Premium
Measuring Intergenerational Obligations
Author(s) -
Gag Lawrence,
Coleman Marilyn
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00190.x
Subject(s) - vignette , normative , psychology , social psychology , point (geometry) , character (mathematics) , sociology , political science , law , geometry , mathematics
Researchers have defined intergenerational obligations in diverse ways, and they have used many labels and ways of measuring intergenerational obligations. Using vignettes, we compared responses to questions about what family members should do when another family member needed assistance ( normative obligations ) with responses to questions about what respondents would do if they were in the situation in the vignette ( felt responsibilities ). Felt and normative obligations were similar. When there were disagreements, respondents indicated they would help more than they thought the character in the vignette should. The results point to the need for researchers to clearly define their terms, and they must carefully select operational definitions that match the conceptual definitions used when studying obligations about intergenerational assistance.