960s, women have had access to more effective contraceptive methods, as since 1962 the trade of the contraceptive pill in the country began. A set of changes in Brazil from the 1960s and 1970s enabled women to define their values and ideals: the increase in female participation in the labor market and women’s struggle for recognition and professional growth; greater access to formal education; female conquest of power to decide when she wanted to be a mother or even if she wants to be a mother; the institution of divorce (by law, in December 1977) and the possibility of establishing other socially accepted romantic relationships. Within this discussion, Biasoli-Alves (2000) analyzed the changes and continuities in the role of women, especially in the family context, based on data from surveys conducted in the Southeastern region of Brazil. The study was based on data about women of middle and lower classes of Brazilian society from the late nineteenth century to the 1990s, with special attention paid to the education women received and their role within the domestic environment. It is evident that the feminine imagery of being fragile and in need of protection, susceptible to feelings, and

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devoted to the care of children changes with time. Thus, women may be considered constantly under construction, in the pursuit of development and achievement of their potential. For the author, there were important changes in the following aspects: (1) In the social space occupied by women – After the 1930s, women, who could not even go shopping unattended, conquered the right to come and go and become present in different environments; (2) At work – Women left home, domestic work or that linked to family and church and become professional workers; achieving high and important positions in society; (3) In marriage – In the past, there was little room for a personal decision, i.e., it was the family of origin that defined who, how and when the young women and men should marry. The young women would meet their future husbands through parents and were submitted to their opinion, accepting unions which met the criteria posed by the elderly, who defined what a good marriage would be. “Free choice” came gradually, reversing the direction, i.e., now parents should accept what the younger generation determines for itself. These changes are also discussed by Féres-Carneiro, Ponciano and Magalhães (2007), who emphasize that each individual is immersed in a socio-historical context that defines a way of being a family. In the premodern context, family was traditional, hierarchical and patriarchal, characterized by subordination to men. All rights were granted to the father, and in his absence, to the firstborn son. The function of this family is not affective but moral. Over the years, the traditional family loses space for a new family arrangement that finds its role in establishing relational success. The dialogue between generations is the hallmark of a psychological culture that underlies the modern family. Moral issues do not disappear completely, but what is right or wrong is based on the negotiation between family members. Similarly, Scott (2012) points out that today, families tend to develop a more equal relationship between partners, where both contribute financially to the maintenance of the household and its members. This change gave greater power to women within families, breaking the old cycle of dependence and subordination. Social changes have brought the emergence of new family configurations (Jablonski, 2005, 2007). The family model formed by the legally constituted couple and their children, with the father as provider and a stay-at-home mother responsible for the children’s upbringing, is no longer hegemonic. Women entered the labor market and had to reconcile their professional activity and family responsibility. According to the 2010 census conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in the period 2000-2010, there was a significant growth of households which have a woman in charge of the family’s financial

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support. In these ten years, there has been an increase in families with a woman as the head of the household (from 22.2% to 37.3%), even if the woman had a spouse (19.5% to 46.4%), compared with a decrease from 77.8% to 62.7% in the case of having a man as the household head. There was a drop in the percentage of men in households with the presence of a spouse (95.3% to 92.2%). The reasons may be attributed to a shift in cultural values concerning women’s roles in Brazilian society, and factors such as the massive entry into the labor market and the increase in higher education, combined with a reduction in fertility. Today, there are families in which both parents work; composed of fathers and/or mothers in their second marriages; single mothers who assumed – by choice or not – the status of “single parents”; couples without children, by choice or not; couples who live together without “formalizing” their marriages; and homosexual couples (Jablonski, 2007) . Peixoto (2007) believes that family pluralism is the result of a profound transformation of gender relationships and the emergence of a new balance between individual autonomy and family belonging. In fact, what is observed is not the weakening of family as an institution, but the emergence of new family configurations due to social phenomena and transformations of gender relationships. The women’s emancipation movement has fundamentally transformed gender relations, and it was related to the entry of women into the labor market and its consequences, such as later marriages, a decrease in the number of children, greater autonomy and independence for women, and an increase of conflicts generated by the pursuit of equal rights (Jablonski, 2007). Thus, we observe the coexistence of two types of expectations about women: on one side, individuality, success, personal and professional achievement, and gender equality; and on the other side, the view that the provision of the financial needs of a family is ascribed to men, while women are responsible for child care and harmonious family life, among others (Rocha-Coutinho, 2007). The same author (Rocha-Coutinho, 2005) points out that although some gender differences persist, girls are now educated as boys, to compete and seek an ever greater professional growth, to believe in their capacity, strive for personal success and value their independence. At the same time, different social discourses continue to strengthen women’s role in the family as wives and especially as mothers. Women’s initial socialization continues to encourage the development of essential features for their role in the family, such as the development of a sense of interdependence with regard to people that makes the activity of caring for the needs of others almost vital to her well-being.

