Guilt in Adult Mother–Child Relationships: Connections to Intergenerational Ambivalence and Support

Matthijs Kalmijn and J Jill Suitor

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2020, vol. 75, issue 4, 879-888

Abstract: ObjectivesThe concept of guilt is often mentioned in studies on intergenerational ambivalence but its theoretical status in that literature is not clear and the concept is rarely measured. The current study examines how feelings of guilt that adult children have toward their aging mothers are related to intergenerational ambivalence and support.MethodUsing representative survey data from the Netherlands (N = 2,450), adult children (average age 43) were asked to evaluate the relationship with their mother (average age 71). Principal component analysis was used to examine which underlying dimensions exist and regression models were estimated to examine the effects of ambivalence and support exchange on guilt.ResultsAbout one-fifth of adult children report feelings of guilt. Guilt constitutes a unique concept in the 2-dimensional structure of children’s emotions about the mother–child relationship. There is a significant effect of the co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions on guilt, confirming the hypothesis that ambivalence leads to guilt in intergenerational relationships. Received support, infrequent contact, and filial obligations are also associated with feelings of guilt.DiscussionIntergenerational ambivalence can be problematic for children because it may increase feelings of guilt. Feelings of guilt are also determined by a lack of reciprocity and by norms about intergenerational support.

Keywords: Intergenerational ambivalence; Intergenerational solidarity; Filial obligations; Guilt (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gby077 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:geronb:v:75:y:2020:i:4:p:879-888.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B is currently edited by Psychological Sciences - S. Duke Han, PhD and Social Sciences - Jessica A Kelley, PhD, FGSA

More articles in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B from The Gerontological Society of America Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().