The Diversification of Children＇s Support for Their Parents in the Context of an Aging Society： Concepts and Behavior

中国社会的老龄化进程与以家庭为依托的基本养老模式决定了子女对父母的支持直接影响到大多数老龄人口的生活水平。现有理论指出,在社会转型期,孝道的内涵逐渐从传统意义上强调父母子女之间的辈分关系和子女对父母的顺从义务,转向相互亲情与辈分权威并存的双元模型。基于中国综合社会调查2006年的数据,探讨了权威性孝道与相互性孝道这两个孝道基本维度如何与不同类型的孝行产生联系。多元线性模型的结果表明,平均而言,强调权威关系和子女角色义务的权威性孝道更能促进子女对父母的经济支持,而强调亲情、代际对等地位的相互性孝道则显著促进子女对父母的情感性支持。与之对比,孝道的这两个基本维度都无法显著提升子女对父母的劳动力支持。进一步的交互效应分析表明,权威性孝道和经济支持之间的联系在年龄低的群体中更显著。此外,对于男性而言,权威性孝道与对父母的劳动力支持之间存在边际显著的正向关系。

China＇s aging society and the family-based model of basic aged care determine that children＇s support for their parents directly affects the standard of living of the majority of the aging population. Existing theories indicate that in this era of social transition, the implications of filial piety have shifted from the traditional emphasis on the parent- child generational relationship and children＇s duty to obey their parents to a dual mode in which family love coexists with the authority of the elders. Using data from the Chinese General Social Survey of 2006, we explore the ways in which the two basic dimensions of authoritarian filial piety and reciprocal filial piety connect with various types of filial behavior. The results of our multivariate linear model show that on average, authoritarian filial piety, which emphasizes authority relationships and children＇s duty, increases children＇s financial support for their parents, while reciprocal filial piety, stressing family love and generational equality, significantly increases children＇s emotional support for their parents. A comparison of the basic dimensions of filial piety shows that neither significantly increases children＇s physical support for their parents. Further analysis of the interaction effect indicates that the link between authoritarian filial piety and financial support is more significant among younger groups. In addition, for males, a marginally significant positive relation exists between authoritarian filial piety and physical support for their parents.