Filial Piety Expectations, Ethical Values, and Flourishing Among Filipino Emerging Adults

Filial piety is valued in many collectivist contexts worldwide, and may become increasingly relevant to emerging adults as they take on more familial roles and responsibilities. These expectations can be considered a source of meaning or pressure and thus affect emerging adults’ flourishing in divergent ways. In this study, we examine how ethical values of Autonomy, Community, and Divinity may provide meaning frames that moderate this relationship between filial piety expectations and flourishing. Analysis of responses from 218 Filipinos aged 18-29 revealed nonsignificant moderation effects. Instead, filial piety expectations, and endorsement of the ethics of Autonomy and Divinity directly predicted flourishing; the ethic of Community was nonsignificant. Exploratory mediation analysis additionally showed indirect effects of Autonomy on the relationship between filial piety expectations and flourishing. We discuss limitations in measuring the three ethics in the Filipino context, implications of these results, and recommendations for future research.