Family Cohesion in Comparative Perspective Digitally Mediated Contact, Kinship Support and Cultural Context across 15 Countries
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The aim of this study is to explore the association between digitally mediated contact, generalised trust and family contact and family contact and kinship support orientation in 15 countries based on multilevel modelling of ISSP 2017 data. The study is a response to a central question in comparative family sociology and digital sociology: does digitally mediated communication undermine family relations or does it facilitate kinship contact in different trust and cultural contexts? The analysis was conducted on 18,450 adult respondents in 15 national contexts. Family contact and kinship support orientation was operationalised as a dependent variable, which was derived from ISSP items measuring kin contact, family-related support and normative family obligation. The results indicate that family contact and kinship support orientation were positively related to digitally mediated contact (b = 0.18, p < .01). The dependent variable was also directly positively associated with generalised trust (b = 0.22, p < .001). The interaction analysis showed that the positive relationship between digitally mediated contact and family contact and kinship support orientation was stronger for respondents who had lower levels of generalised trust (b = 0.34, p < .01), which is statistically consistent with a compensation effect. There was also meaningful country-level variation in the null model, with 14% of the variance between countries. Family contact and kinship support orientation was positively associated with collectivist cultural orientation (b = 0.48, p < .01). The study adds to comparative family sociology by demonstrating that digital communication does not have a uniform social impact, but instead, the impact of digital communication on kinship support is dependent on trust and cultural context.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The International Journal of Social Sciences (IJSS) adopts the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This licence allows for the free distribution and modification of published work, provided that the original author and source are appropriately acknowledged. The CC BY 4.0 licence is intended to encourage the wide circulation of scholarly work while safeguarding authors’ rights.
Author rights
Under the CC BY 4.0 licence, authors retain broad rights to their work, including but not limited to the following:
Ownership of copyright: Authors retain copyright ownership of their work, allowing them to deposit it in institutional repositories, share it as they consider appropriate, and publish it elsewhere, provided that the original publication in the International Journal of Social Sciences (IJSS) is properly cited.
Use and distribution: Authors may use and distribute their own work without limitation for educational and scholarly purposes, as long as proper citation of the original publication is provided.
Adaptation and derivatives: Authors may adapt, modify, or create derivative works from their original publication, provided that the original work is correctly cited and that any changes do not misrepresent the original content.
User rights
In line with the CC BY 4.0 licence, users (including readers, scholars, and researchers) are granted the following rights:
Access and distribution: Users may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles published in IJSS without seeking prior permission from either the publisher or the author, provided that the original work and authorship are properly acknowledged.
Creation of derivative works: Users may adapt or create derivative works based on articles published in IJSS, provided that appropriate attribution is given and that the derivative work is distributed under the same CC BY 4.0 licence.
Responsibilities and restrictions
Attribution: Users must give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the International Journal of Social Sciences (IJSS), include a link to the original work, and clearly indicate whether any changes have been made.
No additional restrictions: Users may not apply legal terms or technological measures that restrict others from exercising the rights permitted by the licence.
Commercial use: The CC BY 4.0 licence allows for commercial use of published works, provided that proper attribution to the original author(s) and source is maintained.