Filial piety and meaning in life among late adolescents: A moderated mediation model

•Both reciprocal filial piety and authoritarian filial piety positively predicted presence of meaning and search for meaning in life among late adolescents.•Parent-child cohesion mediated the relationships between two sorts of filial piety and two dimensions of meaning in life.•Core self-evaluation moderated the mediated relationships between two types of filial piety and presence of meaning in life through parent–child cohesion, such that this mediated relationship was stronger under high than low core self-evaluation. Meaning in life plays a vital role in adolescents’ development. If lacking meaning in life, adolescents may face a variety of psychological and behavioral problems. It is of great significance to explore the factors affecting meaning in life. This study aimed to probe the influencing factors of meaning in life from the perspective of filial piety, which represents a parent–child interaction pattern between parents and children. Specially, this study tested the effects of two types of filial piety on two dimensions of meaning in life and the internal mechanism therein among late adolescents. To this end, a questionnaire survey, including dual filial piety, parent–child cohesion, core self-evaluation, and meaning in life, was conducted by three hundred and forty-three late adolescent students. The results showed that: (a) both reciprocal filial piety and authoritarian filial piety positively predicted presence of meaning and search for meaning in life among late adolescents; (b) Parent-child cohesion mediated the relationships between two sorts of filial piety and two dimensions of meaning in life; (c) core self-evaluation moderated the positive effect of parent–child cohesion on presence of meaning in life. These findings provided valuable guidance on how to improve late adolescents’ meaning in life. In addition, the implications, limitations, and future research directions of the study were discussed as well.