How do South Asian American and long-established White American families differ in how they express reciprocal and authoritarian filial piety?

Abstract

This study examines the differences between the expression and internalization of filial piety within long‑established multigenerational White American families and South Asian families, primarily Bengali immigrants, focusing on how adolescents internalize their parental expectations. Existing literature suggests that South Asian families, and those from other Asian backgrounds, tend to emphasize stronger filial obligation, in contrast to how White American families tend to emphasize autonomy and negotiation based parenting styles. The goal of this research is to examine how filial piety acts as a social process embedded within families and how it shapes adolescents' academic and family life. This study utilized 18 semi-structured in-depth interviews with parents and children from the same families to analyze how authoritarian and reciprocal forms of filial piety are expressed. The findings within this study suggest that in some South Asian families, filial obligation is directly tied to immigration history of parents. In White American families, a hands off approach is emphasized wherein the parents are still able to support their children through healthy communication styles.