Ties that Bind: Three Studies of Obligation in Adult Relationships with Family

This article reports three exploratory studies that describe aspects of obligation in ongoing relationships with family. Using independent samples of young married couples and single, college-age adults, five dimensions of felt obligation were identified as expectations for appropriate behavior about: (1) family contact and participation in family ritual; (2) assistance; (3) conflict avoidance; (4) self-sufficiency; and (5) personal sharing in specific relationships with kin. Initial evidence of convergent and discriminant validity was established for the felt obligation measure. Gender differences in felt obligation dimensions were found across studies with women generally reporting higher levels of obligation than did men. Felt obligation differed as a function of kinrole relationship (i.e. parents and in-laws, mother, father) across the three studies. Among married couples, felt obligation towards parents was related to higher levels of psychological symptomatology, depression and neuroticism for men but were not significantly related to mental health scores for women. The usefulness of the concept of felt obligation in the study of adult family relationships is discussed.