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How should people act in inheritance situations? Specifying differences in expectations

Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, jgoodnow{at}westnet.com.au

Jeanette A. Lawrence

University of Melbourne, Australia

To check proposals about differences in what people think should occur in inheritance situations, two groups (mean ages 18 and 75 years) judged several actions involving inheritable things (e.g., a son sells his father's war medals; a grandfather sends all his possessions to auction). Cluster analysis confirmed that (1) differences took the form of variations in the priority given to various concerns (concerns with family feelings, family heritage, and individual rights), (2) age was associated with priority differences (the older group more often gave priority to family feelings and to individual rights), and (3) priorities were linked to views about appropriate goals and to levels of disapproval for various actions. The results bring out ways to specify differences across and within age groups, and point to ways of extending the analysis of inheritance expectations.

Key Words: age differences • inheritances • person-oriented strategies • relationship obligations

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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Google Scholar Articles by Goodnow, J. J. Articles by Lawrence, J. A. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?