Different Interpretations of “Honor Your Parents”: Implications for Obligation of Parental Caregiving

Darlingtina K Esiaka, Elizabeth Luth and Rodlescia Sneed

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2023, vol. 78, issue 11, 1787-1795

Abstract: ObjectivesMany religious and cultural settings embrace the principle to “honor your parents.” However, how individuals understand and enact this mandate varies by cultural context and community. The different understanding of “honor your parents” draws attention to motivations for parental caregiving across cultural contexts. This study investigates how individuals in 3 different cultural settings conceptualize “honoring your parents” and how these conceptualizations affect their perceptions of obligations to care for an older parent.MethodsSemistructured interviews with 153 individuals in the United States, Ghana, and Nigeria explored the concept of “honor your parents,” how it is understood, and its relationship to the perceived obligation to care for one’s parents. A content analysis was applied to all transcripts and analyzed for discussion.ResultsAmong individuals in the United States, “honor your parents” is less likely to be conceived as providing material and instrumental care to a parent, and more in terms of emotional care. In contrast, individuals in Nigeria and Ghana closely associated “honor your parents” with providing material and instrumental care to a parent.DiscussionUnderstanding how different conceptions of “honor your parents” translate to expectations for and modes of parental caregiving can illuminate how caregiving needs can be met for the aging populations of the United States, Ghana, and Nigeria.

Keywords: Caregiving; Cross-culture; Cultural ecologies framework; Cultural expectations; Obligation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbad106 (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:78:y:2023:i:11:p:1787-1795.

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 ().