The seminar is part of the Sociology Seminar Series and constitutes the fifth appointment. The abstract is provided below.
The talk presents the START project (Surfing Transition to Adulthood: Resources and Timing – PRIN 2022), outlining its aims and highlighting some preliminary findings. Following a general overview, it will focus on a study examining Italian adolescents’ expectations regarding leaving the parental home, specifically, the anticipated age at which this transition will occur, while exploring the role of intergenerational relationships and age norms. The study analyzes a probability sample of approximately 2,500 students from 80 upper-secondary schools in Italy. In addition, a subset of students’ parents (N=812) are also surveyed to investigate intergenerational transmission and socialization models. Two cohorts are examined separately—students aged 14–15 and 18–19—to capture developmental differences in expectations. The survey measures expected age of home leaving and subjective age norms, including both the ideal age for leaving and a perceived upper limit beyond which co-residence becomes socially inappropriate. OLS regressions assess the association between home-leaving expectations, relationship quality with parents, age norms, and stratification factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, and migration background. Additionally, a vignette experiment tests the causal influence of relationship quality on the social approval of prolonged co-residence.
Findings indicate that expected and ideal leaving ages cluster in the twenties, with older adolescents anticipating later departures. Social stratification plays a limited role, although higher socioeconomic status predicts slightly earlier expectations among older students. In contrast, age norms, particularly the perceived ideal age, strongly predict expectations. Importantly, warmer parent–child relationships are consistently associated with expectations of leaving home later. Experimental evidence further shows that positive relationship quality significantly increases the social legitimacy of prolonged co-residence, even under conditions of economic disadvantage. Overall, the findings highlight the central role of family relationships and cultural norms in shaping adolescents’ expectations of residential independence. The quality of parent-child relations, rather than a simple correlate of wellbeing, is a socially sanctioned criterion for the approval of intergenerational co-residence.