65ments available to families reconfigure different structures of opportuni-
ties and constraints to same-gender or cross-gender sociability. Therefore,
the prevalence of a dual-earner model in Portugal and Lithuania and the
prevalence of the one-and-a-half earner model in Switzerland is likely to
shape the sociability of men and women differently in the three
countries.
As mentioned earlier, social development and historical trends are
appropriated and redefined in individuals’ everyday scenarios at different
paces and intensity according to life course pathways, structural posi-
tions, and normative contexts (Eisenstadt 2002 ; Gouveia and Widmer
2014 ). The latter dimension is paramount since implicit or explicit norms
about the proper way to enact and organize family life guide individuals
in their relational choices. The narrative of cultural change assumes a
universal convergence towards post-materialistic values, emphasizing the
recognition of a greater individual freedom and self-expression, more
egalitarian attitudes, and the recognition of diversity (Inglehart and Baker
2000 ). Transposing these trends into the family sphere, we have been
witnessing a cultural movement towards the deinstitutionalization of
marriage and parenthood; the democratization of parent-child relation-
ships, sexuality and gender roles; and the diversification of family arrange-
ments. Yet, these trends are incorporated in each country at different
paces and intensity according to their historical pathways, cultural frame-
works, structural conditions, and social policies (Inglehart and Norris
2003 ; Sobotka 2008 ; Widmer and Ganjour 2017 ). Therefore, family-
related attitudes across countries with distinct normative profiles are a
key element to understand the development of personal networks (Surkyn
and Lesthaeghe 2004 ). But if family attitudes and norms may frame the
way individuals build their personal relationships, it may also be that the
composition and structure of personal networks influence the attitudes of
the network members. The seminal work of Bott ( 1957 ) showed how
densely connected family networks mainly composed of kinship fostered
a greater segregation of gender roles in the conjugal dyad, and conversely,
more heterogeneous and loosely connected networks were linked to more
egalitarian gender roles. Thus, network homogeneity and strong reciproc-
ity potentiate greater social pressure towards normative conformity, with
A First Portrait of Personal Networks in a Comparative...