Relationships

What are the most important relationships to young adults?

Reginald Bibby  People perceive their personal relationships as most important to their happiness

What do friendships do?  Enhance self –esteem  Offer emotional support  Provide objective point to view to help solve problems  Help people learn communication skills which can be applied to the workplace

What kind of research has been done?  Research has mainly focused on family and on intimate “romantic” relationships  Not much is known about the role of friendships

Parent-Child Relationships  Young adults are staying at home longer now than in the generation before  Research has shown that the more independence young adults have had in their teen years, the more likely it is that they will have a positive relationship with their parents, even after they move out

How Does This Change Happen?  Systems Theory explains it this way:  The family has to adjust to allow the adolescent and then the young adult to change

 Because systems don’t change easily, family members have to come up with new ‘strategies for relating to one another and for completing the work of the family  Such as: laundry, cooking etc  Parents who have less need to change (ie the ‘work’ is already divided) will be less motivated to make any changes

The Other Side  Arguments between parents and adolescents break down the old strategies and allow the young person to become more independent by taking on new roles in the family  This teaches those young adults to be responsible so that when they do move out, they have some life skills

Young Adults Staying Home Longer  Because young adults are staying home longer, there is the potential for conflict unless both sides change  Young person has to balance their ‘new lives and wished for independence’ with responsibility with their family  It is possible to negotiate new family ‘rules?”

Parents’ Challenge  To accept their adult children as responsible adults who make a contribution to their family  According to research only about 7% of young adults living at home pay rent

The Solution?  Good communication skills  Both sides need to compromise and come up with equitable solutions

Workplace Relationships  In Partners:  1. Read the sections Workplace Relationships and Mentor Relationships (p. 90 and 91 in textbook)  Work together to answer the following questions:  P. 92 # 6,7,8