Reinhard Schunck¹; Johanna Gereke²; Ozan Aksoy³; Joshua Hellyer²; Emily Hellriegel¹

¹ Bergische Universität Wuppertal; ² Mannheim Centre for European Social Research, University of Mannheim; ³ University College London, UK

Social boundaries play a crucial role in shaping intergroup relations, particularly in intimate domains like marriage formation, where the acceptance of an out-group member signifies the crossing of social divides. While existing research has extensively examined ethnic and racial boundaries in Western societies, the role of religiosity in shaping marital boundaries between religious and secular groups remains underexplored, especially in Muslim-majority societies. Bringing together theoretical considerations from the study of social distance and those from the study of partnership formation and spouse selection, this study examines how perceived religiosity, socio-economic status, and physical attractiveness influence the willingness to accept an individual as a marriage partner for a family member in Turkey. Using a factorial survey experiment embedded within a large representative face-to-face sample of the Turkish population, we analyze whether—and under what conditions—boundaries between religious and secular groups can be bridged through resource exchange. Our findings reveal persistent, but partly asymmetric religious–secular boundaries, with secular respondents showing stronger boundaries towards religious persons than vice versa. The boundaries are, moreover, moderated by socio-economic status and facial attractiveness, indicating that persons are willing to cross boundaries in exchange for valued resources. Moreover, gendered patterns emerge, reflecting distinct expectations for male and female partners, with the strongest boundaries being shown towards religious men. This study contributes to our understanding of boundary-making processes in intimate social contexts, highlighting how religiosity influences marriage decisions and shapes patterns of social integration and cohesion in contemporary Turkey.

Matthias Pollmann-Schult

University of Siegen

Objective: This study examines three key pathways in the association between the transition to parenthood and declines relationship satisfaction.

Background: Although declines in relationship satisfaction among new parents are well doc-umented, research regarding the underlying mechanisms remains limited. This study inves-tigates three commonly proposed pathways: gendered shifts in housework and childcare re-sponsibilities and the resulting perceptions of unfairness, increases in negative couple be-haviors (relationship conflict), and decreases in positive couple interactions (emotional intimacy and appreciation).

Method: The study used data on 4,108 respondents from 14 waves of the German Family Panel (pairfam), a nationally representative survey that was conducted annually between 2008 and 2022. To explore the mediating factors linking the transition to parenthood to de-clines in relationship satisfaction, fixed effects multiple mediation regression models were used.

Results: After the transition to parenthood, relationship satisfaction declined persistently among both men and women. These declines were largely attributed to increases in negative couple behaviors as well as decreases in positive couple interactions. Among women–but not for men–these declines were also linked to increases in the housework and childcare duties. Conclusion: These findings highlight the pivotal role of both positive and negative couple interactions and behaviors in shaping relationship satisfaction after the transition to parenthood.

Annika Stein

GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften

The enduring negative effects of economic deprivation on children as theorized in the family stress model are well established. However, the model merely assumes children to be passively affected by poverty via their parents. It thereby ignores children’s active role in the family dynamics and in the parent-child-relationship in situations of financial adversity.

To fill this gap, I recognize children as social actors, who themselves experience poverty, and as social agents, who co-construct the parent-child relationship within the family’s socioeconomic context. Within the family stress model, I argue that child outcomes are not only affected by disruptive parenting behavior resulting from economically induced psychological distress, but that children’s subjective experience of poverty simultaneously affects parents’ psychological distress and parenting behavior. As a result, I assume children’s perception of the parent-child relationship to depend on their perceived poverty level. This influence is likely to be influenced by the parent’s psychological distress and the amount of time the parent and child spend together. 

I investigate the research question within the German context which exemplifies the external environment of an extensive family-centered welfare state. To identify the unique pathways of the effect mechanisms, I test my hypotheses using structural equation modelling. For this purpose, I complement the German Family Panel pairfam (2009-2021) with rich data from parenting and child interviews. Preliminary results indicate that children’s subjective poverty level influences their perception of the parent-child relationship directly, as well as through its impact on parental psychological distress and parenting behavior.

Lea Ellwardt¹; Theo Van Tilburg²

¹  University of Cologne; ^;2 Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Objectives. Integration into social networks is an important promotor of well-being and aging healthily, yet the dark side of social networks includes encounters with network members that are perceived as unpleasant, demanding, or difficult. This study investigates the association of relationship difficulty in older adults’ core networks with the mental health outcomes of loneliness, depression, and anxiety.

Methods. Survey data were collected from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) on relationship difficulty in personal networks and mental health. The sample included 892 respondents (mean age = 73; range = 61–100). The analytical models used two-step estimation with inverse-probability weights for testing differences in the three mental outcomes between older adults with and without difficult relationships. Differences were tested using cross-sectional and longitudinal mental health observations.

Results. The presence of relationship difficulty was significantly associated with poorer mental health on all three conditions in the cross-sectional models. Lagged effects were significant on depression only and weakest on anxiety.

Discussion. For some older adults, instances where they feel pressured into upholding and continuing difficult relationships can be linked to higher incidences of adverse mental health outcomes. As such, social integration can be a double-edged sword, and research and practice should consider its potentially negative impacts.