THE IMAGE OF THE FAMILY AS PERCEIVED BY PEDAGOGICAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS (AGED 18–25)

The article examines the image of the family as perceived by students at a pedagogical institute aged 18–25 years. The relevance of the study is determined by the transformation of the family as a social institution in contemporary Russian society, manifested in the rising age at first marriage, the spread of cohabitation, and changing attitudes toward official marriage registration and childbearing. The theoretical framework draws on the concepts of family self-awareness developed by T.M. Mishina, E.G. Eidemiller, and G.T. Ebisheva, as well as on the approaches of developmental psychology formulated by I.V. Dubrovina and A.G. Khripkova concerning the formation of value orientations in adolescence and early adulthood. The study also uses statistical data from the Civil Registry Office and VTsIOM reflecting current trends in the marital, family, and reproductive behaviour of young people. The empirical basis of the study is a survey of students at the Pedagogical Institute of Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University. The findings show that the family retains its status as a core value; however, marriage is increasingly perceived as a personal choice rather than a mandatory social norm. Flexible and partnership-based family models with a negotiated distribution of roles predominate. Students’ reproductive intentions are primarily constrained by resource-related factors, while emotional closeness is regarded as the leading function of the family. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the attitudes of future teachers may influence both their own family behaviour and the transmission of family values to the younger generation.