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Filial piety and intergenerational ambivalence among mother–adult child dyads in rural China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2019

Qiuju Guo Open the ORCID record for Qiuju Guo [Opens in a new window] ,
Xiang Gao ,
Fei Sun  and
Nan Feng
Qiuju Guo
Affiliation:
Elder Service Research Center, School of Sociology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Xiang Gao*
Affiliation:
Elder Service Research Center, School of Sociology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Fei Sun
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Nan Feng
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: xiangxianggao@126.com
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Abstract

This study examines the relationship between filial piety (adult children's filial behaviours and attitudes as well as elderly mothers’ overall evaluation of children's filial piety) and elderly mothers’ reports of intergenerational ambivalence (positive feelings, negative feelings and combined ambivalence) in rural China. We analysed the data from a survey in 2016 covering 2,203 adult children and 802 elderly mothers in Sichuan Province using a two-level mixed-effects modelling analysis. The results indicate that most components of filial piety are associated with mothers’ ambivalence, in that less ambivalence was reported by mothers when their adult children provided more emotional support to, had less conflict with and were evaluated as more filial by their mothers. Interestingly, mothers demonstrated greater positive feelings when their children were more filial in behaviour and attitude, but they also reported greater negative feelings and ambivalence when their children were more obedient, implying that absolute obedience to elderly parents might no longer be accepted by people. These findings may provide further understanding about the correlation between the culture of filial piety and intergenerational relationships in rural China.

Keywords

filial pietyintergenerational ambivalencerural China
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 40 , Issue 12 , December 2020 , pp. 2695 - 2710
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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