All we need is love? Irreconcilable political incongruence in families after the 2019 social unrest in Hong Kong

Bibliographic Data

ID6337993
AuthorsBranda Yee‐man Yu (0000-0002-3025-8526, Department of Psychology The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China), Calvin Lam (0000-0002-8022-1633, Department of Psychology The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China), Christian S Chan (0000-0003-2616-5199, Department of Psychology The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong China, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume45
Issue3
Pages643-665
Publication date2024-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolitical Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0162-895X • E-ISSN: 1467-9221
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/pops.12941
OpenAlexW4388231450
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited88

Political disagreement with family members can have a deleterious impact on familial relationships, but the long‐term consequences are understudied. This study examined the relational outcomes of familial political incongruence two years after the 2019 social unrest in Hong Kong and the extent to which frequency and types of family contact explain their association. This two‐wave questionnaire study augmented with a 14‐day daily record of family contact recruited (1) young adults and (2) parents with children aged 18–30 (N = 559). Nearly half of the respondents reported significant political incongruence with their parents/children. We observed consistent findings in both adult children and parents. Greater parent–child political differences were associated with reduced likelihood of having positive family communication and family functioning. Increased political differences with family members were associated with greater odds of family dysfunctionality. Moreover, expression of love and care mediated the effect of political differences with family members on changes in family functioning. This study demonstrates familial political incongruence exerts an influence on families two years after the unrest. Parent–child political differences are associated with a decline in the quality of family communication and family environment. We discuss how parent–child political incongruence drives a family to worsened well‐being through dysfunctional family dynamics

Developmental psychology · Dysfunctional family · Logistic regression · Odds · Political science · Politics · Unrest · Clinical Psychology · Early Childhood Education and Development · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Medicine · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Social Psychology

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