Filial piety, acculturation, and intergenerational communication among NewZealand Chinese

The question of who should care for senior citizens acquires new significan ce at a time when populations are aging. What responsibilities are accepted by younger family members and how does the degree of acceptance vary among individuals? Attitudes toward some of these responsibilities, otherwise kn own as filial piety, were surveyed among 2 generations (young and middle-ag ed) representative of New Zealand Chinese in Wellington (100 families). Ove rall, there was strong acceptance of filial piety obligations. Felt expecta tions from elderly parents were stronger than those felt from grandparents. Regression analyses indicated that social identifications as a New Zealand er and as a Chinese were independent and positive predictors of filial piet y obligations and expectations. Gender, place of birth, and Chinese languag e fluency had no independent associations with filial piety, but the younge r generation rated expectations on them higher than did the middle-aged. Fi lial piety obligations were positively correlated with feelings of happines s following communication with elderly family and nonfamily. The role of ac culturation on Chinese immigrants is discussed.