Cultural Orientation as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Chinese American Adolescents’ Discrimination Experiences and Delinquent Behaviors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among Chinese American adolescents' discrimination experiences, cultural orientations, and delinquent behaviors. Data were collected from three hundred and eleven Chinese American adolescents (58% girls) and their parents when the adolescents were 7th or 8th graders and again 4 years later. The data analyses demonstrated that adolescents' perceptions of discrimination and victimization experiences were significantly related to their delinquent behaviors conditionally based upon their cultural orientation. Specifically, adolescents' high Chinese cultural orientation amplified the negative impact of discriminatory experiences on delinquent behaviors whereas high Western cultural orientation protected them against that impact. The significance of both ethnic and mainstream cultural orientations for understanding ethnic minority adolescents' adjustment and improving their adjustment outcomes is discussed.

Developmental Implications of Discrimination

“…In the same study, Deng et al (2010) found the same interaction between discriminatory victimization and cultural orientation in predicting delinquency-the positive relationship between discriminatory victimization and delinquent behavior was only significant for individuals who reported a low Western cultural orientation. In the face of high levels of discriminatory victimization, the association between discrimination and delinquency was not significant for Chinese American adolescents who reported high levels of Western cultural orientation.…”

“…Considering discrimination events in Western cultural societies, several researchers have demonstrated that the stronger an individual's non-Western cultural orientation is, the stronger the relation between perceived discrimination and negative outcomes (Deng, Kim, Vaughan, & Li, 2010). Put another way, when immigrant children identify strongly with their family's culture of origin, the detrimental effects of perceived discrimination are strongest.…”

Neighborhood and cultural stressors associated with delinquency in Latino adolescents

“…Youth who are more acculturated into U.S. culture are found to be at increased risk of externalizing problems (Unger et al., ). Further, although findings have been mixed across studies, one study found that higher Western cultural orientation was associated with less perceived discrimination in a sample of Chinese youth (Deng, Kim, Vaughn, & Li, ). It may be that Latino youth who are more acculturated into U.S. culture both perceive less discrimination and are at higher risk of delinquency engagement, with the experience of CVE exacerbating that risk.…”

The Promise of Racial and Ethnic Protective Factors in Promoting Ethnic Minority Youth Development

“…On the other hand, Deng et al. () reported that for Chinese adolescents, high orientation toward Chinese culture amplified the negative impact of discriminatory experiences with respect to delinquent behaviors, whereas high orientation toward Western culture protected Chinese youth against the impact. It is possible that for some youth, ethnic cultural orientation minimizes the impact of discrimination by influencing its salience and/or significance (Umaña‐Taylor & Updegraff, ), as well as coping responses to it (Neblett et al., ).…”