Filial Piety PDF
Filial Piety PDF
Filial Piety PDF
I
The Hong Kong Professional Counselling Association
& The Chinese University of Hong Kong 2000
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kwong-Liem Karl Kwan at the
Department of Educational Studies, 1446 LAEB, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-
1446, USA.
23
24
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Filial Piety
(5)
(6)
or vocation;
(7)
(8)
(9)
25
Kwong~Liem
Karl Kwan
and pious; thus, those who are junior in the hierarchy are expected to submit
to the ascribed status of those who are senior in the hierarchy. The differential
statnses within the hierarchy also prescribe roles and duties for various family
members. These roles and duties, which are presumed to be complementary,
serve to regulate the allocation of power and to maintain balance and hrumony
among the family members. In fact, in a study that examined the relationships
between filial attitudes and personality trait factors among Chinese college
students in Beijing and Hong Kong, Zhang and Bond (1998) found that
filial attitudes were significantly related to relation orientation (or Renqing)
and harmony. Cheung, Lee, and Chan (1994) have also found that family
cohesion was related to filial piety attitude.
Such structural family dynamics, however, are not unique to the Chinese
culture. What distinguishes a Chinese family governed by the Confucian
ethics of filial piety is that the dynamics persist across situations and
throughout the lifespan. In other words, even when those in the younger
generation become adults, such top-to-down hierarchical dynamic continues
to apply to the parent-child relationship. Unlike families in the Western
culture, such as the U.S., where those in the children generation are
encouraged to be independent, individualistic, and detached from parents at
an early age, filial piety commands the younger generation to continue to
relegate oneself to the expectations, authority, and presumed wisdom of
one's parents and others in the older generation. In fact, the solidarity of the
practice of filial piety has been suggested to also exist among Asian and
Pacific Islander Americans (D. Sue, 1997). Yee, Huang, and Lew (1998),
for example, reviewed studies that suggested that beyond the acculturation
of certain superficial cultural habits (e.g., food preferences, language used),
interdependence, reciprocity, and indebtedness continued to characterize
the family patterns of latter-generation Asian Americans.
In light of the top-to-down hierarchical structure in which children often
yield to the expectations of parents to maintain a balance of power within
26
Filial Piety
the family, the subsequent collective harmony is not always achieved without
psychological cost to the individuals, especially the adult younger generation.
As Wu ( 1996) noted, many Chinese from childhood struggle for a balance
between autonomy and dependency that are related to Chinese culture's
emphasis on filial piety and demands of obedience to adults and superior
(p. 23). In clinical practice, it is not unusual to see educated Chinese adults
struggling between being autonomous and being the parents' "good" child,
especially in such areas as mate selection, career decision making, and child
rearing practices. Feelings of guilt for not reciprocating parents' expectations,
anger for not asserting oneself, and confusion about the validity of one's
decision when parents' supervision and approval are no longer available,
are some of the prevailing counseling issues associated with the filial
obligations prescribed to the roles of the younger generations within the
family hierarchy.
Ho (1996, p. 163) reviewed a number of studies that indicated a positive
relationship between filial piety and (a) resistance to cognitive change, (b)
past orientation, and (c) belief in the centrality and superiority of one's
culture. Using the Filial Piety Scale, the Chinese Personality Assessment
Inventory, and the Five Factor Inventory to study the relationship between
filial piety and universal and indigenous personality factors, Zhang and Bond
(1998) found that Neuroticism and Openness (negative) significantly
predicted filial attitudes among Chinese college samples in Hong Kong and
Beijing. Moreover, filial piety may perpetuate and sustain certain
dysfunctional family patterns. Tang (1998), for example, noted that filial
piety includes certain moral principles that are conducive to child abuse. On
one hand, Chinese parents establish authority and maintain children's
obedience through discipline. On the other hand, Chinese parents also offer
physical and emotional closeness to establish bonding with children. As a
result of such parenting practice, children may accept and endure parents'
physical and emotional discipline. When disciplinary behaviors become
abusive, children may not report or may underreport because of the feelings
27
of guilt for breaching the bonding. Filial piety, therefore, could inhibit
Chinese clients from disclosing family issues in counseling as talking against
their parents may generate feelings of betrayal and guilt.
