ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology of Aging
A Study of Emerging Changes in Filial Piety Expectations among Chinese Older Adults within a Confucian Cultural Context
Provisionally accepted
Diandian Song1*
Cheng XU2- 1Southeast University, Nanjing, China
- 2Waseda Daigaku, Shinjuku, Japan
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The present study aims to examine emerging changes in filial piety expectations among Chinese older adults within a Confucian cultural context. Drawing on filial piety theory and related literature on ageing in China, this study explores how traditional expectations are being reshaped in contemporary social life. Using qualitative data and cluster-based coding analysis, the findings illustrate that public emotions surrounding filial piety expectations are increasingly expressed through everyday lifestyles. The empirical results suggest that this transformation is This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article multidimensional. While older adults acknowledge the practical benefits of digital health services, they also express significant concerns regarding the potential weakening of intergenerational interaction and risks related to data security associated with technological use. Furthermore, the study identifies a key underlying mechanism: children's technology-assisted support must be integrated with emotional and relational care in order to mitigate feelings of alienation among older adults; otherwise, such support may instead contribute to technological disadvantage. Emotional analysis further reveals that older adults generally hold an optimistic attitude toward technology-assisted forms of filial piety. The final theoretical model demonstrates a good fit and confirms the influence of three core dimensions—public perception, risk assessment, and social environment—on the evolving expectations of filial piety.
Keywords: China, Confucian culture, elderly people, filial piety expectations, Intergenerational relationships
Received: 12 Jan 2026; Accepted: 11 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Song and XU. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Diandian Song
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