Filial-Piety-Based Family Care in Chinese Societies

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Filial piety is a Confucian value commonly accepted in Chinese societies. In the first part of this chapter, we introduce the definition of filial piety. It refers to a family-centered cultural value that influences children's attitudes and behaviors toward their aging parents. Filial piety prescribes children's obligation to respect, obey, and care for their aging parents. In other words, it has been a social norm that emphasizes the devotion of children. The second part of this chapter discusses “Health Effect of Filial piety and Filial-Piety-Based Care,” in which the impact of filial piety on physical and mental health is mentioned. An increasing number of studies have indicated the beneficial effects of filial piety on aging parents who receive in the family. Although filial piety has also been linked to improved life satisfaction and psychological well-being, as well as a decreased risk of loneliness and suicidal ideation, whether there is a clear link between filial piety and caregiver's health remains controversial. The third part of this chapter is “Challenges of Filial Piety in Modern Context.” We analyze the challenges faced by traditional filial beliefs and behaviors and filial-piety-based family care in contemporary China. Several factors brought about by social change including increasingly high employment expectations, competing social values, and actual circumstances such as geographic distance, competing roles, and responsibilities, have affected the desire and ability to perform filial duties. The increased number of women in the workplace and nuclear families gradually led to the disintegration of the traditional gender division of filial piety-based family caregiving. Some scholars, therefore, suggest that filial piety is being “corrupted.” The fourth part is “Filial Piety in Contemporary China,” which summarizes the consequent emergence of a new set of features in the concept and practice of filial piety in modern China. Partly due to the social transformations, the practice of filial piety has become more diversified. As a link between generations, the traditionally gender-based filial responsibilities have also been distributed equally between male and female adult children. Chinese parents have shown greater tolerance and acceptance of their adult children's filial piety performance. Correspondently, the intergenerational relationship has changed from a hierarchical and authoritarian one to a reciprocal one. The discrepancy between old-age policies and recent social changes suggests that the nature of filial attitudes and behaviors within a contemporary social context should be re-examined, and the role of families in providing care for older adults should also be redefined. These findings may shed light on caregiving and services for older people in the future. The fifth part is “Filial Piety and Family care in overseas Chinese societies: From Asia to the World,” which reviews the benign changes in filial piety in overseas Chinese societies. In particular, studies on filial piety and family care conducted in Hong Kong and the United States are compared. In Hong Kong, Chinese parents embraced a moderate decline in caring responsibility and experienced improved well-being through the practice of reciprocal filial piety. In the United States, Chinese older immigrants reconciled traditional values with the demands and caregiving needs of socio-historical change. The readjusted practice of filial piety turned out to be beneficial for their health. Although cross-cultural variations have been reported overseas, filial piety is deeply internalized in Chinese family caregiving contexts. The final section includes future directions for academic research and policy interventions.