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Attitudes toward men's intergenerational financial obligations to older and younger male family members following divorce
Author(s) -
COLEMAN MARILYN,
GAG LAWRENCE H.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.1998.tb00173.x
Subject(s) - obligation , vignette , psychology , social psychology , phone , family member , law , political science , medicine , family medicine , linguistics , philosophy
In this study 116 men and 200 women randomly selected from phone books in the midwestern United States responded to a vignette designed to assess their attitudes about the obligation of men toward intergenerational family financial obligations following divorce. The hypotheses were: (1) Men will be perceived to have greater obligations to financially assist a father than to assist a stepfather or former father‐in‐law, and (2) men will be perceived to have greater obligations to financially assist a son than to assist an elderly family member. An additional research question was addressed: What rationale do people give to explain their beliefs about men's intergenerational financial obligations following divorce? Data were analyzed using chi‐square tests (forced‐choice responses) and qualitative methods (open‐ended responses). Both hypotheses were supported. Obligation was greatest to offspring, followed by fathers, stepfathers, and former fathers‐in‐law. However, attitudes about intergenerational obligations were contextual, and they depended on relationship quality, resources available, acuity of need, and ongoing commitments.