Individualist vs. Collectivist Approaches to Family Eldercare from a Cross- Cultural Perspective Kyong Hee Chee, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of

Individualist vs. Collectivist Approaches to Family

Eldercare from a Cross-Cultural Perspective

Kyong Hee Chee, Ph.D.Associate Professor

Department of SociologyTexas State University

Topics

Individualism vs. Collectivism

Ethnic Differences in Family Eldercare

Dementia Caregiving

Family Orientations & Eldercare Strategies

Consider this scenario:

You have to transfer three times on public transportation to get from where you live to your office. Because of the time and inconvenience of taking public transportation, you have tried very hard to save money to buy a car before winter. However, your parents have a need for money and ask you to give them the money you have saved.


Individualism Self-reliance with competitionLess concern for the ingroupDetached from the ingroup

CollectivismSubordination of own goals to ingroup goalsMore concern for the ingroupPaying attention to the views of the ingroup

Triandis et al. 1988


Japanese vs. U.S. younger adultsMore collectivist in general

Feel more honored when an ingroup member is honored More attention to the views of coworkers

Less concern for ingroups in generalLess attention to neighbors & religious viewsFeel less similar to neighbors & religious ingroupsLess committed to help neighbors



Japanese older vs. younger adultsFeel more similar to ingroups

Older females, in particular

Puerto Ricans vs. JapaneseSimilar to Japanese in generalBut, more concerned for ingroups

Puerto Ricans vs. U.S. Pay less attention to the views of ingroups



People in U.S. & Canada vs. othersMore individualistic

Not much different from Australians, Germans, or Indonesians

But, less individualistic than Puerto Ricans or Latin Americans

Less collectivistic Less collectivistic than Europeans or Chinese But, not lower than Japanese or Koreans More collectivistic than New Zealand, France, Singapore,

Tanzania, Egypt, Costa Rica, & Venezuela

Oyserman et al. 2002


Within the U.S.European Americans with lower collectivism than

African Americans, Latino Americans, or Asian Americans But, similar in seeking advice from others

Cannot assume higher collectivism & lower individualism for all East Asians than AmericansEspecially for Koreans or Japanese

Oyserman et al. 2002


Filial piety

Familismo

孝耂 (aging) + 子 (son)

효

“Fictive kin” (Stack 1983)

What should Wang Hong do?

Wang Hong has to transfer three times on public transportation to get from where he lives to his office. Because of the time and inconvenience of taking public transportation, he has tried very hard to save money to buy a car before winter. However, his parents have a need for money and ask him to give them the money he has saved.

What should Shanequa do?

Shanequa has to transfer three times on public transportation to get from where she lives to her office. Because of the time and inconvenience of taking public transportation, she has tried very hard to save money to buy a car before winter. However, her parents have a need for money and ask her to give them the money she has saved.

What should Alejandra do?

Alejandra has to transfer three times on public transportation to get from where she lives to her office. Because of the time and inconvenience of taking public transportation, she has tried very hard to save money to buy a car before winter. However, her parents have a need for money and ask her to give them the money she has saved.


Small differences in caregiver characteristics Ethnic minorities vs. Whites

Younger Less likely to be a spouse Less likely to be married Less likely to report higher levels of education Less likely to report higher levels of income Caring for more hours per week A larger number of caregiving tasks Stronger beliefs in filial obligation Higher levels of informal social support Higher levels of subjective well-being More likely to perceive uplifts of caregiving

Pinquart & Sorensen 2005


African-American care recipients more physically & cognitively impaired than White care recipients

The number of caregiving tasks much higher for African-American & Asian than White caregivers

Hispanic caregivers provided care for a longer period than non-Hispanic Whites

Asian caregivers provided care for a shorter period than Whites



Asian caregivers used less formal support than White non-Hispanics

Hispanics & Asian Americans reported a lower relationship quality with the care recipient than Whites