Reciprocity
28
Filial Piety
felt obligation to "respect them (i.e., elders)" was considered most significant
by both samples, followed by "to retain contact with them" and "to look
after them." To "obey them," however, was found to be the lowest felt
obligations among college students and lowest filial expectations among
older people. Overall, results imply that both young and old participants
seemed to value respect the most but obedience the least in communicating
filial piety. "Respecting elders but not necessarily obeying them" appears
to characterize the protocol of filial obligations for this sample.
The filial function of reciprocity is related to the extent of congruence
between what parents and children consider as filial behaviors. Although
not developed specifically to assess intragenerational conflict, Lee's (1974,
cited in Ho, 1996) model of filial cognitions provides a useful framework
for understanding the cognitive basis of what constitutes filial piety. Lee
delineated five stages of filial cognitions that were prompted by Kohlberg's
theory of moral development. In the first stage, filial piety is understood as
the giving of material benefits. In the second stage, there is a realization that
emotional or spiritual support, rather than sheer material giving, is more
important. In the third stage, there is recognition that filial piety is
instrumental in establishing and maintaining parent-child relationships based
on mutual care and love. In the fourth stage, there is further recognition that
filial piety is instrumental to realizing ideal mutual relationships, not only
merely maintaining harmony within the family. In the last stage, filial piety
is seen as a way to actualize one's ethical ideals.
Conflicts may arise when parents and children's perceptions of what
constitutes filial piety do not correspond to one another. For example, some
Chinese parents consider obedience (e.g., parents expect their college-bound
child to choose an academic major they approve) as filial, while children
may perceive respecting without necessarily yielding to parents' demands
(e.g., college student seeks parents' advice on academic major but without
conforming to their choice) as filial. Some adult children may consider giving
29
money to parents (i.e., material support) as filial, while some parents may
consider their adult children's living with them (i.e., emotional support) as
filial. Assessment of the parent-child match of filial obligations and
expectations, therefore, could shed light on the nature of intragenerational
conflicts.
Socialization
In light of these potential interpersonal and intrapersonal conflicts, what
sustains such enduring intergenerational dynamics? Social scientists have
agreed that these filial attitudes and behaviors are socialized in Chinese
societies. Yang (1988), for example, noted that filial devotion is both a social
attitude and cultural behavior that are learned through socialization from
childhood. Wu (1996) believed that Chinese children are being indoctrinated
with Confucian moral teachings, including filial piety, at a young age. These
filial attitudes and beliefs are reinforced by forces within the family and the
society. Over the decades, Wu noted that teachings of filial piety and
obedience to superiors continue to characterize the child-rearing practices
(i.e., within the family) and early childhood education (i.e., within the society)
in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas Chinese communities (p. 23).
Beyond the family, such interpersonal dynamics also extend to other superiorsubordinate relationships in the society, such as between children and elderly
members of extended families, employers and employees, and the
government and her people. In other words, the moral teaching of filial
piety applies to and permeates structural relationships vertically across family
generations, as well as horizontally across social situations. A cultural pattem
of structural relationships, therefore, is perpetuated in which the internal
psychological and extemal socio-cultural processes of filial piety are mutually
reinforcing (Ho, 1996, p. !56).
As a result of these moral indoctrinations and socialization experiences,
certain filial cognition and emotions are acquired and internalized, which
lead to filial behaviors to meet the expectations of members of the parent
30
Filial Piety
31
32
Filial Piety
Despite the rapid social and economic changes in Chinese societies, the
centrality of family and collectivistic values continue to characterize the
relationship patterns of Chinese people. As Zhang and Bond (1998) have
demonstrated, there were significant relationships between filial attitudes,
guanxi, and harmony. Yue and Ng (1999) noted that "given the central
importance of family life in Chinese societies, it is unlikely that the social
and economic changes ... would have brought about a wholesome erosion of
filial obligations and expectations" (p. 216). Yet, the lack of congruence or
convergence of what constitutes filial piety between the parent and children
generations may be a source of psychological stress for some Chinese people.
