Cultural factors and beliefs influence the approach of different people to aging. The cultural attitudes change how individuals treat and care for the elderly members of society. Most Eastern countries have a collectivist culture which promotes interdependence among the people while the Western culture fosters independence. China and the United States are examples of countries with collectivist and individualistic cultures, respectively. The two countries have both similarities and differences in their approach to aging.
Differences in their Approach to Aging
In China, interdependence is considered to be a moral value, and young people are expected to care for the elderly. The community members consider it essential to maintain effective relationships with all members of society and respecting the elderly. Children are often involved in the direct care of their parents. Also, the elderly are considered to be wise than the younger people; hence, they are consulted in decision making (North, & Fiske, 2015). In the United States, caring for the elderly is often considered to be a burden, and minimal care is given to the aged by family members.
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Secondly, in China, children often care for their aged parents. They provide for their needs, and family members provide in-home care to the elder members of the family. In contrast, most families in the United States hire caregivers for their aged members since most of them are not willing to provide the needed support (Löckenhoff, Lee et al., 2015). Also, some families opt to take their elderly members to nursing homes where they receive the end of life care. This results in reduced quality of care of the elderly since the nursing homes are often incapable of providing personalized care that the older adults require.
Similarities in their Approach to Aging
Modernization has resulted in a similar approach to aging in both the individualistic and collectivist cultures. First, literacy levels among young people have significantly increased in contemporary society. This has led to reduced regard of the elderly as the custodians of knowledge in both cultural setups. The respect and reverence with which the older people were regarded in the past years have significantly diminished. Also, industrialization and technological advancement in both countries has led to the devaluation of the aged (North, & Fiske, 2015). The young are considered to be more productive than the elderly in the era of industrialization. Globalization trends and the significant growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of both countries suggest their cultural similarities.
References
Löckenhoff, C. E., Lee, D. S., Buckner, K. M., Moreira, R. O., Martinez, S. J., & Sun, M. Q. (2015). Cross-cultural differences in attitudes about aging: Moving beyond the East-West dichotomy. In Successful aging (pp. 321-337). Springer, Dordrecht.
North, M. S., & Fiske, S. T. (2015). Modern attitudes toward older adults in the aging world: A cross-cultural meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin, 141(5), 993.
