Filial piety dilemma solutions in Chinese adult children: The role of contextual theme, filial piety beliefs, and generation

Abstract

Although some studies have revealed that traditional filial piety belief is weakening, few have explored whether and how the role of the belief in social life has changed correspondingly. The present study used questionnaires to examine solutions to filial piety dilemmas and the roles of contextual theme, filial piety beliefs, and generation in a sample of 123 young and 92 middle‐aged Chinese adults. With respect to the solutions adopted to solve parent‒child conflicts, preferences varied depending on the dilemma themes. Specifically, participants were more likely to select a self‐sacrifice (rather than an ego‐centered) solution for respect dilemmas than for caring dilemmas, and least likely to do so for obedience dilemmas. Participants were also likely to select a balancing (rather than an ego‐centered) solution for respect or caring dilemmas than for obedience dilemmas. In addition, the concordance between beliefs and solutions was exhibited in reciprocal, but not authoritarian, filial piety beliefs. Individuals with stronger reciprocal filial piety beliefs were more likely to select self‐sacrifice or balancing solutions than ego‐centered solutions whereas authoritarian filial piety showed no influence on solutions for either young or middle‐aged adults. Furthermore, the generation effect was not significant, and the solution selection did not differ between young and middle‐aged adults.