33
Kwong~Liem
Karl Kwan
As empirical and clinical data have also suggested, filial piety was found to
be associated with resistance to cognitive change, neuroticism, and
maintenance of certain dysfunctional parent-child relationships (Zhang &
Bond, 1998; Ho, 1996; Tang, 1998). Although not all Chinese clients'
presenting issues are related to intergenerational conflicts, counselors,
nonetheless, need to be sensitive to the implications of the persistent influence
of filial piety on Chinese people's self-construal and intergeneration
relationships.
Identify Filial Conflicts
Throughout the counseling process, the context of intergenerational
relationship should be considered, especially when assessing clients'
psychological and emotional distress. Since filial piety has often been
heralded as a virtue in the Chinese culture, it may be counterintuitive for
some Chinese clients to recognize that it may actually contribute to their
distress. By bringing this culture-bound value to consciousness, therefore,
the counselor can provide a cognitive framework for clients to understand
sources of their conflicts. Rather than seeing the client's presenting issue as
solely situated within the individual, the contextual framework enables clients
to re-evaluate and re-allocate sources for their distress.
In addition, information on clients' intergenerational relationships needs
to be gathered. A psycho-educational approach may be used to help clients
understand how filial piety serves to preserve interpersonal harmony, and to
explore the psychological costs incurred when such harmony is achieved in
spite of intergenerational divergence on what constitutes filial practice.
Specifically, counselors may assess if psychological conflicts are related to
the extent to which (a) clients are able to fulfill their intended filial
obligations, (b) clients' filial behaviors reciprocate parents' stated filial
expectations, and (c) clients' intended filial behaviors are so perceived by
their parents.
34
Filial Piety
generation.
35
36
Filial Piety
37
incur.
Research
The practice of filial piety has tremendous influence on the family
relationships and mental health of the Chinese peoples. Therefore, it is
apparent that it should be studied as a major psychological construct in
counseling research. Before its psychological correlates can further be
explored, research needs to further focus on the operationalizations of filial
attitudes and filial behaviors. What are the positive and negative
psychological correlates related to congruence and incongruence between
filial attitudes and behaviors? Will incongruence between filial attitudes and
behaviors, for example, be related to healthy defense mechanisms when
one is confronted with imposed filial expectations?
38
Filial Piety
Cheung, C.-K., Lee, J.-J., & Chan, C.-M. (1994). Explicating filial piety in
relation to family cohesion. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality,
9(3), 565-580.
Coats, P. (Producer), Bancroft, T., & Cook, B. (Directors). (1998). Mulan
[Film]. (Available from Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Dept. CS,
Burbank, CA 91521).
Ho, D. Y. F. (1996). Filial piety and its psychological consequences. In M.
H. Bond (Ed.), The handbook of Chinese psychology (pp. 155-165).
39
Lee, R. M., Choe, J., Kim, G., & Ngo, V. (2000). Construction of the Asian
American Family Conflicts Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology,
47(2), 211-222.
Publications.
Yee, B. W. K., Huang, L. N., & Lew, A. (1998). Families: Life-span
socialization in a cultural context. In L. C. Lee, & N. Zane (Eds.),
Handbook ofAsian American psychology (pp. 83-135). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Yi, K. (1995). Psychoanalytic psychotherapy with Asian clients: Transference
and therapeutic considerations. Psychotherapy, 32(2), 308-316.
Yue, X., & Ng, S. H. (1999). Filial obligations and expectations in China:
Cunent views from young and old people in Beijing. Asian Journal of
Social Psychology, 2(2), 215-226.
Zhang, J ., & Bond, M. H. (1998). Personality and filial piety among college
students in two Chinese societies: The added value of indigenous
construct. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29(3), 402-417.
40
Filial Pie
i
41