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Regarding this matter, Biasoli-Alves (2000) indicates that values are integrated in culture and their assimilation is slow, continuous and deep, so that drastic changes take a long time to happen. In a rapidly aging society, great-grandparents, grandparents, children and grandchildren spend time together, thus denying the discontinuity of standards, values and norms transmission. The values that the elderly have tried to pass on to their grandchildren are still present today, even having another “appearance”. Such continuities happen, even though it has been observed that the image of women being fragile, in need of protection and devoted to the care of children, takes up different shapes which make her someone under construction, in the pursuit of her development. As mentioned before, a number of social changes have led to enormous changes in the image of women and the emergence of new family configurations. In several family generations, we find women who have lived in different historical moments, with their own beliefs and values.

Transgenerational Aspects of Women in Brazil Family is embedded in a social environment that surrounds it, in a historical time, and it cannot be understood outside this context. It is based on the ideology of the surrounding society and it is an important benchmark for the construction of social identities. Undoubtedly, social changes have significant consequences on family structures and dynamics. As families are inserted in society, they are subject to social changes, in the same way that society cannot ignore family changes (Rocha-Coutinho, 2006). Family is one of the mediators between man and society. According to Vitale (2006), family not only internalizes the dominant ideological aspects in society, but it also projects them in other groups, including relationship models created and recreated within the group. Intergenerational relationships make up the fabric of transmission, reproduction and transmission of the social world. The generations are carriers of history, ethics and private representations of the world. Even with new family configurations, resulting from various social changes, Féres-Carneiro, Ponciano and Magalhães (2007) believe that one can still understand family as a process of passing generations. Thus, based on the idea of generational transmission, the hypothesis of family decline ought to be contingent because family is still an affective group, regardless of its configuration. Family is a privileged coexistence space for different generations, where the dialogue between the various specific

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worldviews, including family views specific to each generation can occur (Rocha-Coutinho, 2006). From the moment of birth, the individual develops, having his/her parents’ expectations, family ideals and myths as a reference. To FéresCarneiro, Ponciano and Magalhães (2007), this generational transmission offers parents the opportunity to continue a reference, while changes occur in family structure, amid multiple relationships. The parents remain a benchmark, within a dense social network. The couple, both as parental and marital, is an important link between generations, transmitting values, beliefs and emotions that will affect the individual choices of their children. The children are the hallmark of family continuity and their choices are influenced by the history of their parents as a marital and parental pair, formed by the stories of their families of origin. Thus, the parental process that involves conception and birth, giving a name, nurturing, raising, and promoting children’s autonomy to ensure access to the adult world, is related to the rupture and continuity of values handed down from generation to generation. From a psychological point of view, in an urban Western model, family has the promotion of its members’ individuation as a main challenge. For that, it is necessary to manage how the individual belongs to the generational chain. The family that nurtures the individual psychically from his/her birth, and even before that, is the same with regard to the mission of inserting him/her into the world to start his/her history and legacy (Magalhães & Féres-Carneiro, 2007). According to Féres-Carneiro and Magalhães (2005), the genealogical order inscribes the individual in mankind; it gives the individual references and elements for identity construction. It defines the place occupied by the individual in the family constitution and its systems of descent and alliances. Identification and differentiation are offered by the recognition of the individual as similar to the others and the feeling of belonging to a family group. It is important that the individual appropriates his/her history character and actively takes his/her place. We live in an era in which autonomy is highly valued in many urban contexts, but despite that, one can observe the influence of family on individual choices (Féres-Carneiro, Ponciano & Magalhães, 2007). For the authors, life history, identification with significant others and family history are references to the constitution of personal identity. The process of individualization is a social imperative permeated by the process of transmission between generations. So every individual formation is accompanied by continuity. Despite the instability of relationships and their permanent transformation, generational transmission confirms family

