{{Short description|Act of maintaining family ties}} [[File:Emporte piece bonhomme.jpg|alt=a large amount of cookie dough has been rolled out and is being cut into cookies|thumb|Preparing traditional holiday foods, such as gingerbread men, for family gatherings is a form of kinkeeping.]] '''Kinkeeping''' is the act of maintaining and strengthening familial ties. It is a form of emotional labor done both out of a sense of obligation and because of emotional attachment.<ref name="Brown">{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/15350770.2010.520616|title=The Kinkeeping Connection: Continuity, Crisis and Consensus|year=2010|last1=Brown|first1=Laura Hess|last2=Derycke|first2=Sara B.|journal=Journal of Intergenerational Relationships|volume=8|issue=4|pages=338–353|s2cid=145138489}}</ref> Kinkeepers play an important role in maintaining family cohesion and continuity. Their efforts contribute significantly to the family's social capital, providing emotional support and a sense of belonging to family members.<ref name="Mortimer"/><ref name="Brown"/>
Sociologist Carolyn Rosenthal defined the term in her 1985 article, "Kinkeeping in the Familial Division of Labor".<ref name="Rosenthal" />
== Activities == Kinkeeping activities primarily involve facilitating communication between family members and preparing for family gatherings.<ref name=":0" />
Kinkeeping activities help extended family members of differing households stay in touch with one another and strengthen intergenerational bonds.<ref name="Mortimer">{{cite book|title=Handbook of the Life Course, Volume 1| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RMVM_8bjaWgC&pg=PA156| page=156| editor1-first=Jeylan T.| editor1-last= Mortimer| editor2-first= Michael J.|editor2-last= Shanahan|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|year=2006|isbn=9780387324579}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Friedman |first=Danielle |date=2024-05-08 |title=The Constant Work to Keep a Family Connected Has a Name |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/08/well/family/kinkeeping-families.html |access-date=2024-05-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> It facilitates the transfer of family traditions, values, and histories from one generation to the next.<ref name="Bengtson">{{cite journal|title=Beyond the Nuclear Family: The Increasing Importance of Multigenerational Bonds|last1=Bengtson|first1=Vern L.|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|year=2001|volume=63|issue=1|pages=1-16}}</ref> Families with active kinkeepers tend to feel more connected as a family.<ref name=":0" />
Kinkeeping methods may include telephone calls, writing letters, visiting, sending gifts, acting as a caregiver for disabled or infirm family members, or providing economic aid.<ref name="Rosenthal"/><ref name="Brown"/> They may plan family gatherings and holiday events.<ref name=":0" /> Maintaining family traditions, such as preparing particular foods for holidays, is a form of kinkeeping.<ref name=":0" />
Kinkeeping tends to be time-consuming.<ref name=":0" /> The kinkeepers may enjoy their role, or they may find it burdensome.<ref name=":0" /> They may also feel like their work, which often happens in the background, is not recognized or appreciated.<ref name=":0" />
== Gender roles == Women are more likely to act as kinkeepers than men and often organize family events and reunions.<ref name="Rosenthal">{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/352340|jstor=352340|title=Kinkeeping in the Familial Division of Labor|last1=Rosenthal|first1=Carolyn J.|journal=Journal of Marriage and Family|year=1985|volume=47|issue=4|pages=965–974}}</ref> A 2006 survey of Americans found that women reported more contact with relatives than men in every age group.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/13607860600647975|title=Kin keepers and good providers: Influence of gender socialization on well-being among USA birth cohorts|year=2006|last1=Salari|first1=S.|last2=Zhang|first2=W.|journal=Aging & Mental Health|volume=10|issue=5|pages=485–496|pmid=16938684|s2cid=24068697}}</ref> A 2017 study found that more than 90% of self-identified kinkeepers were women.<ref name=":0" />
A related activity, called '''mankeeping''', is when women provide emotional support to the men in their lives, especially for men who are socially isolated.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pearson |first=Catherine |date=2025-07-28 |title=Why Women Are Weary of the Emotional Labor of ‘Mankeeping’ |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/well/family/mankeeping-definition.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251003113048/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/well/family/mankeeping-definition.html |archive-date=2025-10-03 |access-date=2025-10-05 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Puzio Ferrara |first=Angelica |last2=Vergara |first2=Dylan |date=May 2025 |title=The Hidden Costs of Men’s Social Isolation |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-hidden-costs-of-mens-social-isolation/ |journal=Scientific American |volume=332 |issue=5 |pages=82 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican052025-3CPGG7AmkbVqTJRr8d9IST |issn=0036-8733|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Interpersonal relationships Category:Family