Intergenerational Family Relations in Luxembourg

Abstract

According to the intergenerational solidarity model, family members who share similar values about family obligations should have a closer relationship and support each other more than families with a lower value consensus. The present study first describes similarities and differences between two family generations (mothers and daughters) with respect to their adherence to family values and, second, examines patterns of relations between intergenerational consensus on family values, affectual solidarity, and functional solidarity in a sample of 51 mother-daughter dyads comprising N = 102 participants from Luxembourgish and Portuguese immigrant families living in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Results showed a small generation gap in values of hierarchical gender roles, but an acculturation gap was found in Portuguese mother-daughter dyads regarding obligations toward the family. A higher mother-daughter value consensus was related to higher affectual solidarity of daughters toward their mothers but not vice versa. Whereas affection and value consensus both predicted support provided by daughters to their mothers, affection mediated the relationship between consensual solidarity and received maternal support. With regard to mothers, only affection predicted provided support for daughters, whereas mothers’ perception of received support from their daughters was predicted by value consensus and, in the case of Luxembourgish mothers, by affection toward daughters.