East Asian adolescents’ ethnic identity development and cultural integration: A qualitative investigation.

Abstract

Drawing on the current conceptualization of acculturation/enculturation as bilinear, multidimensional processes proceeding in interaction with surrounding contexts, this study examined ethnic identity development and cultural integration of 13 adolescents from East Asian immigrant families. Five domains emerged via the Consensual Qualitative Research method: ethnic/cultural identity and socialization; bicultural living; racial context-racism and stereotypes; family context-parental expectation; and peer context-friendship/dating. Overall, the participants experienced a cultural split and discontinuity between the 2 worlds of home and ethnic community versus school and society in general. They received strong ethnic socialization messages from family and ethnic community. Although most participants experienced hurtful racial discrimination, they used passive coping (e.g., dismiss, minimize, defend perpetrators). The model minority stereotype was prevalent and deeply engrained in many aspects of their lives including ethnic identity development, cultural socialization messages from mainstream society, discrimination experiences, and academic/occupational demands imposed by self, parents, peers, and society. Although they appreciated parents' high expectations of academic/occupational success, they felt pressured and desired to have space and independence. Friendship/dating patterns reflected ethnic identity development as well as contextual influence. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Correlates of Ethnicity‐related Dating Preferences among Asian American Adolescents across the High School Years

“…The slightly higher preference for a different-ethnic partner could be in part due to the emerging immigrant context of the sample offering more availability of partners who do not share ethnic heritages. Some support for this can be found in previous work that has argued that the demographic availability of potential partners may influence dating preferences (Chan & Kiang, in press;Yoon et al, 2017). Additionally, in the peer relationship literature, preferences for different-ethnic friendships are stronger in the absence of same-ethnic peers .…”

“…One view is that those who report experiences of discrimination prefer same-ethnic partners due to mistrust of different-ethnic partners (e.g., Levin et al, 2007). Alternatively, discrimination could be linked to preferences not to date same-ethnic partners as contact with different-ethnic partners through friendships and dating could alleviate or buffer discrimination experiences (e.g., Tropp, 2007;Yoon et al, 2017). These competing hypotheses were examined in the current study.…”

“…Parent-adolescent closeness. The cultural importance of family expectations on dating preferences for Asian American adolescents has been documented (Chen et al, 2009;Lau, Markham, Lin, Flores, & Chacko, 2009;Nesteruk & Gramescu, 2012;Yoon et al, 2017). Asian American youth are often discouraged from dating (Tang & Zuo, 2000), and parental influence is highly predictive of same-ethnic dating choices in adulthood (Mok, 1999).…”

“…Experiences of discrimination have many far-reaching consequences, including dating preferences (Benner, 2017;Tropp, 2007). For example, Asian American middle schoolers who reported a sense of racial inferiority dated exclusively White American peers; however, upon attending a more diverse high school, they became more comfortable with dating within their ethnicity (Yoon et al, 2017). Furthermore, peer preference research suggests that greater perceptions of discrimination are reported among those with more same-ethnic peers compared to those with mixed-and different-ethnic peers (Kiang, Peterson et al, 2011;Kiang, Perreira et al, 2011).…”

“…Asian Americans represent the fastest growing immigrant group in the United States today (Tseng et al, 2016). Yet, despite a steady population rise, there is a severe lack of research dedicated to Asian Americans , particularly among youth (Yoon et al, 2017). Our study seeks to contribute to the limited literature by examining Asian American adolescents' preferences for having a same-ethnic dating partner over the high school years and by exploring within-and between-person correlates of such preferences.…”