Singles a jejich vztahy; kvalitativní pohled na nesezdané a nekohabitující jednotlivce v České republice
Singles and Their Relationships: A Qualitative Look at Single and Non-cohabitating Individuals in the Czech Republic

Summary/Abstract: In a qualitative study of single people conducted in 2003 one particular inding stood out: a significant number of the interviewees (economically independent and without a partner) revealed their involvement in various other forms of regular or even long-term relationships. In an analysis of in-depth interviews conducted in 2003-2005 the following categories of alternative relationships were identified as typical for the social context of contemporary Czech society: ‘relationships with married lovers’, ‘weekend marriages’, ‘long-distance relationships’, ‘one-night stands’, ‘open relationships’, ‘lover in case of need’, and ‘relationships to prove oneself’. The existence of relationships that are not longterm or reproduction-oriented is not a result of any deliberate strategy but is rather a consequence of the complex changes in mentality and behaviour that occurred in the 1990s. These shifts, for example, relating to professional commitment and career satisfaction, tend to be understood as the explicit result of labour-market pressures on individual actors, but research has shown that, even at the level of individual actors, alternative approaches to partner relationships and reproduction are much more the result of people adopting and internalising post-1989 cultural templates.

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