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Self-Views of Aging and Well-Being Among Taiwanese Older Adults: The Context of Filial Piety and Living Arrangements

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Asian Indigenous Psychologies in the Global Context

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Indigenous Psychology ((PASIP))

Abstract

Individuals’ contextual resources can shape self-views of aging (Diehl, et al., 34:93–113, 2014). In Taiwan, filial piety is a cultural contextual resource that continues to evolve in the midst of increasing agism (Yeh, Yi, Tsao, & Wan, 28:277–296, 2013). This chapter presents two studies examining how filial piety and intergenerational living arrangements relate to self-views of aging and well-being among Taiwanese older adults. Positive self-views of aging are contingent on one’s physical health and are discussed in the family context, such as reducing the burden for children and accommodating changes in filial piety. Moreover, reciprocal filial piety and adjusted intergenerational living belief are associated with higher life satisfaction. This chapter suggests that the incorporation of Asian psychological concepts of the self and filial piety would complement Western theories of self-views of aging.

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Acknowledgements

The interview study was supported by the NSF IGERT in Aging Sciences (DGE 0956280) and the NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute in Taiwan (OISE-131310721) to the third author. We appreciate the assistance from Dr. Zai-Ting Yeh and her research assistants at Fu-Jen University, Taipei, Taiwan, for recruiting the older adult participants with us. We also thank Shelbie Turner, MPH, doctoral student in Human Development & Family Sciences at Oregon State University, for her thoughtful comments to improve this chapter.

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Ko, HJ., Cheng, YP., Fox, P.A., Bleech, H.M., Hooker, K. (2019). Self-Views of Aging and Well-Being Among Taiwanese Older Adults: The Context of Filial Piety and Living Arrangements. In: Yeh, KH. (eds) Asian Indigenous Psychologies in the Global Context. Palgrave Studies in Indigenous Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96232-0_12

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