African Americans more likely to use cognitive coping than Whites

Asian Americans more likely to use emotion-focused coping



African Americans reported lower caregiver burden than Whites caregivers

African Americans less depressed than White caregivers

Hispanic & Asian-American caregivers more depressed than Non-Hispanic Whites

Afican Americans & Hispanics showed more perceived uplifts of caregiving than Whites



All ethnic minority caregivers with lower levels of physical health than Whites caregivers


Dementia Caregiving

Whites More likely to be spouses than minorities

African AmericansMore likely to be extended relatives

Latino AmericansMore likely to be adult children

Janevic et al. 2001

Dementia Caregiving

Psychological distressLower for African Americans than WhitesMore anger & embarrassment for Korean American

adult children

Appraisal of stressfulnessAfrican Americans consider caregiving less stressful

than Whites

Janevic et al. 2001

Dementia Caregiving

CopingAfrican Americans used less approach & avoidance

coping than WhitesKoreans used less coping strategies than U.S.

caregiversChinese used more cognitive confronting (“Just

accepted it”) & behavioral distancing/social support (“Asked someone for advice”) than U.S. caregivers

Both Irish Americans & Latinos invoked the notion of homelands Idealizing Irish culture Tragic life histories & difficult access to services

Janevic et al. 2001

Dementia Caregiving

Social supportNon-Whites may not have more informal support

Service utilizationNeed (patient’s functional status) led to discretionary

service use (respite use & meal service) for Latinos more than African Americans & Whites

No differences in Alzheimer’s Association service use between African Americans & Whites

Janevic et al. 2001

Dementia Caregiving

Meaning of dementing illnessAD as a “loss of identity” or “loss of self” among Irish

American caregivers Chinese Americans view it with less fear & agitation

than others, focusing on filial duties Puerto Rican caregivers tend to attribute it to past

tragedies

Janevic et al. 2001

Dementia Caregiving

ImplicationsRacial, ethnic, national, & cultural group differences

The stress process Psychosocial outcomes Factors related to service utilization

The paradigm of the “primary caregiver” vs. the inclusiveness of the entire family system

Caregiving conflicts for immigrants due to different levels of acculturation

Janevic et al. 2001


Pyke & Bengrtson 1996, p. 384

“On a day-today basis I don’t do a whole lot [of caregiving] because I have my life, too… If she gets to that stage where she doesn’t have any kind of a memory at all, I think I would try to make sure she was in a good caring facility… I woud not want to quit my part-time job just to take care of her. I don’t feel that’s my responsibility.”



“I know I wouldn’t go to my daughter’s house because I wouldn’t put her through that… Just because I like my daughter, and I don’t want her to have to be burdened with me. Because I want her to keep on liking me, and if they have to take care of you, you never know if they are going to like you or not, and I think she likes me.”



“Maggie, 63,… lives with and cares for her 94-year-old, memory-impaired mother. Her 70-year-old sister stays with her mother during the day while Maggie works for pay. Maggie moved from the Midwest to her parents’ home in southern California 16 years ago following a divorce. Her caregiving role also grew out of that coresidence and began with her father, for whom she cared until death.”



“My own concern is what is all this doing to my mother? Is this aging her faster than she should be? Or, will she have health problems later due to this excess caregiving and keeping up a work schedule on top of it?...”

“…she really should have somebody with her or [be] under some supervision 24 hours a day… We talked…to our parents, and they were like, ‘I don’t want to discuss this.’”


Pyke & Bengrtson 1996

Factors affecting caregiving systemsFamily sizeGenderCare intensity & time availabilitySocial class


Pyke & Bengrtson 1996

Implications Individualists

More affected by caregiving Need public support for eldercare

Collectivists Better at absorbing additional caregiving

Make fewer demands on government services

Thank you!

Documents

Individualist vs. Collectivist Approaches to Family Eldercare from a Cross- Cultural Perspective Kyong Hee Chee, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of