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continuity. The present and future are constructed by elaborating the inheritance received, and autonomous choices are influenced by family history. Thus, the process of individual constitution is permeated by both the break and the continuity of values handed down from generation to generation. According to Singly (2007), the individual simultaneously creates interdependence ties with significant others and searches for an identity balance between the “inner self” and the “statutory self”. Significant others (spouses, family members or confidants) play an extremely important role in confirming the intimate self. The existence of the contemporary individual depends on the support of his close relations. The transmission goes beyond the family unit, extending to sociocultural links. Family still has a major role in the psychological and sociocultural binding process as the formation of each individual. The transformation of legacy is promoted by intersubjective exchanges. The family processes and reinvents its legacies, confronting tradition and modernization (FéresCarneiro, Ponciano, & Magalhães, 2007). Based on family legacy, it is possible to reflect on what we inherit from others, what we receive and pass on, and the legacy that constitutes us, which was transmitted in the chain of generations. The relationships established with the family are extremely important and represent the basis for future behavior. Regarding the transmission of gender roles in the family, Fleck, Falcke and Hackner (2005) suggest that social and family structures prescribe a series of functions and behaviors for men and women, as natural or adequate to their respective genres. Through daily observation, we can see that such roles and functions are built from birth, or even from before the arrival of the baby when the family expressed their expectations for the new individual to come. Subtly, through behaviors, gestures and words, women and men’s roles are stereotyped. A more important factor than the difference between the roles is the rigidity with which they are assumed and perpetuated. Many of these roles differ according to historical periods, culture, and social class, among other aspects; however, others tend to be perpetuated and transmitted by family. Historically, in the recent past, children were raised based on more rigid stereotypes that defined the roles they would play in the future. Until the 1950s, within the Brazilian reality, women were supposed to get married, become mothers and housewives, while men should pursue a career, devote themselves to work, raise a family and provide for their livelihood. Currently, manifestations in favor of equal roles are common. However, many people who advocate equals roles still keep reproducing

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the patterns transmitted transgenerationally at home (Fleck, Hackner & Falcke, 2005). To Rocha-Coutinho (2006), different to the past, when an identity model was provided to each family member and more or less stable values and behavior patterns were passed from generation to generation, there is also, at present, uncertainty and an absence of fixed and immutable models. Traditional values and behavior patterns seem to coexist, several times in conflict, with new values and behavior patterns within families. In our society, different codes and worldviews coexist and blend with a recognition of heterogeneity.

Final Thoughts The various social changes have brought consequences for family formation and contributed to the emergence of new family arrangements. Currently, we have a greater number of single-parent families, usually headed by women, as a result of independent productions or separations; homosexual families; couples who live together without “official” unions and families whose spouses are in their second marriage. Despite all these changes, one cannot deny the importance of family in individual formation and development. Family is a benchmark and remains the group with which people can identify, relate and develop themselves. Family is the identity matrix and each one provides a set of functional requirements, which organizes the way its members interact. Among the changes in family, there are the changes in gender relations due to major changes in the scope of women’s achievements, with the increasing entry of women into the labor market, increasing professional qualifications and female conquest of power when deciding when to become a mother or even being a mother. Female emancipation movements have fundamentally transformed gender relations and thereby we can observe the coexistence of two types of expectations regarding women: on one side, individuality (success, personal and professional achievement, and gender equality), and on the other, the view that women are responsible for the care of the home and children, and the husband responsible for the family’s financial matters. This problem causes us to reflect on how the initial socialization of women is being constructed. Further studies on the changes that have occurred in relation to the place of women in the family in recent decades in Brazil are necessary.

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Magalhães, A. S., Féres-Carneiro, T. (2007). Transmissão psíquicageracional: um estudo de caso. Em T. Féres-Carneiro (Org.). Família e casal: saúde, trabalho e modos de vinculação. (pp. 341-363). São Paulo: Casa do Psicólogo. Nader, M. B. (1998). A mulher e as transformações sociais do século XX: a virada histórica do destino feminino. Revista de História da UFES, Vitória, 61-71. Peixoto, C. E. (2007). As transformações familiares e o olhar do sociólogo. Em F. Singly. Sociologia da família contemporânea (pp. 11-28). Rio de Janeiro: Editora FGV. Pinsky, C. B. (2012). A era dos modelos rígidos. Em C. B. Pinsky, J. M. Pedro (Org.). Nova história das Mulheres no Brasil. (pp. 469-512). São Paulo: Editora Contexto. Rocha-Coutinho, M. L. (2007). Família e emprego: conflitos e expectativas de mulheres executivas e de mulheres com um trabalho. Em T. Féres-Carneiro (Org.). Família e casal: saúde, trabalho e modos de vinculação. (pp. 157-180). São Paulo: Casa do Psicólogo. —. (2006). Transmissão geracional e família na contemporaneidade. Em M. L. Barros (Org.). Família e Gerações (pp. 91-106). Rio de Janeiro: Editora FGV. —. (2005). Variações sobre um antigo tema: a maternidade para mulheres com uma carreira profissional bem sucedida. In T. Féres-Carneiro (Ed.). Família e Casal: efeitos da contemporaneidade. (pp. 122-137). Rio de Janeiro: Editora PUC-Rio. Scott, A. S. (2012). O caledoscópio dos arranjos familiares. In C. B. Pinsky, J. M. Pedro (Eds.). Nova história das Mulheres no Brasil. (pp. 15-42). São Paulo: Editora Contexto. Singly, F. (2007). Sociologia da família contemporânea. Rio de Janeiro: Editora FGV. Vitale, M. A. F. (2006). Socialização e família: uma análise intergeracional. Em M. C. B. Carvalho (Org.). A família contemporânea em debate (pp. 89- 96). São Paulo: EDUC.

