A three year anthropological study among families of Chinese and of Irish ancestry was carried out in the Greater Boston area from 1978 to 1981. The objectives of the study included determining the impact of traditional values, the immigration experience, and life in America on parental expectations of adult children. Interviews and participation in community activities revealed the persistence of traditional attitudes. Their operationalization, however, has been substantially modified. Parents seldom control the career or marital choices of their children, but they continue to expect that adult children will be their comfort in old age.
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Charlotte Ikels (1985) studied this question.