Effects of Filial Piety in the Experiences of Informal Caregivers

Informal caregivers are the family members and friends who provide help and support daily to individuals who are temporarily or permanently unable to function independently. They have to engage in a range of activities. They have a long term commitment to the persons they are helping and are usually not paid for their efforts. In certain Asian cultures, there is a peculiar concept that seems to be playing a great role in aiding people to adhere to their responsibility and derive satisfaction from their role of caregiving. This is known as filial piety. It consists of multiple behavioural norms associated with care and support for parents, maintaining family continuity, harmonising family relations, serving community elders and worshipping the ancestors. This belief of filial obligation is often translated into practice to mean that children should ensure that their parents are well cared form old age. This includes attending to them when they are ill, paying attention to parents' wishes, obeying their preferences, behaving in a way that makes them happy and also bring them honour and respect in the community. Against this background the purpose of the present study is to review the literature on the role of filial piety in informal caregiving. Literature suggests that the role of filial piety in caregiving is both positive and negative, as some caregivers derive satisfaction and high self esteem from caregiving because of high filial piety while some caregivers experience burden if this obligation is fulfilled just for the sake of face saving. Thus the present review paper aims to throw light on how filial piety effects not only the caregiving arrangements but also the caregiving experiences of informal caregivers in terms of various psychological variables.