A new short measure of filial piety

Abstract

Filial piety is an ancient Asian concept that guides the relationship between older and younger generations. The traditional filial piety concept focuses on loyalty and obedience from the younger generation to older generation. However, the concept has evolved over time to focus more on providing filial support to older generation. This paper introduces a new measure of filial piety to reflect these changes. METHODS: We generated items for a new filial piety measure through focus groups and conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,150 community dwelling adults from probability sample. We examined the correlation of this new scale with Yeh’s Filial Piety Scale. RESULTS: The new 10-item filial piety scale has high reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha= 0.874) and validity (correlation with Yeh’s scale is 0.855). Factor analysis identified two subscales of tangible and emotional support. CONCLUSION: the new measure is a validity and reliability measure for filial piety.