INTERDEPENDENCE AND ATTACHMENT THEORY PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSNATIONAL MIGRANT RELATIONSHIPS MARGARET C. THOMPSON, DEBRA MASHEK, HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE

JESSICA L. BORELLI, MICHELLE A. READE MALAGUEÑO AND MAYRA A. GRADILLA POMONA COLLEGE

This chapter examines the transnational relationships of U.S.-based immigrants from Latin America. Immigrants now comprise one-third of the population of Los Angeles (Global Post, 2013), nearly one-third of the population of New York City (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010), and nearly half of the population of Houston (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Undoubtedly a significant portion of these individuals are members of transnational relationships and yet we know extremely little about their lives. We conceptualize transnational relationships (TNRs) as committed, intact relationships between two adults in which the individuals are separated for extended periods of time and have limited communication and/or physical contact due to economic, legal, and/or practical concerns. Members of TNRs face a host of barriers that have the potential to undermine the stability of their relationship, each member’s sense of emotional security, and the co-parenting dynamics of couples who have children. For example, individuals who are in the United States without proper documentation simply cannot permeate international borders without opening themselves to tremendous legal – and, potentially, physical (Guerette, 2007) – harm, thus limiting the possibility of traversing borders to establish physical contact with the partner. Even in cases in which the U.S.-based individual has the legal status to travel to the sending country, doing so is economically costly, both in terms of the expense of travel and the lost wages (and potential job loss) associated

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with traveling for periods of a few weeks or more. Individuals who live in the sending country can face insurmountable hurdles in trying to obtain a nonimmigrant visa to visit the United States given they must demonstrate strong ties to their sending country in order to be granted such visas, a task that is especially challenging if the partner already lives in the United States (U.S. Department of State, 2013). There are also a number of possible communication barriers that could undermine an individual’s ability to maintain contact with the partner. For example, one or both individuals in the relationship may have limited access to technologies that have been shown to play an important role in maintaining the long-distance relationships of U.S.-based college students (Dansie, 2012), such as e-mail and video chat; this is more likely to be true when the individual who remains in the sending country lives in a rural area. Utilities and services, such as phone access and post, are not always reliable (World Bank, 2006; World Bank, 2007), undermining efforts to hear the partner’s voice and thus ensure psychological proximity (Pistole, 2010). Low literacy levels can also impair communication, requiring a third-party to help read and/or write correspondence and creating a lessthan-private context that can color both the content and dynamics of the communications. Furthermore, although there are a number of phone and computer centers in many Latin American communities, these can be loud, crowded places that make privacy scarce (Mahler, 2001), again undermining the intimacy and authenticity of the communication. In addition to potentially undermining the stability of the relationship itself and each member’s sense of emotional security, TNRs present challenges on the parenting front. Co-parenting is an important part of relationships for couples that have children. Research conducted among middle-class families in the United States suggests that children’s developmental outcomes are influenced by co-parenting processes (Gable, Crnic & Belsky, 1994), and more specifically documents associations “between marital conflict and a range of negative child outcomes” (Grych & Fincham, 1990). In addition, studies find that children suffer when they are in family situations in which they do not have consistent contact with their caregivers. For example, children whose parents are divorced, children who lose a parent to death, and children whose parent deploys with the military experience greater distress than children from intact families (Ayoub & Deutsch, 1999; Raveis, Siegel & Karus, 1999; Coulthard, 2011). Yet, despite all of these barriers, TNRs somehow persist for years on end. A study of a rural village in the Dominican Republic found that migrants “might spend ten to twenty years away from their home

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communities, paying only brief visits every year or two” (Georges, 1990, p. 196). Other studies found that spouses in TNRs had been separated an average of two years (McKenzie & Menjivar, 2011), and that migrants who could legally travel visited their home country less than once per year (Schmalzbauer, 2005). Anthropologists, sociologists, and others have provided a good deal of description, garnered largely from in-depth case studies, about the individual experiences of immigrants and migrants in the United States as well as partners who remain in the sending countries (Mahler, 2001; Schmalzbauer, 2005). While these data provide a rich sense of the lived experience, we know very little about the strategies individuals use to maintain these relationships, the ways in which these relationships influence the mental and physical well-being of the individuals who are in them, or the ways co-parenting unfolds within these relationships. Moreover, although in-depth case studies yield essential information to the understanding of any phenomenon, psychological research can augment this understanding by providing a sense of the aggregate, or how, on average, individuals experience and navigate TNRs. For both theoretical and practical reasons, it is important to understand the dynamics of TNRs. As an initial foray into this issue, we encourage scholars in the field of psychology to address three key questions: despite the barriers noted above, (1) how do couples in TNRs maintain their relationships, (2) how do these individuals maintain their well-being, and (3) how do couples in TNRs organize co-parenting (and how does this coparenting relate to child distress)?

