Development and Validation of a Filial Piety Scale for Chinese Elders in Contemporary China

Abstract

This study was designed to validate the newly developed Filial Piety Scale for Chinese Elders (FPSCE) in measuring elders’ filial norms in contemporary China by administering questionnaire survey with 521 elders aged 70 years and older in Beijing, China. Validity and reliability tests were applied. Through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, a conceptually meaningful three-factor model with 12 items was obtained, consisting of “caring for parents,” “familial entirety,” and “familial aspiration.” The FPSCE showed good internal consistency, satisfactory discriminant validity, criterion-related validity, and significant correlations for some variables related to demographic characteristics, health status, and financial condition. The construction of the FPSCE indicates that elders’ understanding of filial piety and their expectation of their children may have changed. The FPSCE shows that contemporary elders in China hold less authoritative but more reciprocal stances toward filial piety. The FPSCE can be used to advance the contextualized understanding of filial piety in contemporary Chinese societies, to help facilitate the development of family-friendly policies in aging societies, and to meet the challenges associated with an accelerating aging population.