Mapping Current, Future and Ideal Family Structure and Relations in Emerging Adults

Annamaria Silvana de Rosa; Marialibera d'Ambrosio; Stefania Aiello

Annamaria Silvana de Rosa Sapienza University of Rome
Marialibera d'Ambrosio Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Stefania Aiello Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

Keywords: social representations, collective imaginary, artistic representations, drawings, family

Abstract

Among a large repertory of empirical studies inspired by the modelling approach (de Rosa, 1990, 2013b, 2014 a) and briefly summarized in de Rosa’s theoretical article included in this special issue, this empirical contribution presents some considerations based on a recent pilot investigation on social representations of current, future and ideal family. Imaginary and normative dimension of such social representation were explored by a multi-method approach, including verbal and graphical projective instruments: a) hand- drawings; b) associative network (de Rosa, 2002a, 2003a); c) questionnaire. Given the space limits, we selected some reflections based only on the use of images and figurative techniques, administered both as stimulus (artistic representations) and as product (hand drawings) on a population of emerging adults (138 Italian university students, aged between 20 and 29 years). Taking into account the transformations occurring in the family relations during the last decades in the Italian society, we started to explore in this preliminary study how social representations of the roles within the family (gender issues) and social representations of generational bonds emerge in their iconic representations of the current, future and ideal family.

Author Biographies

Annamaria Silvana de Rosa, Sapienza University of Rome

ANNAMARIA SILVANA de ROSA, Professor of Psychology of Social Representations and
Communication: laboratory of New Media at Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza
University of Rome, Italy. Founder and Program Director of the European/International Joint
PhD in Social Representations and Communication (http://europhd.eu) and of the SoReCom
THEmatic NETwork (http://europhd.eu/SoReComTHEmaticNETwork). Her publications are
inspired by the unified “modelling” approach to various SR research topics including: madness;
environment, tourism; national, supra-national, place identity; advertising; social memory,
emotions; family relationships; stock market; psychoanalysis in the era of Facebook, social
representations, social movements and social media. Her last book is Social Representations in
the Social Arena (Routledge, 2013). Other publications concern distinct forms of
internationalization of doctoral education

Marialibera d'Ambrosio, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

MARIALIBERA d’AMBROSIO, European/International Joint PhD in Social Representations
and Communication degree holder, assistant in charge of the Social Psychology of the Family at
the Faculty of Medicine and Psychology - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. As member of the
research team and post-doc assistant at the European Ph.D. on Social Representations and
Communication Research Centre and Multimedia Lab, she is the author of several joint publications in the research areas including: environment and tourism; national, supra-national
and place identity; family relationships; social representations of current, future and ideal family.
She currently works as professional in educational and psychological public services.

Stefania Aiello, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

STEFANIA AIELLO, European/International Joint PhD in Social Representations and
Communication degree holder, assistant in charge of the Social Psychology of the Family at the
Faculty of Medicine and Psychology - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
She has collaborated to the chair of Social Psychology of the Family at the Faculty of Medicine
and Psychology - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. As member of the research team at the
European/International Joint Ph.D. in S.R. & C. Research Centre and Multimedia Lab, she has
collaborated for the development of the specialised So.Re.Com.”A.S. de Rosa” @-Library (de
Rosa., 2014 b) She is co-author of publications and papers for international conferences in the
area of family relationships. Currently she works as clinical psychologist