Intergenerational support : psychological and cultural analyses of Korean and German women

In this study, adult daughters from an East Asian culture (South Korea: N = 398) and a western culture (Germany: N = 313) were compared with respect to the extent and the direction of intergenerational support, the associations between value orientations, relationship quality and intergenerational support, and with respect to the meaning of perceived reciprocity within these processes. Results showed a more extensive exchange of support in the Korean as compared to the German sample and very similar associations between values and relationship quality with support to parents in both cultures. However, in the German sample a negative association between adult daughters perception of giving more than receiving and the quality of the relationship was indicated. The results are discussed in light of the Confucian concept of filial piety and the western theoretical model of intergenerational solidarity