Reciprocity in Parent–Child Exchange and Life Satisfaction among the Elderly: A Cross‐National Perspective

Abstract

This study explores the role of intergenerational exchange relationships in the life satisfaction of a cross-national sample of older people. Specifically, it replicates and extends the study by Lee, Netzer, and Coward (1995), which examined the effects of aid exchanged between generations-older parents and their adult children. Social exchange and equity theories serve as the theoretical frameworks for the present research. The current research is based on data collected in the OASIS cross-national five countries project from 1,703 respondents (75+) living in urban settings. The main results are that the capacity to be an active provider in exchange relations enhances elders' life satisfaction. Being mainly a recipient of help from adult children is related to a lower level of life satisfaction. Filial norms are negatively related to life satisfaction. The study also underscores the importance of the emotional component in intergenerational family relations to the well-being of the older population. Intergenerational family bonds reflect a diversity of forms related to individual, familial, and social structural characteristics. The research highlights the importance of reciprocity in intergenerational relations between older parents and their adult children.

Equidad en el apoyo social recíproco y satisfacción vital en personas mayores

“…Los resultados sobre el intercambio emocional apoyan la ET y refuerzan los resultados de estudios previos al insistir en el papel destacado de las relaciones intergeneracionales emocionales para el bienestar de los mayores (Ajrouch, 2007). Sin embargo, difieren de los de investigadores como Lowenstein et al (2007) GallardoPeralta et al (2015) encontraron que el apoyo instrumental procedente de los hijos adultos se asocia con mayores puntuaciones en depresión, pero que el apoyo emocional equitativo se asocia con menor depresión. El hecho de que las personas mayores puedan establecer una relación equitativa de apoyo emocional con sus hijos contribuiría al desarrollo de sentimientos de autoeficacia, es decir, daría lugar a sentimientos positivos para prevenir problemas mentales.…”

“…Sin embargo, muy pocos estudios han tenido en cuenta la calidad de las relaciones de apoyo de las personas mayores casadas y no casadas (Hagedoorn et al, 2006). Las evidencias sobre la validez de las teorías más utilizadas para explicar la vinculación entre las relaciones de apoyo y el bienestar ofrecen resultados inconsistentes en personas mayores (Li, Fok, & Funk, 2011;Lowenstein, Katz, & Gur-Yaish, 2007;Tsuboi, Hiray, & Kondo, 2016).…”

Characteristics and Determinants of Intergenerational Financial Transfers Within Families Using Mixed Care for Elderly People

“…The findings of Lennartsson, Silverstein, and Fritzell (2010) similarly indicate that parents provide economic transfers if they have more frequent social contact with any of their children, and that these time investments pay off for children of higher social class origins. This is linked to social exchange theory and equity theory, which posit that flows between adult children and parents are based on the premise that social relationships are governed by a norm of reciprocity, that both search for balanced transactions and repayment of past transfers through their life courses and that balanced relationships enable higher well-being (Silverstein, Conroy, Wang, Giarrusso, & Bengtson, 2002;Grundy, 2005;Lowenstein, Katz, & Gur--Yaish, 2007). Transfer motives can range from pure altruism to paternalistic behaviour to self-interested strategic exchange, and these motives overlap and interact (Kohli & Kunemund, 2003).…”

Vieillesses d’aujourd’hui : les femmes aînées et leurs rapports aux temps

“…Dans le cadre de cet article, en raison de la petitesse de l'échantillon 4 Par ailleurs, sur le plan des dynamiques familiales, avec la transformation des institutions, des cadres de socialisation et des changements démographiques subséquents, nous observons un élargissement de la parentèle et une solidarité intergénérationnelle qui tend à s'accroître dans une société de plus en plus multigénérationnelle (Loriaux, 1995). Toutefois, les relations filiales au sein des réseaux familiaux ont quant à elles changé de modes : anciennement basées sur le sens d'appartenance à la fratrie ou à une descendance, elles apparaissent aujourd'hui plus « négociables et sélectives » (Tassé, 2002 : 205 importante pour assurer la cohésion familiale et les liens intergénérationnels (Lowenstein et al, 2007). En ce sens, « le poids des traditions n'est plus suffisant pour tisser des liens.…”