Family meal customs and perceived change among respondents from selected Turkic backgrounds
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Family meals can enact hospitality, religious expression, age relations and expectations about proper conduct, but continuity should not be inferred from cultural description alone. This exploratory cross-sectional study examined family meal customs and perceived change in a non-probability online sample of 239 adults from selected Turkic national or ethnic backgrounds. The bilingual Kazakh–Turkish questionnaire contained demographic questions and 12 closed-ended study items. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for the full sample. Respondents commonly reported following family traditions as fully as possible (66.9%), always performing prayer or blessing at meals (66.5%), preparing traditional foods for guests (74.9%) and showing special respect for elders (87.9%). Perceptions of change nevertheless coexisted with these reported practices: 51.5% stated that table culture had changed, while some traditions remained, and 30.5% perceived substantial change. We interpret this coexistence through the author-developed term ‘differentiated continuity’, referring to unequal patterns of maintenance, modification and perceived change across distinct dimensions of family meal life.
Source: Figshare
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225738847
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