La coppia come fonte di sostegno sociale: una comparazione tra il caso italiano e quello spagnolo

Abstract

This paper studies the variables that predict whether a person in a couple relationship seeks out his or her partner or other members of his or her personal network (family and friends) as the main source of social support. To determine these variables, we use survey data for Spain and Italy from the module “Social Relations and Support Systems (Social Network II)” of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), performed in 28 countries in 2001. Data show that the variables which influence instrumental support differ from those that explain emotional support. Two factors are especially relevant: sex (men look for emotional support from their partners more frequently and women for instrumental support) and the frequency a person visits his/her mother (those who have greater contact with their mothers ask for help in a lesser extent to their partners and in a greater extent to their parents). When Spanish and Italian regressions are compared, data show that independent variables have a better adjustment to the model for Italians. Nevertheless, when a variable is significant in both countries, it always occurs in the same direction. This pattern supports the hypothesis that it exists a Mediterranean model of couple relationship.