Family and Cultural Predictors of Willingness to Care and Ageism among Young Adults Open Access

Abstract

The aging of the United States population necessitates further understanding of familial factors that encourage caregiving and positive attitudes towards the older population. This study examined the normative, structural, and associational dimensions of intergenerational solidarity within the family, and their ability to predict willingness to care and ageism among college students. We investigated the role of culture on family dynamics and norms through the moderating effects of ethnic group and ethnic identification across non-Hispanic White, Asian, Black, and Hispanic ethnicities. Lastly, we explored the intergenerational transmission of norms from parent to child. We administered online surveys to 287 Emory University undergraduate students and 137 parents, measuring their levels of normative, structural, and associational solidarity, willingness to care, and ageism. Using hierarchical linear regression analyses, normative solidarity was shown to predict willingness to care and ageism, above and beyond structural and associational solidarity. Although significant differences across ethnic groups were found, ethnic group and ethnic identification were not significant moderators of any relationships. Finally, parent's familism norms were shown to indirectly influence child's willingness to care through the transmission of familism norms to the child.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction........................................................4

Intergenerational Solidarity Theory........................6

Intergenerational Solidarity and Caregiving.............7

Intergenerational Solidarity and Ageism................10

The Role of Ethnicity and Culture..........................12

Population of Interest.........................................14

Statement of Problem and Hypotheses..................15

Methods..............................................................17

Participants......................................................17

Measures.........................................................18

Design.............................................................22

Procedure.........................................................22

Plan of Analysis.................................................24

Results................................................................25

Discussion...........................................................33

Limitations........................................................44

Implications and Future Directions........................45

References..........................................................49

Tables and Figures...............................................59

Appendices..........................................................77

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Degree	BA
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, General Sociology, Individual and Family Studies Psychology, Social
Keyword	Parent-child dyad Ageism Young adults Familism Ethnicity Culture Family Contact Willingness to care Caregiving Structural Intergenerational solidarity
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Bliwise, Nancy G., Emory University
Committee Members	Idler, Ellen, Emory University Cheong, Yuk Fai, Emory University Goodman, Sherryl H, Emory University

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