Self-reliance, familism, and satisfaction with close relationships in emerging adulthood.

ALICIA FACIO; SANTIAGO RESETT

Providence

Conferencia; V Conferencia sobre Adultez Emergente; 2011

Sociedad para el Estudio de la Adultez Emergente

As longitudinal research on emerging adulthood refers almost exclusively to North American and European samples, it is interesting to present here some findings on emerging adults living in Argentina. Taking into account Self Determination Theory?s proposition regarding the positive relation between the internalization of cultural practices and well-being ?satisfaction with close relationships in this case- we hypothesize the following: First, young people who showed higher congruence with both Argentinean predominant values at the beginning of emerging adulthood -those who scored higher in both self-reliance and familism- would enjoy a higher level of satisfaction in their relationships with family members, best friends and romantic partners compared to emerging adults who showed a lower level of cultural congruence in this respect -those higher in self-reliance but lower in familism and those higher in familism but lower in self-reliance. Second, those who had scored higher in self-reliance and familism at age 19 will continue to be the most satisfied group as regards their close relationships four years later. A sample of 698 14-year-old students randomly selected from the total population attending grades 8th-10th in Paraná. In line with the Self Determination Theory contentions, the group who scored higher in self-reliance and familism at age 19 perceived a concomitant higher level of support not only from family members (mothers, fathers, and siblings) but from best friends as well, above and beyond the effects of family-of-origin socioeconomic status. Emerging adults who showed a lower level of cultural congruence -those higher in self-reliance but lower in familism and those higher in familism but lower in self-reliance- found significantly less support in the abovementioned bonds.