This study presents a qualitative analysis of the concept of “friendship” as perceived by respondents aged from 6 to 64 years. The research aims to examine age-related characteristics in people’s understanding of friendship. The age groups for the study were determined based on Erik Erikson’s widely recognized developmental stages classification. The study analyzed associative patterns across four age groups: school-age children (6-12 years), adolescents and teenagers (13-19 years), young adults (20-25 years), and middle-aged adults (26-64 years). The sample consisted of 259 participants. Data was collected through a free association experiment and processed using P. Verges’s prototypical analysis technique. To investigate the factors influencing the formation and development of friendship concepts, we conducted a qualitative analysis of essays titled “How did my understanding of friendship develop?”. For school-age children (6-12 years), unstructured interviews were employed. The findings confirmed our hypothesis that while perceptions of friendship depend on an individual’s social and life experiences, the core understanding remains relatively stable throughout life. Questions remain regarding how external socialization factors and changing social and cultural dynamics influence friendship perceptions. Furthermore, the results revealed significant semantic variations not only across age groups but also across cultural and educational backgrounds. The issue of how parents view this topic’s relevance and its importance in family upbringing has not been specifically addressed in psychological and pedagogical research. Future studies examining this topic within the context of family values and parenting approaches would be valuable.
Keyword(s) : family
Family image in the perception of modern students
The article covers problems of contemporary state of a family, early marriages and family breakdowns – divorces in the Re-public of Tatarstan. The results of the survey held by Family and demography center of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan are presented in the paper. The scientific project ‘Family institute in the context of demographic development of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan (ethno-regional aspect)’ examines the topic ‘Family and school interaction as a condition for successful socialization of pupils’. It reveals main directions of interaction of two social institutes and defines ways of effective dialogue between family and school. The research showed that the problem of marriage and family is urgent for young people, and they construct their own ideal image of it. Youth treats marriage quite seriously and understands that marriage is a totally new stage of life. Pupils’ image of a family reflects the image of their parents’ family. It was found out in the survey that pupils would like to have such a subject at school as ‘Family management and housekeeping’ in order to be ready for family life.