A report from the Commission on Youth published today suggests Hong Kong young people are generally filial towards their parents, but may not consider their parents’ orders to be absolute.
Lingnan University’s Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies was commissioned to do a two-part study of young people’s views on filial piety, targeting those aged 12 to 24.
In the first part, young people were paired with their parents in eight workshops to explore their views using the Filial Attitudinal Index and Filial Behavioural Index.
Forty-six schools and youth organisations took part in the second part, which involved a questionnaire survey. A total of 3,458 valid questionnaires were collected.
Participants were generally filial towards their parents, and the two index evaluations were positive.
However, results suggest many young people make a distinction between filialness and obedience, and do not consider their parents' orders to be absolute. They may not fulfil their parents' wishes unconditionally, either.
Although they care strongly for their parents, they may not express their affection explicitly.
The study indicated that family behaviour, especially the examples parents set, has the greatest influence on filial piety. Their peers also strongly influence youths' filial concepts.
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