Ambiwalencja socjologiczna jako kategoria użyteczna w badaniach życia rodzinnego
Sociological Ambivalence as a Useful Category for the Studies of Family Life

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to present and analyze the concept of ambivalence in the context of sociological research, particularly in the studies of family life. Derived from psychiatry and psychoanalysis, the notion of ambivalence has been popularized in sociology by Robert K. Merton and Elinor Barber. The article discusses the meaning of ambivalence as a sociological concept as well as the development of this category (from sociological to structural ambivalence). Additionally, the author uses the category of ambivalence to analyze the findings of the study on family and parental practices. The ambivalence appears in the juxtaposition of parents’ expectations towards children and adults’ everyday experiences as well as in the ambivalent of parents’ attitude to the electronic devices used by their children. The article aims to answer the key question of what the category of ambivalence contributes to the sociology of family life.

• Details
• Contents