Projects
Projects FNS
NCCR LIVES phase III: Overcoming vulnerability - life course perspectives
2019 - 2022
Co-director
More information on the NCCR LIVES website.
NCCR LIVES phase II: Overcoming vulnerability - life course perspectives
2015 - 2018
Co-director
More information on the NCCR LIVES website.
NCCR LIVES phase I: Overcoming vulnerability - life course perspectives
2011 - 2014
Co-director
More information on the NCCR LIVES website.
NCCR LIVES CCI 2: Stress and resource dynamics in social interactions and across analysis levels
Applicant : Dario Spini
Other partners : Mattia Vacchiano
This cross-cutting issue explores the dynamics of stress and resilience among interdependent individuals or between individuals and the normative and institutional context in which they are embedded. The agenda centres on four research themes:
- interdependent individuals and vulnerability
- institutions and welfare state policies
- normative climates
- personal normative beliefs across the course of life
More info here.
NCCR LIVES IP12/IP212: Relationships in later life
2011 - 2018
Applicant : Hansjörg Znoj (Univ. Bern)
Other partners : Joëlle Darwiche, Daniela Jopp, Valentino Pomini, Dario Spini, Jeanette Brodbeck (Univ. Bern), Anik Debrot, Claudia Meystre, Davide Morselli, Stefanie Spahni (Univ. Bern)
IP212 aims at investigating the processes of overcoming vulnerabilising factors in close relationships in middle- and old-aged adults. Specifically the project seeks to explore the various paths of psychological adaptation to major stressors related to marital relationship in the second half of life, and to identify resources and possibilities of psychosocial prevention and psychological intervention. On the one hand the focus is on the determinants and outcomes of critical life events related to intimate relationships, whether due to divorce or bereavement. On the other hand we are interested in continuity and change of marriages in middle and older age, and in the role of chronic stressors such as health problems or caregiving strain, which are major challenges for marital quality.
During Phase 1 (2011-2014), this project was entitled "Vulnerability and growth: Partnership in the second life half - challenges, losses, and benefits" (IP12 ).
More info here.
NCCR LIVES IP1/IP201: Vulnerability processes in adult life: Cumulative disadvantages, critical events, and socio-psychosocial resources (NCCR LIVES - IP1)
2011 - 2018
Applicant : Félix Bühlmannn
Other partners : Laura Bernardi, Claudio Bolzman, Dario Spini, Jean-Luc Heeb, Dominique Joye, Guy Elcheroth, Jacques-Antoine Gauthier, Judith Kuhr, Jean-Marie Le Goff, Davide Morselli, Emanuela Struffolino, Robin Tillmann, Matteo Antonini, Karen Brändle, Hannah Klaas,
IP201 has the objective of developing a multidimensional, dynamic and contextualised model of vulnerability, defined as a lack of individual or collective resources that places individuals or groups at major risk of experiencing (1) negative consequences related to sources of stress; (2) the inability to cope effectively with a stressor; and (3) the inability to recover from a stressor or to take advantage of opportunities in a given period of time. This IP collects data in combination with the third sample of the Swiss Household Panel (SHP-III) run by FORS: the LIVES Cohort Survey and the LIVES-FORS Vaud Panel.
During Phase 1 (2011-2014), this project was entitled "Vulnerability processes in adult life: Cumulative disadvantages, critical events, and socio-psychosocial resources" (IP1)
More info here.
Old Age Democratization? Progresses and Inequalities in Switzerland
2010 - 2014
Applicant : Michel Oris (UNIGE), A. Canuto, D. Spini, D. Joye, E. Widmer, J.-F. Bickel, C. Bolzman, C. Luthy, P. Perrig-Chiello
This project proposes to investigate the living conditions of the aged population in Switzerland and to address the diversity of these conditions using an interdisciplinary approach. Aging is a major challenge in all industrialized countries. In recent decades, the expectation of life without major illness has risen faster than life expectancy, while the prevalence of dependency decreased among the elderly. Further, the characteristics of the aged population in 2010 cannot be satisfactorily predicted on the basis of previous data as the structure of the aged population drastically changed. Furthermore, new generations carrying their own their specificities will soon reach the age of retirement and old age. Provided these various changes, our project will address two major issues simultaneously: heterogeneity among the elderly, i.e. inequalities, and sustainability of the previous positive trends in terms of social participation, health, and longevity.Our theoretical approach will be centered on the concept of resources, as conceived in the theory of lifespan human development and further enriched by sociologists within the life course paradigm. Globally, we consider how resources are built through individual lives embedded in family trajectories and socioeconomic, cultural and political contexts.
Devenir parent - transition à la parentalité et sexuation des trajectoires
2005 - 2010
Applicant : René Lévy, Anik de Ribaupierre (UNIGE), Eric Widmer (UNIGE), Dario Spini, Claudine Sauvain-Dugerdil (UNIGE)
Ce projet, interdisciplinaire, vise à éclaircir les facteurs de différenciation des trajectoires masculines et féminines lors de la transition à la parentalité. Il ressort des études sur les parcours de vie que la sexuation des trajectoires n'apparaît pas, en général, au moment de la mise en couple, mais lors de la transition à la parentalité. Avant cette transition, on observe un fonctionnement relativement égalitaire des jeunes couples, en cohérence avec leurs convictions majoritairement égalitaires. C'est l'arrivée du premier enfant, donc - du point de vue des partenaires - la transition à la parentalité, qui induit une différentiation sexuelle dans les couples : des proportions importantes de femmes réduisent plus ou moins fortement leur taux d'engagement professionnel alors que les insertions professionnelles masculines restent constantes, et l'investissement de temps dans le travail familial bascule du côté de la femme. Notre projet vise à éclaircir les processus impliqués dans cette transformation.
Devenir parent correspond à un bouleversement important du couple :
découverte de nouveaux rôles et contraintes, réorganisation du quotidien, modification des relations intra- et extrafamiliales, modification de l'
image de soi. Les changements identitaires peuvent amener les partenaires à revoir leurs projets de vie - et cela, en fonction de leurs ressources personnelles, sociales, économiques, institutionnelles, mais aussi en fonction de leur capacité à les optimiser, individuellement et en couple.
Trois thèmes, fortement reliés entre eux, nous paraissent primordiaux à cet égard : 1) les ressources à disposition ; 2) la manière de faire face à la venue du bébé et aux changements que cette venue entraîne (coping) ;3) les changements identitaires ainsi que les transformations des projets de vie. L'objectif est d'appréhender ces trois aspects au niveau individuel et au niveau du couple.
Others projects
Cause Commune
2019 - 2022
grant-giving organisation : Fondation Leenaards, Canton de Vaud (Switzerland)
Applicant : Dario Spini
Involve residents in the organization of their city. This is the core of the "Cause commune" project, which the LIVES National Centre of Competence in Research "Overcoming Vulnerability: Life-Course Perspectives" is carrying out in collaboration with the City of Chavannes-près-Renens. Indeed, while material security is essential to guarantee a good quality of life, the social environment and the possibility of being an actor of this common space is a determining factor in the mental and physical health of the population.
This intervention and research, co-financed by the Etat de Vaud and the Fondation Leenaards, aims to test the impact of the social environment on the health of the inhabitants. Conducted over four years, it will include three phases:
- establish a diagnosis, in close collaboration with the municipal authorities and the population.
- develop new activities on the basis of information collected from the population.
- issue recommendations, which may also be useful to other municipalities and cantons.
More information on the website of the city of Chavannes-près-Renens.
