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Universitat
Internacional
de Catalunya
Attitudes towards the Lockdown in
Spanish Families
Laia Pi Ferrer, Rejina Mary Selvam, Rita Cavallotti
Covid-19: Challenges for Families and Family Research II
RN13 | Sociology of Families and Intimate Lives
1rst September 2021, European Sociological Association
Institute for
Advanced Family
Studies
Handling the Situation:
Spanish families living through COVID-19
Project financed by Santander Universities
Introduction
Theoretical Framework
Data and Methods
Results
01
02
03
04
Index
05 Future analysis
3
Introduction
Covid-19 Pandemic & Lockdown
Unprecedented challenge:
•Financial insecurities
•Different work and family routines
•Uncertainty to the unknown situation
Context where negativity can embrace our day to day life.
•Elderly people
•Parents
•Women
•Young people
•People living alone
•Unemployed
•Lower socioeconomic status
Negativity, Vulnerability & Suffering
Aim
In this paper we study how Spaniards describe their lives during the confinement.
Is it so that these groups are reporting their living experience more negative than the others? Is it all that negative
when it comes to expressing their experience during the lockdown, or there is some positivity in it?
4
Theoretical Framework
Social Representation Theory (SRT)
SRT: theory to explain how people represent, think and deal with new objects and events.
Word association a technique commonly use in SRT.
Emotions and attitudes relevant for making a new event recognizable and understandable.
Representations are not homogenous through society. Different in different social groups.
Different psychological experience of the Covid-19 in different socio-demographic groups, we may
presuppose that they will use not only different terms, but also words that express different living
experiences.
5
Data
The data for this study was gathered from 1707 Spaniards, pooled by a random probabilistic sampling
survey.
The survey was conducted during the state of emergency in Spain (March-May 2020), where the country
was in a strict lockdown.
Free Word Association: first words that come to mind after a
stimulus, verbal or graphical.
We ask for the first three words that best describe their living
experience during the lockdown. This technique allows
respondents freely express their feelings and attitudes.
N %
Gender
Male 864 50,6
Female 842 49,4
Age
30-40 418 24,5
41-50 506 29,7
51-60 448 26,3
61-70 334 19,6
Living environment
Urban area 1454 85,2
Rural area 252 14,8
Children
Having children 1160 68
No having children 546 32
Relationship
In a relationship 1282 75,1
Single 429 24,9
Employment situation
Working 782 45,8
Unemployed 720 42
6
Methods
Lemmatization,
semantic analysis and
aggrupation by
synonyms
Qualitative
analysis
Qualitative
analysis
Correspondence
Analysis
01 02 03
The associations with
similar meaning were
grouped into different
categories, which were
then merged into
different dimensions
using inductive
thematic coding
analysis
7
Results
8
Results
Dimensions Categories (most frequent words) Freq. (%)
Negative emotions
1062 (62,3)
Sadness (Sadness, grief, depression, desolation, discouragement) 183 (10,7)
Loneliness (loneliness, abandonment, forgotten, vulnerable) 126 (7,4)
Anger (anger, rage, indignation) 108 (6,3)
Uncertainty (uncertainty, worry, uneasiness, anguish) 694 (40,7)
Disappointment (disappointment, deception, lie) 88 (5,2)
Bad (bad, discomfort, pain) 26 (1,5)
Fear (fear, insecurity, scared) 350 (20,5)
Positive emotions
173 (10,1)
Joy (joy, happiness, encouragement) 29 (1,7)
Empathy (empathy) 3 (0,2)
Emotion (emotion) 6 (0,4)
Love (love, affection) 12 (0,7)
Amazement (surprise, amazement) 13 (0,8)
Desire (expectant, craving, eager, desire) 56 (3,3)
Good (good, steady) 56 (3,3)
Convenience (comfort, convenience) 10 (0,6)
Description of the
situation
302 (17,7)
Chaotic (chaos, catastrophe, crisis, ruin) 97 (5,7)
Unusual (disbelief, unusual, surreal) 59 (3,5)
Closure (isolation, confinement, restraint) 132 (7,7)
Duration (long, wait, pause, pending) 40 (2,3)
Positive attitudes
664 (38,9)
Acceptance & Discipline (resignation, acceptance, adaptation) 172 (10,1)
Solidarity (solidarity, generosity) 15 (0,9)
Determination (courage, strength, bravery) 27 (1,6)
Creativity (creativity, imagination, resourceful) 19 (1,1)
Hope (hope, positivity) 151 (8,9)
Patience (patience) 126 (7,4)
Tranquillity & Introspection (tranquillity, rest, calm, introspection) 286 (16,8)
Prevented (caution, prevention, responsibility, prudence) 136 (8)
Dimensions Categories (most frequent words) Freq. (%)
Negative attitudes
714 (41,9)
Boredom (bored, lack of interest, listless) 237 (13,9)
Overwhelmed (overwhelmed, anxiety, stress) 340 (19,9)
Tiredness (tired, fed up, exhausted) 280 (16,4)
Negativism (negativism) 8 (0,5)
Monotony (monotony, routine) 32(1,9)
Unemployed (unemployed, unemployed, Records of Employment
Regulation) 16 (0,9)
Lack of solidarity (lack of solidarity) 2 (0,1)
Passivity (passivity) 3 (0,2)
Lazy (lazy) 4 (0,2)
Sedentary lifestyle (sedentary lifestyle) 14 (0,8)
Objects & Places
54 (3,2)
Technology & Information (information, video call) 18 (1,1)
Outdoor spaces (going out, air, nature, sun) 14 (0,8)
House (house, home) 26 (1,5)
Actions
223 (13,1)
Help (help, collaborate, cooperate) 10 (0,6)
Work (work, telework, employment) 107 (6,3)
Eat & Cook (eat, cook) 28 (1,6)
Time Management & Leisure (free time, leisure, busy,
entertainment, sport) 95 (5,6)
Pandemic
Pandemic & Health (confinement, health, virus) 147 (8,6)
Relationship
Relationships & Family (family, together, living together) 105 (6,2)
9
10
Future analysis
Combine Free Word Association with Structural equation modelling
(SEM)
Personal
context:
personality,
resilience
Family context:
family support,
family
satisfaction
Life
satisfaction
Positivity in
describing
Covid-19 living
experience
laiapi@uic.es
Thank you!