Theoretical Lenses for Understanding Transnational Relationships Two theoretical perspectives stand out as being particularly appropriate launching points for understanding the psychology of TNRs: interdependence theory and attachment theory. First, while both take a bigpicture, systems approach to describing and predicting relationship processes, they also provide careful articulations of fine-grained, testable hypotheses. Second, both theories describe processes that unfold over time and within the dyadic context, thus offering theoretical lenses that map onto both the temporal and structural characteristics of relationships. Third, the two theories bring complementary perspectives to bear on our key questions. Interdependence theory provides questions, hypotheses, and methodologies for understanding the relationship maintenance strategies employed by people in TNRs. Attachment theory provides these same

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tools for understanding how people in these relationships maintain their well-being, strategies for effective co-parenting in a challenging context, and the impact on children of prolonged physical separation from a parent.

Interdependence Theory Overview. Central to interdependence theory (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959) is a desire to understand how individuals within couple relationships respond to “interdependence dilemmas,” or those very common moments in a relationship “in which the immediate well-being of one person is incompatible with the immediate well-being of the partner and relationship” (Rusbult et al., 2001). An example of an interdependence dilemma drawn from a TNR context is the following: the U.S.-based male of a heterosexual transnational couple receives an unexpected salary bonus. Although it might be in his self-interest not to mention the bonus to his spouse and then to use this extra money to buy a new pair of shoes or to treat his friends to a night on the town, doing so would be in the best interest of neither the partner nor the relationship. Instead, if he were to act in line with the interests of the partner or relationship, he would share news of the bonus with his spouse and would add the extra money to his next remittance. How individuals respond to interdependence dilemmas such as these reveals a good deal about their goals, values, and motives, signaling either an inclination towards self-orientation or relationship-orientation (Rusbult et al., 2001). As described by Rusbult and colleagues (Rusbult et al., 2001), individuals who respond to such dilemmas in a pro-relationship way are perceived positively by their partner, which increases their partner’s trust, in turn increasing their partner’s dependence on the relationship, subsequent commitment to the relationship, and – importantly – subsequent pro-relationship responses to other interdependence dilemmas. Thus, this theory makes concrete predictions about when individuals will respond pro-relationally to interdependence dilemmas (i.e., commitment leads to pro-relational responses) and the impact such responses will have on relational outcomes (i.e., pro-relational responses to these dilemmas contribute to relationship stability). Research Questions. We provide below some examples of important questions to ask about relationship maintenance in TNRs, explanations of interdependence theory’s relevance to these questions, and some initial predictions.

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What interdependence dilemmas do U.S.-based members of TNRs face in their day to day lives? We expect that most of the interdependence dilemmas faced by individuals in TNRs concern money management (e.g., how large remittances should be), communication efforts (e.g., how often phone calls should take place, what sorts of topics should be discussed, what sorts of thoughts and feelings should be shared), and (for couples with children) co-parenting (e.g., expectations for the child’s behavior, discipline strategies, involvement of other adults in the child’s life). Do individuals respond to these dilemmas in self-interested or prorelationship ways? According to interdependence theory, pro-relationship behavior should decrease as commitment to the relationship declines (Rusbult et al., 2001). And, given that commitment declines as satisfaction with the relationship declines and as awareness of other potential mates increases, we expect more self-interested responses when the couple has been separated for longer periods of time (Rusbult et al., 2001). This expectation is attributed to the fact that many of the elements of a satisfying relationship (e.g., physical contact, doing novel activities together) are simply not available to couples in TNRs and perhaps become less available over time, thus undermining commitment. Moreover, extended separations provide an individual with more opportunities to interact with other potential mates; awareness of these potential alternative mates likewise undermines commitment. Interdependence theory also says that our partner’s perception of our pro-relationship behaviors plays a key step in promoting subsequent commitment and additional pro-relationship behaviors (Rusbult et al., 2001). Thus, we also predict that we will see fewer pro-relationship behaviors when there are fewer opportunities for the spouse to vicariously monitor (e.g., through social networks, frequent phone calls) the behaviors of the U.S.-based partner. Are behavioral or cognitive relationship maintenance strategies more commonly employed? Rusbult et al. (2001) note that, “maintenance acts serve a positive function for relationships, helping couples persist despite threats such as uncertainty … and tempting alternatives”. Behavioral maintenance strategies include “looking the other way” when a partner behaves in a potentially destructive way (interdependence theorists refer to this as accommodation), willingness to sacrifice by either foregoing desired behaviors or enacting undesired behaviors, and forgiveness of betrayal (Rusbult et al., 2001). Cognitive maintenance strategies include thinking in terms of “we” and “us” rather than “me” and “I” (interdependence theorists refer to this as cognitive interdependence); fostering positive illusions about one’s

