Veröffentlichungen der Mitarbeiter des Instituts

„Verliebt, verlobt, verheiratet“ – Auch wenn sich die Entwicklung von Partnerschaften und Beziehungen in diesem Kindervers so einfach anhört, in der Realität sind die Prozesse, durch die Partnerschaften eine gewisse Dauerhaftigkeit erreichen, wesentlich komplizierter. Indem vorliegenden Buch wird untersucht, welche Zwischenschritte bei der Institutionalisierung von Beziehungen wichtig sind und durch welche Umstände diese Verfestigung der Partnerschaft befördert oder behindert wird. Darüber hinaus wird untersucht, welche Rolle die persönlichen Netzwerke spielen und welche Ursachen und Folgen Trennungen in den verschiedenen Phasen einer Partnerschaft aufweisen.

Der Beitrag vergleicht das Heiratsverhalten ost- und westdeutscher Frauen nach der Wiedervereinigung auf der Basis von Daten des Sozioökonomischen Panels (SOEP). Im Ausgangsmodell weisen die ostdeutschen Frauen eine signifikant niedrigere Übergangsrate in die erste Ehe auf als die westdeutsche Vergleichsgruppe. Ereignisdatenanalysen zeigen, dass dieser Unterschied durch zwei Gruppen von Faktoren erklärbar ist: Erstens durch soziokulturelle Merkmale ostdeutscher Frauen wie ihre gering ausgeprägte Religiosität und ihre hohe Berufsorientierung, zweitens durch Transformationsfolgen wie ein geringeres Haushaltseinkommen und eine verminderte Lebenszufriedenheit. Differenzierte Befunde resultieren für die Familiengründung sowie für das Eingehen einer nichtehelichen Kohabitation: Diese beiden Übergänge werden zwar von ostdeutschen Frauen früher vollzogen, sind aber bei ihnen schwächer an die Eheschließung gekoppelt als bei westdeutschen Frauen. Das Heiratsverhalten mobiler Frauen, die ihren Wohnsitz in der Nachwendezeit von Ost- nach Westdeutschland verlegen, entspricht überraschenderweise dem westdeutschen Muster, obwohl sie eine geringere Religiosität und eine tendenziell höhere Berufsorientierung aufweisen als westdeutsche Frauen.

The present study examines different processes leading to lifestyle homogamy in married and cohabiting couples using data from the German Socioeconomic Panel (n = 3,490 couples). The analyses first suggest that alignment over time promotes homogamy of leisure-related lifestyles, especially with respect to action-oriented activities. However, intermediate stages in the life course (i.e., phases of active parenting and labor force participation) tend to inhibit alignment, whereas cues indicating a high-quality match (e.g., educational homogamy and being in a long-term or a marital relationship) promote alignment. Second, we find evidence for selection effects in that not only homogamy but also convergence of lifestyles over time may increase couples’ resilience to relationship breakup.

The present study compares parity-specific fertility patterns of West and East German women (from birth cohorts 1970 and younger) after German reunification using panel data from the GSOEP (waves 1990 through 2006). Whereas the transition rate for the birth of the fi rst child tends to be higher in the East German than in the West German sub-sample, the likelihood of second births remains considerably higher among West German women across time. The analyses presented comprise a detailed comparative test of different intervening mechanisms, represented by sociocultural orientations and social inequalities resulting from the societal transformation process. Although the transition rate to fi rst births among East German women is lowered by their higher education and work aspirations, their higher degree of family orientation promotes their propensity to start a family. Surprisingly, the higher proportion of persons without a denomination in East Germany promotes the transition to parenthood because it accelerates both the engagement in and the consolidation of intimate relationships. The lower transition rate to second births among East German women is partly accounted for by the higher work aspirations, by the lower religiosity and by the lower general life satisfaction in this subgroup.

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1992-2009), we analyze the impact of both the quantity and specific types of leisure activity on the risk of the transition to parenthood two years later. With regard to the leisure time budget, neither timing nor level effects are found once third variables (above all, partnership type) are controlled for. Concerning specific types of leisure activity, respondents with a strong preference for out-of-home leisure activities delay having their first child (timing effect), but do not end up with a higher level of childlessness at age 41.

For at least two decades the research regarding generations in family sociology has been dominated by the multidimensional concept of intergenerational solidarity. Recently, the concept of intergenerational ambivalence, emphasizing the simultaneity of positive and negative aspects in family relations, has become a popular counterpart to the solidarity model. The aim of this paper is to integrate empirically both positive and negative aspects in families. Thus, firstly, four types of intergenerational relations (amicable, civil, ambivalent, and disharmonious) are generated by cross-classifying both scales on intimacy (positive) and conflict (negative) in the family. Secondly, differences in the four types of relations regarding the dimensions of intergenerational solidarity are empirically investigated. The analysis is based on the German data taken from the cross-cultural study "Value of Children and Intergenerational Relations" (VOC) which was carried out in 2002. A binary logistic regression analysis shows that the likelihood for the daughter-mother-relation to be ambivalent increases if daughters receive financial, instrumental, and emotional support from their mothers (functional solidarity). For the daughter-father-dyad, the likelihood to be ambivalent is slightly higher if the daughters indicate a higher agreement on familial norms (normative solidarity). Solidarity dimensions are better suited to explain the association with a certain type of relationship in the case of amicable, disharmonious, and civil relations (for both mother and father relations), where frequency of contact (associational solidarity) and emotional closeness (affectual solidarity) are also relevant.