Trickle-Up Effects of Children's Financial Anxiety on Parent Retirement Intentions

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Eng, Alexander; Yan, Liuxin; Yam, Kai Chi
• 署名单位: Tsinghua University; National University of Singapore
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0021-9010
• DOI: 10.1037/apl0001256
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 819-830
• 关键词: stress crossover; financial anxiety; retirement intentions

摘要

Today, adult children depend financially on their parents more than ever before. This poses challenges for the financial well-being of parents, particularly in the context of retirement planning. Our research investigates the crossover of financial anxiety from adult children to their parents and its impact on parents' retirement intentions. Drawing on crossover theory and the resource-based view of retirement, we examine the mechanisms underlying this stress crossover. Across three studies (Studies 1a, 1b, and 2) conducted in developed economies, we found that adult children's financial anxiety was associated with their parents' delayed retirement intentions through an increase in their parents' own financial anxiety. Study 3, conducted in a developing economy, further established that financial stress crossover occurred primarily through an increase in social undermining and financial expenditure, although these mechanisms do not translate into delayed retirement intentions. Our work contributes to the stress-crossover literature by testing different mechanisms of stress crossover and highlighting how children's financial anxiety might trickle-up to affect their parents' stress and important life decisions.