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partner and relationship through, for example, screening out negative information about one’s partner and evaluating the partner or relationship as better off than those of other people; and derogating tempting alternative partners by actively disparaging them (Rusbult et al., 2001). Individuals involved in TNRs are more likely to employ cognitive maintenance strategies than behavioral maintenance strategies because many of the behavioral strategies (e.g., accommodation, forgiving betrayal) seem dependent on knowing information about the partner and her or his behaviors that are not likely readily accessible given the tremendous distance that typifies TNRs. Does commitment to the relationship correlate with a tendency to employ relationship maintenance strategies? According to interdependence theory, commitment to one’s relationship promotes the tendency to employ relationship maintenance strategies. This association should hold in TNRs as well. Do dependence and commitment vary as a function of the length of the physical separation from the partner? Given the previous theoretical prediction about the value of commitment in promoting relationship maintenance, it is important to ask what predicts commitment. Interdependence theory says that we are more committed to relationships when we are dependent upon those relationships, and that dependence is a function of satisfaction in the relationship, the quality of alternatives we have to our current relationship, and the size of the investment we’ve made in the relationship (Rusbult et al., 2001). Because enduring a TNR arguably involves a huge investment of time, energy, and resources, we predict that people who are in more sustained TNRs will actually perceive larger investments; an increase in this sort of dependency should be associated with an increase in commitment. That said, physical separations likely degrade satisfaction over time while at the same time enhancing the perceived quality of alternatives to the current relationship; these decreases in dependency are likely associated with a corresponding decrease in commitment (Rusbult et al., 2001). On the whole, longer separations are likely characterized by relatively lower levels of commitment.

Attachment Theory Overview. Attachment theory was initially developed to explain the affectional bonds between parents and young children (Bowlby, 1969/1982), but has since been extended to romantic relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). The key tenet of the theory is that individuals in

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attachment relationships derive a sense of security from the relationship partner (i.e., parent or romantic partner) and that maintaining a sense of security and closeness is a fundamental human need across the lifespan. Most commonly, individuals turn first to their attachment figures for comfort when confronted with stress. Similarly, individuals use their attachment figures as a secure base – an anchor or source of strength – from which to explore a new situation (Bowlby, 1969/1982). Importantly, although all children develop attachments when exposed to caregivers, the nature or quality of these attachments differs depending on the responsiveness of the caregiver (Bowlby 1969/1982). When caregivers consistently respond in a sensitive manner to infants’ attachment bids (e.g., providing comfort to the infant when he or she is showing signs of distress), the infant learns to freely express attachmentrelated needs (Bowlby, 1988). These infants would be described as having a high degree of attachment security. In contrast, when caregivers respond to attachment bids by ignoring or rejecting the infant, the infant then learns to turn his or her attention away from attachment-related thoughts and feelings, such as the desire for comfort from a caregiver (Bowlby, 1969/1982). Such infants are described as having a high degree of attachment avoidance. Other caregiving patterns are thought to result in distinct patterns of behavior, affect, and cognitions in the infant (Ainsworth, 1969), but in this paper our primary interest is in attachment avoidance. According to theory, early experiences in attachment relationships provide a template for what individuals expect in subsequent relationships, including adult romantic relationships (Bowlby, 1969/1982). Further, individual differences in attachment quality or style have implications for how a person responds to threats to the attachment relationship. This is true both in childhood relationships with parental caregivers and in adult-adult romantic relationships. According to Bowlby (1969/1982), prolonged physical separation from one’s relationship partner is a salient threat to the security of an attachment relationship, and therefore has the potential to permanently destabilize the relationship. Despite attachment theory’s relevance to understanding the impact that prolonged separations have on romantic partners, few empirical studies have targeted this issue. Extant theory on the topic, however, suggests that separation from one’s attachment figure has the potential to cause anxiety and depression, as well as a gradual erosion of one’s attachment relationship (Vormbrock, 1993). In an ideal attachment relationship, partners turn to one another for comfort during times of distress. However, physical separation prevents or constrains the ways in which relationship partners can engage in comfort-seeking behavior,

