Young Adults Giving Advice to their Parents

Upward Advice Transmission in the Family: The Role of Gender in Young Adults Giving Advice to their Parents

"The flow of advice from parents to their children has been explored by developmental psychologists, producing important insights into child development and parent-child relationships.... Interestingly, the flow of advice in the opposite direction, from children to their parents, has not received attention from researchers. This study explores (a) the frequency of upward advice transmission and (b) the type of advice (solicited or unsolicited) that is transmitted. In particular, we look at the effects of gender-parent-gender and child-gender, as well as their interaction-on upward advice giving in family systems. Findings indicate a robust effect of parent-gender; adolescents and young adults gave significantly more advice to their mothers than to their fathers."

from: Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series, Working Paper Number:RWP05-012