Felt Obligation Towards Parents in Mexican-American and Anglo-American Young Adults

Abstract

The present study compares self-reports of felt obligation towards parents, cultural attitudes about family functioning and perceptions of family interactions in a sample of 100 Mexican-American and Anglo-American young adults. On average, Mexican-American men and women reported significantly higher levels of familism, more collectivist attitudes and more helping behavior in relationships with parents than did Anglo-Americans, while Anglo respondents reported having more contact with social systems outside the family system. Mexican-American young adults generally reported feeling significantly more obligated to avoid conflict, provide assistance and strive for self-sufficiency in their relationships with parents than did Anglo-Americans. Cultural attitudes of familism and collectivism were related to reports of felt obligation for Mexican-American respondents but not for Anglo-American respondents. Implications of results for family development theory are discussed.

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