Intergenerational Respect, Support for the Societal System, and Morale

The contributions of people’s morale as a future-oriented quality of life through their intergenerational respect and support for the societal system to furnish democracy, freedom, law, order, and prosperity rather than opposition to government is plausible but questionable and uncharted. Their plausibility rests on structural-functionalist theory positing that the family and societal system are functional structures. The study examines the contributions with a random-sample survey of 1,252 Hong Kong Chinese adults with living parents. Results reveal the indirect contribution of intergenerational respect to morale through supporting the societal system for liberty and security and non-opposition to government. The contributions held across sociodemographic conditions. Implications follow to promote intergenerational support and support for the societal system to sustain morale.