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to compensate for the lack of housing and vulnerability over the life
course, tend to encourage the inclusion of kin ties both within and
beyond the nuclear family of procreation. This distinction does not
mean that individuals living in Lithuania do not have friends or do not
value friendship, but friendship ties are not always mentioned directly
when respondents speak about important relationships. This could be
related to the idea of concentric circles showing the degree of closeness
(Kahn and Antonucci 1980 ). Respondents have to place their alters in
three different concentric circles according to their degree of closeness,
the most important persons being located in the inner circle. Secondly,
regarding extended kinship, individuals in Portugal are more likely to
have a more inclusive view of family ties, because they often build up
Extended conjugal and Mixed configurations. In contrast, recent changes
in Lithuania seem to focus mainly on the nuclear unit. To sum up, we
believe it is correct to say there is a bounded pluralization of personal
configurations, which are enhanced or constrained by historical, cul-
tural, and socio-economic contexts.
In the following chapter we will discuss the question of resources stem-
ming from personal configurations and, in Chap. 7 , look more exten-
sively at individuals’ biographies by considering their family trajectories.
Because the development of personal configurations occurs at the junc-
tion of macro-structural and biographical levels, it is important to develop
complex explanations drawing on multidimensional factors.
Acknowledgements The authors of the chapter wish to acknowledge sponsors
that made it possible to carry out this investigation, the results of which are
presented in the chapter. In Switzerland, the research was supported by the Swiss
National Science Foundation and the Swiss National Centre of Competence in
Research LIVES Overcoming Vulnerability: Life-Course Perspectives. In
Portugal, the research was carried out within the national survey, “Family
Trajectories and Social Networks”, coordinated by Professor K. Wall from the
Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) from the University of Lisbon. In Lithuania,
the research was carried out based on data collected within the research project,
“Trajectories of Family Models and Personal Networks: Intergenerational
Perspective”, coordinated by V. Kanopiené from Mykolas Romeris University
(Lithuania) and funded by Research Council of Lithuania.
G. Aeby et al.