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which can erode skills for coping with stress. Furthermore, some stressors are especially likely to arise following immigration to a new country (e.g., financial hardship, navigating unfamiliar cultures, not speaking the dominant language of the community). Individuals in TNRs who are separated from their partners may therefore be ill-equipped to deal with these stressors. Further, we would expect that individual differences in attachment style, which itself is thought to be the product of previous experiences in attachment relationships, would predict different emotional and behavioral strategies would be adopted to cope with the physical separation. For example, low avoidance adults would be more likely to attempt to preserve emotional connectedness to their partners during a separation, whereas highly avoidant adults would be more likely to disengage or detach emotionally from their partners (e.g., Dozier & Kobak, 1992). Research Questions. Attachment theory is particularly well-suited to addressing questions about how individuals in TNRs maintain their wellbeing and how they organize their co-parenting efforts. We provide below some examples of important questions to ask about attachment theory’s relevance to these issues. Are adults’ distress reactions (e.g., depression and anxiety) related to aspects of the marital separation involved in TNRs? According to attachment theory, physical separation from one’s attachment figure is a significant stressor that has the potential to cause anxiety and depression. Bowlby (1969/1982) argued that once separated, attachment partners experience a cascade of emotional reactions that worsen over time. Based on this argument, it is reasonable to expect that the length of separation is related to psychological distress. Specifically, adults who have been in TNRs for longer periods of time should report higher depressive and anxiety symptoms. Similarly, those who have a greater length of time until the anticipated reunion with the partner should also experience greater psychological distress. What emotional strategies do adults employ to manage attachmentrelated distress and how effective are these strategies? According to attachment theory, once separated, attachment partners have the option of working to maintain their connection with their attachment figure (i.e., emotional engagement strategies) or working to sever this emotional connection (i.e., emotional disengagement strategies). Attachment theorists posit that peoples’ strategies in response to significant relationship stressors, such as prolonged physical separation, ought to vary as a function of their previous experiences in relationships (Bowlby, 1973; Vormbrock, 1993). Specifically, according to theory, adults who have

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experienced consistent emotional availability and responsiveness from relationship partners in previous relationships should be more likely to try to preserve their emotional connection with the absent partner, which may take the form of relational savoring, or mentally reliving moments of emotional closeness with one’s partner. In contrast, adults who have experienced frequent rejection and unavailability of attachment figures may be more likely to detach from their partner during a relationship stressor, for example by avoiding thinking about their absent partner or getting rid of belongings that remind them of this relationship. Researchers interested in understanding TNRs will need to catalog the types of emotional strategies adults in TNRs use most frequently. We anticipate that adults low in attachment avoidance more frequently utilize emotional engagement strategies whereas adults high in attachment avoidance more frequently utilize emotional disengagement strategies. The effectiveness of emotional strategy use likely varies as a function of individuals’ previous experiences in relationships as well. Our predictions here are grounded in recent work demonstrating that, among non-deployed spouses who are high in attachment avoidance, focusing on memories and feelings of closeness with one’s deployed partner actually increases feelings of anxiety in the short-term (Borelli et al., under review). Specifically, attachment avoidance likely moderates the association between emotional strategy use and psychological distress (depressive and anxiety symptoms), such that for adults high in attachment avoidance, more frequent use of disengagement strategies should be associated with fewer psychological symptoms whereas for adults with low attachment avoidance, more frequent use of disengagement strategies should be associated with more psychological symptoms. As mentioned above, attachment theory is likely also relevant to understanding how couples in TNRs organize co-parenting. Parents who are members of TNRs face obstacles to effectively engaging in coparenting with their spouses (similar in many ways to military families in which one parent deploys internationally). Still, this co-parenting is important both as a central function of couplehood and as a way to support children experiencing such an intense disruption to their attachment system. Sample questions related to co-parenting in the context of TNRs appear below. How do separated partners co-parent and are co-parenting behaviors related to the parents’ attachment experiences? According to attachment theory, the more involved an absent parent is in the child’s day-to-day functioning, the greater the likelihood the child will continue to consider that parent to be a source of comfort. Therefore, it is likely that greater

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parental involvement of the absent parent is beneficial for the child over the long run. Both absent and guardian parents likely vary in the extent to which they believe contact with the absent parent is beneficial for the child and the extent to which they promote this contact. Researchers can examine the child’s tangible connection to the absent parent at both descriptive and predictive levels. First, from a descriptive level, they can ask what strategies absent parents employ to maintain a presence in their child’s day to day life (e.g., talking, texting, or emailing directly with the child; asking the guardian parent about the child’s activities and well-being; sending gifts to the child). How frequently such efforts occur and which efforts occur most commonly in TNR families is also worth investigating. The guardian parent’s role in facilitating a connection between the absent parent and the child can also be examined from a descriptive level. One relevant observation would be which strategies guardian parents employ to maintain the absent parent’s presence in the child’s day to day life (e.g., asking the absent parent’s opinion about parenting issues such as discipline strategies; volunteering information about the child during conversations with the absent parent; sharing stories with the child about the absent parent). Finally, questions arise as to what extent previous relationship experiences predict these co-parenting behaviors. From an attachment theory perspective, we would expect that in addition to being associated with the adult’s emotional strategies in the relationship (engagement versus disengagement), each parent’s attachment style will also be associated with his or her co-parenting behaviors. The rationale for this hypothesis derives from decades of research documenting that adults’ behavior in romantic attachment relationships is strongly predictive of their behavior in the parenting context (De Wolff & van IJzendoorn, 1997; Cohn et al., 1992). Adults who respond to their own separation-related distress by disengaging emotionally are also likely to transfer that strategy to their children, for example by limiting the child’s contact with the absent parent. In contrast, adults who respond to the separation with emotional engagement strategies are also likely to transfer this strategy to their children in the form of greater co-parenting efforts. Therefore, lower attachment avoidance would likely be associated with more co-parenting behaviors among both the absent and the guardian parents. What are the factors that predict child distress? A related question concerns how co-parenting strategies impact the child’s distress. Research by the founder of attachment theory documented that children who

