Responsibility Inferences and Intergenerational Obligations to Parents and Stepparents: Are Step/Children Less Obligated When Older Adults Are at Fault for Their Problems?

Abstract

Beliefs about intergenerational obligations to assist older adults are known to be influenced by contextual variables such as the type of kin relationship (i.e., stepparent, parent) between older and younger adults. One contextual variable that has not been studied is the degree to which older individuals are seen as culpable for their problems. If older kin are perceived to be at fault for their problems, are they seen as less deserving of help than if they are not to blame? Do judgments about being at fault for problems affect beliefs about helping parents differently than beliefs about helping stepparents? A random national sample of 229 men and 274 women responded to vignettes about an older parent or stepparent who needed help managing diabetes, which was presented as either the consequence of the older adult's actions or as an inherited illness. Respondents were asked about younger family members' obligations to help older adults, how much help younger adults and public agencies should provide, and how much older adults were responsible for themselves. The effects of older adults' marital status and sex of both adults also were examined. Obligations to stepparents were less than obligations to parents. The amount of help respondents thought should be provided was moderated by older adults' marital status. Obligations and aid to parents and stepparents generally were not affected by the older adults' culpability for the problems.