Asian American child–parent cultural value discrepancies, family conflict, life satisfaction, and self-esteem.

Abstract

We examined Asian American college students' adherence to traditional values that are salient in Asian cultures, the students' perceptions of their mother's and father's adherence to the same values, and the discrepancies between the students and their mothers and fathers on the levels of adherence to these values. Based on the data from 301 participants who self-identified as Asian Americans, paired-samples t tests revealed that the child-parent cultural value discrepancies were present across all generational statuses of the participants with the children adhering less strongly to most of the value dimensions than their parents. The results based on correlational analyses showed that many types of value discrepancies were positively associated with the likelihood and seriousness of conflict. Several types of value discrepancies also were inversely associated with the participants' life satisfaction and self-esteem. In addition, the results from the PROCESS Macro for mediation analysis revealed significant mediation role of family conflict on the relationships between various types of value discrepancies and life satisfaction. The significant mediators were the likelihood and seriousness of family conflict and the family conflict about education and career decisions, and the value discrepancies centered on the values of conformity to norms, family recognition through achievement, and humility. Public Significance StatementThe present study revealed that high levels of child-parent value discrepancies among Asian Americans were associated with increased family conflict, which in turn was associated with child's decreased satisfaction with life and self-esteem. When counseling psychologists and other mental health professionals work with Asian American college students, it would be beneficial to explore the clients' relationships with their parents in terms of cultural value differences and how these relationships may be influencing their mental health.