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experience a prolonged separation from primary caregivers undergo a pronounced grief reaction, ultimately falling into deep depression and emotionally disengaging from their attachment figures during the period of separation; this disengagement persists even after reunion with the attachment figure (Bowlby, 1944; Heinicke, 1956). In the case of children whose parents are in a TNR, part of the impact of the separation is direct (e.g., the child misses the absent parent), and part of the impact is the result of the effect on the guardian parent (indirect effect). A child’s ability to cope with a parental separation may mirror and be impacted by the guardian parent’s psychological reaction to the separation, perhaps because the guardian parent’s ability to provide sensitive care for the child is depleted by stress (Weinraub & Wolf, 1983). The nature of the child’s distress likely varies, as well, depending on whether the child remains in the sending country or immigrates with one of the parents; in the latter case, distress would be amplified by the stress of immigrating to a new country. All told, being the child of parents who are in a TNR is a likely risk factor for psychological problems, specifically depressive and anxiety symptoms. Emergence of such symptoms early in childhood is a risk factor for more severe psychological problems later in development (e.g., Laskey & Cartwright-Hatton, 2009). Therefore, it is crucial to identify the factors that contribute to the development of symptoms in order to develop and implement effective preventative measures before conditions worsen.

Future Directions When approaching the understudied psychology of TNRs, it will be useful to anchor both questions and methodological approaches to the bases of well-established relationship theories. As described above, interdependence theory and attachment theory stand as particularly promising starting points for studying TNRs because they offer specific questions, hypotheses, and methodologies for understanding relationship maintenance strategies, the role of relationships in supporting individuals’ well-being, and the nature and impact of co-parenting across distance. Although we anticipate these theories will be fruitful lenses for studying TNRs, the reciprocal is certainly true: TNRs provide an important testing ground for these theories. Both theories were developed within narrow cultural and relational contexts; in fact, most of the research derived from these theories has taken place within the United States and Europe and has concerned the relationships of mostly white, middle class

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couples. TNRs afford a rare and exciting opportunity to test whether these theories hold in a context that differs dramatically from that in which they were developed. If these theories do hold in this context, they will offer the highly practical benefit of arming researchers, practitioners, and couples with tools for understanding, and perhaps improving, the relationship processes and outcomes of a complex, yet common, relational arrangement. TNRs offer many potential questions to explore, but some considerations are needed when beginning research into TNRs within a given community. Participant recruitment is almost always difficult in community-based research. It is certainly a challenge when conducting research with a vulnerable, often-invisible segment of the population (i.e., immigrants with a particular relationship status) that has very good reason to be suspicious of outsiders looking to ask questions about potentially sensitive topics (e.g., immigration status, infidelity). Community liaisons may be ideal for assisting in the study of TNRs. These individuals would ideally be members of the target population: immigrants who are in – or who have been in – TNRs. The community liaisons would help identify, approach, and recruit participants. They would be equipped to answer questions about the project and could vouch for the research team. Substantial time may be needed in order to build required connections in the community, and care should be taken to ensure that study materials are culturally sensitive and appropriate for the specific community where they will be employed. In this chapter, we are using Latino experiences in transnational relationships as a starting point for thinking about TNRs; conceptually, these same ideas apply to transnational families from many other ethnic groups and regions of the world. For instance, in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, children of migrant fathers report poorer wellbeing in comparison to children of non-migrant families (Graham and Jordan, 2001; Harper and Martin, 2013). Moreover, Harper and Martin (2013) found that Filipino migrant fathers’ frequency of visitation was negatively associated with children’s externalizing of problems. Other studies have investigated the role of technology in the context of transnational parenting, particularly between Filipina migrant mothers and their children (Fresnoza-Flot, 2009; Madianou & Miller, 2011). Clearly a variety of groups function in TNRs in varied cultural contexts, any of which would provide valuable cases for study under our framework. TNRs are both surprisingly prevalent and woefully understudied. In the absence of legal support, and amid the presence of numerous practical barriers, immigrants in TNRs manage to maintain their relationships for

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years on end. Without adequate research into the dynamics of these relationships, supporting individuals navigating TNRs will remain a challenge. The theoretically-derived questions and predictions offered here provide a starting point for understanding the psychology of the transnational relationship.

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