Evolving filial obligations and intergenerational financial support: Adaptive decision-making in Thailand's digital era

This study examines the evolving dynamics of filial gratitude and intergenerational remittances across three generations in Thailand (Gen X, Gen Y, and Gen Z) amid the rapidly transforming digital economy. Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the quantitative phase collected data from 1155 adult children and applied multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the roles of behavioral economic factors, intergenerational transfers, household economic constraints, and policy-related structures in shaping intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and intentions to remit financial support to parents. The subsequent qualitative phase used focus group discussions (FGDs) to clarify the meaning-making mechanisms underlying the statistical patterns. The quantitative results indicate that Intrinsic Motivation (IM) is the central determinant of remittance intention across all generations, while Intergenerational Transfers (ITR)—including emotional bonding and perceived parental investment—significantly strengthen IM. Each generation, however, exhibits a distinct “filial logic”: Gen X adheres to a duty-based normative orientation; Gen Y experiences structural and psychological pressures that produce conflicted filiality; and Gen Z displays a relational–emotional form of filiality shaped by digital communication and platform-mediated support. Qualitative findings corroborate these patterns, suggesting that filial piety is not declining but rather transforming—shifting from physical caregiving toward digital transfers and technologically mediated emotional support. This research offers three key contributions: (1) It introduces the conceptual frameworks of Adaptive Filiality and Conflicted Filial Piety to explain cross-generational variation; (2) It integrates behavioral economics, household economics, and Buddhist economics to theorize intergenerational financial flows in contemporary Thai families; and (3) It proposes policy implications for designing sustainable eldercare and welfare systems in digitally driven aging societies.