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Every book has its unique history. Our own interest in intergenerational ambivalence developed in discussions during Karl Pillemer’s sabbatical in 1996 at the University of Konstanz Research Center on Society and the Family. Despite using different methods, samples, and research frameworks, both of us had come up with findings about intergenerational relations that could not be interpreted easily within existing theoretical frameworks. Kurt Lüscher’s study of family reorganization after older parents’ divorce pointed toward complex tensions between interpersonal closeness and distance, and between a desire to preserve traditional family forms and to strike out in new directions (Lüscher & Pajung-Bilger, 1998). Similarly, Lüscher’s work on family rhetoric (Lüscher, 2000) and on contemporary families (Lüscher, 1998) suggested the limitations of existing frameworks in these areas. Karl Pillemer’s research on elder mistreatment had revealed the paradoxical circumstance that extreme conflict and a high degree of solidarity coexist in abusive families (Pillemer & Suitor, 1992; Pillemer & Wolf, 1998; Wolf & Pillemer, 1997) and his studies of parent-child relationships had pointed to the prevalence of interpersonal conflict and unmet expectations (Pillemer & Suitor, 1998; Suitor & Pillemer, 1988, 1996) as well as their negative impact on parental well-being (Pillemer & Suitor, 1991).

The term “intergenerational relations” is often used to refer to quite distinct phenomena (Kertzer, 1983). For example, the term may connote relationships across generations within the family context, or, it may connote societal‐wide relations across age strata such as the old and the young. The focus of the papers in this volume is on the first meaning of the term, on intergenerational relationships in family lineages. However, as we will note in our concluding remarks, the nature of family intergenerational relationships may have implications for age strata relations in the society.

Although ambivalence is a common experience in family relations, the conceptualization of these relations has been focused on solidarity, closeness, and attraction on one hand, and on stress, distance, disruption, and abuse on the other. Ambivalence has not often been considered systematically for the analysis of intergenerational relations. Measurement instruments are not widely available for this purpose, because they tend to focus on one dimension at a time (Berscheid, 1983, pp. 115–116).

…the astonishing struggle that lasts forever Francine Du Plessix Gray (2000). …the simultaneous sound of…both harmonies and dissonances Kurt Lüscher (2000). I wanted to watch my father die because I hated him. Oh, I loved him… Sharon Olds (1992).The concept of absolute absence or presence is not meaningful for adult children when an elderly parent’s mind is slipping away. This is a time of increased ambiguity in the family boundary, in which the status and roles of the demented elder are no longer clear, and often not agreed upon. Not knowing if a parent is absent or present, the potential for ambivalence in the adult children is high. Within this intergenerational context, the main thesis of this paper is that the ambiguous loss of a parent with dementia provides fertile ground for increased ambivalence in intergenerational relations (Boss, 1999, 2002). The heightened ambiguity and resulting ambivalence may or may not be problematic, depending on cognitive awareness and family processes.

This chapter argues the importance of ritualised family occasions in the moral economy of intergenerational families. The chapter draws on 34 semi-biographical interviews with 13 men and 21 women aged 20–90, focussing on stories about troubled or failed rituals. The analysis shows that family members depend on the support and recognition of each other to maintain their moral identities. Ritualised occasions work as magnifying glasses, focussing and intensifying the ongoing relationship work, and forcing family members to take stock and signpost the state of their social bond, and as cultural reference points, providing a window into normative expectations of how parents and adult children should perform relatedness.

Women perform the majority of household labour in many families around the world. However, the unequal division of household labour does not lead to dissatisfaction among women. In the present study, the author introduced the intergenerational household assistance to understand married women’s and men’s satisfaction with division of household labour in China, in addition to three major theoretical perspectives in studies of western families (i.e., relative resources, time availability, and gender role ideology). Logistic regression analyses on a nationally representative dataset (the Second Wave Survey of Chinese Women’s Social Status) were performed to study this topic. Consistent with studies in the West, the results show that relative resources, time availability, and gender ideology were associated with married Chinese women’s satisfaction, while married Chinese men’s satisfaction was only associated with time availability (the household labour done by them and their wives). Importantly, married women with parents-in-law’s household assistance tend to be more satisfied than those with help from their parents. The findings demonstrate that Chinese marriages are intertwined with intergenerational relationships and suggest that it is important to take into account of the influence of intergenerational relationships in studies of Chinese marriages.

This study aims to evaluate the potential contribution of a membership in an online family community to older adults' overall well-being.

A total of 427 respondents over the age of 64 participated in the study (M = 74.55, SD = 7.13), answering a survey. To test the contributing of belonging to family online communities (WhatsApp), three hierarchical regression analyses were conducted, with well-being, self-perceptions of aging and loneliness as outcome variables.

Findings show that belonging to an intergenerational family online community was associated with higher levels of well-being, less loneliness and better self-perceptions of aging, even once demographic characteristics and using social media were controlled for.

This study demonstrates the important role that the family online community membership plays in older adults' lives. This has significant implications that may contribute to intergenerational emotional solidarity.

The authors suggest that technology is not per se, but the intergenerational opportunities that technology facilitates that make a difference.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2021-0332

This paper draws in part from data of a larger study on marital lives and divorce of women of various ages and backgrounds residing in metropolitan Turkey. The aim of the overall study has been to understand various factors which have paved the ways leading to divorce and the research method used for the study is based on narrative analysis. An important finding of the study is the control of women’s sexuality which is discussed in this paper with the help of the narratives of three women who are raised by dominant fathers and by subordinated mothers. I argue that gender and generation hierarchies are hidden in the idealized image of family life in low- to middle-income families residing in suburban Turkey. Intergenerational conflicts arise due to three women’s oppression in their young ages by their fathers who have decided upon their marriages to control their sexuality. Yet, as young adults, the three women try to find ways to cope with the control of their sexuality. The analysis of the three women’s narratives reveal their endeavors either to challenge the idealized “virgin bride” norm or to get rid of their unwanted marriages through divorce or separation which can be considered as instances of women’s resistance to patriarchal domination and their search for individuation. How much resistance the three women are able to endeavor is dependent on the aspects of gendered interactions and on the embeddedness of ambivalences in gender role models in the patriarchal gender regime of Turkish society.

For nearly a century, research on economic hardship has demonstrated its negative effects on family relations. However, with few exceptions, this work has focused on the consequences for marital quality and parenting behaviors in early stages of the life course. In contrast, in the present study, we examine how financial distress among adult children in midlife affects their relationships with their mothers in their 70s and early 80s. Specifically, we used quantitative and qualitative data collected from 387 mothers in 2001–2002 and 2008–2010 regarding their adult children’s recent financial problems and their levels of tension and closeness felt toward each child. Multilevel analyses revealed that both children’s financial problems within the past year and earlier problems that had been resolved predicted mothers’ reports of tension in their relationships with their adult children. Contrary to expectations, neither measure of children’s financial problems predicted mothers’ reports of closeness to their children. Examination of the qualitative data suggested that mothers attributed their children’s financial failures to personal failures of the adult children. In addition, the qualitative data revealed clear gender differences. Mothers disproportionately attributed their sons’ financial problems to lack of career success, whereas mothers were much more likely to express disappointment in daughters with financial problems because of marital dissolutions.