What Are the Bequest Motives of the Korea Elderly? Conditional Process Analysis of Relationship Satisfaction and Emotional Support between Assets and Bequest Intention

Abstract

This study focused on identifying bequest motives of Korean elderly people, that is, if they were strategic or altruistic. For this purpose, the present study examined the mediating effect of relationship satisfaction with child(ren) and the moderating effect of emotional support on the relationship between assets and inheritance intention. A total of 2,402 cases from the 5th wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) were used for the final analysis. The mediating effect and the conditional direct effect were verified according to the conditional process analysis. The results of the analysis are as follows. First, the assets of the elderly affected the bequest intention. Second, relationship satisfaction with child(ren) had the mediating effect between assets and bequest intention. Third, the significance of conditional direct effect was confirmed as it was found that direct effects of assets on bequest intention were controlled by emotional support. As a result, considering the mediating effect of relationship satisfaction with child(ren), the influence of assets on bequest intentions was greater as emotional support increased. These results suggested that the bequest motives of the Korean elderly basically had altruistic aspect and at the same time have strategic aspect as well. This study aimed to identify why Korean elderly people bequeath a legacy by bequest motive models, and suggested social policy and practical intervention plan so as to improve the quality of life of the elderly and child generation.