Relational Networks of Young Couples and Marriage Choice Paths in Italy: Data on Merbership and Influence

In our society, the couple's relationship appears to be particularly vulnerable and are seen considerable difficulties of "making relationships” in a durable, stable and satisfactory way. Some configurations/ couple phenomena emerging (cohabitation, LAT, procrastination of marriage, etc..) show couples engaged to invent new codes in a relational context that enhances the reversibility of choices and the privatization of behaviors, impacting profoundly on how to do family in society and triggering a series of knock-on effects on the generations. This research aim to investigate the social networks of couples through a relational sociology perspective. The purpose of the study is to test / measure what is conveyed, what is exchanged within the network of young couple in terms of values, support, attendance, membership and influence. The objective is to describe the effects of networks in relation to different dimensions, attributes, and methods of construction of the relationship between the partners. In reference to the relationship with the community and the inter-generational intermingling, we also intend to collect predictive information of the concept of social generativity (Rossi, Scabini, 2006). The research has reached 50 pairs of young people who have accessed initiatives in preparation for the wedding and some of the organizations that make projects for support such paths. Relational data have been recorded through a structured questionnaire (20 questions) that has been analyzed with the method SNA (Social Network Analysis) that has allowed to investigate, for example, the size of the network, the density of relationships, centrality, popularity and the betweness degree.