ATTITUDES TOWARD MENS INTERGENERATIONAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS TO OLDER AND YOUNGER MALE FAMILY MEMBERS FOLLOWING DIVORCE

In this study 116 men and 200 women randomly selected from phone books in the midwestern United States responded to a vignette designed to a ssess their attitudes about the obligation of men toward intergenerati onal family financial obligations following divorce; The hypotheses we re: (1) Men will be perceived to have greater obligations to financial ly assist a father than to assist a stepfather or former father-in-law , and (2) men will be perceived to have greater obligations to financi ally assist a son than to assist an elderly family member. An addition al research question was addressed: What rationale do people give to e xplain their beliefs about men's intergenerational financial obligatio ns following divorce? Data were analyzed using chi-square tests (force d-choice responses) and qualitative methods (open-ended responses). Bo th hypotheses were supported. Obligation was greatest to offspring, fo llowed by fathers, stepfathers, and former fathers-in-law. However, at titudes about intergenerational obligations were contextual, and they depended on relationship quality, resources available, acuity of need, and ongoing commitments.