Transcript Growing up as biocultural children in the 21st century

Becoming American: Maintaining Strong Asian Identity
For the 21st Century Global Society
Yiping Wang, Ph.D.
Rutgers University
Overview

1. Pattern of psychological adjustment of
immigrants

2. Critical developmental competencies for
Asian American children

3. Parental socialization challenges and
strategies for critical developmental
competencies
1. Pattern of psychological
adjustment of immigrants

A. The racial hierarchical system of the U.S.

B. Two dimensions to describe adjustment
process: Acculturation and ethnic identity

C. Four types of psychological adjustment
A. The racial hierarchical system
of the U.S.
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What is American culture?
What does it mean to become American?
The assimilation view
-
European American culture is the dominant
culture of the American society.
-
The central process of becoming American is that
diverse ethnic groups adapt to a shared European
American-based culture and to gain equal accesses
to the opportunities of the society.
-
Minority ethnicity serves as a disadvantage in
adjusting to the American society.
The pluralistic view

American culture is composed of a collection of
diverse ethnic cultures, and all ethnic groups are
integral segments of the American Society.

The central process of becoming American is to
maintain the diverse ethnic cultures while become
a part of the whole society.

Ethnicity can serve as an asset or social capital that
contributes to successful adaptation.
B. Two dimensions to describe
psychological adjustment
Acculturation:
The degree to which an individual changes and
adjusts to a new culture.
Ethnic identity:
The degree to which an individual identifies
himself/herself as a member of his/her own
ethnic group.
Orientation of interest

Acculturation:
Emphasizes the
extent of knowledge
individual have
toward the
dominant culture.

Ethnic identity:
Emphasizes the
degree of
identification
individuals have
toward their ethnic
group.
Orientation of adjustment

Acculturation:
Is the process of
moving toward
the mainstream
culture.

Ethnic identity:
Is the process of
moving toward
characteristics of one’s
ethnic heritage.
Target population

Acculturation:
Is more applicable
to immigrant
population

Ethnic identity:
Is more applicable
to the second and
subsequent
population
Two Dimensions
High
Low
Acculturation
Assimilated
Bicultural
Ethnic Identity
Marginalized
Low
Separated
High
C. Four types of psychological adjustment
(Kitano & Berry)
Assimilated group
Separated group
Bicultural group
Marginalized group
Assimilated group
(high assimilation, low ethnic identity)
Who has strong desire or identify themselves as
American.
 Who are Westernized to a great extent.
 Who has very little impact of the ethnic
backgrounds.
 Who are basically Westerners with an “Asian
face.”

Separated group
(low assimilation, high ethic identity)

Individuals maintain a strong ethnic orientation.

There is little desire to assimilate to the dominant
culture due to the interactions of personal
preference and restrictions.

They include recent immigrants and individuals
who live in ethnic communities.
Bicultural group
(high assimilation, high ethnic identity)
-
Who are integrated into the mainstream culture
while maintain strong ethnic identity.
-
Who move easily in and out of both cultures and
are comfortable and relaxed in both cultures.
-
Who appreciates cultural differences and is able to
manage it that leads to positive outcomes.
Marginalized group
(low assimilation, low ethnic identity)

Who have acquired very little of the American
culture while are uncomfortable with own ethnic
identity.

Who have no sense of belonging to either culture.

Who has difficulty or unwilling to manage the
challenge of reconciling the cultural differences.
Impact of psychological adjustment
on the quality of life

Bicultural group is the most successful group.

It relates to high self esteem and better grades.

This group has high life satisfaction in family,
friends, community, health, and finance.
2. Critical Developmental Competencies
For Asian American Children

A video skit: “Crazy Asian Mom.”
How Asian parents really react when children get B+
.
2. Critical Developmental Competencies
For Asian American Children

Common responses:
 “It is amusingly stereotypical but amazingly
true! My mom's the same way. Great video!”
 “No, my parents do not do that to me.”

Message:
 Academic excellent is a critical first step toward
successful adaptation to American society for
children of Asian immigrants.
Besides academic excellence:

What should success mean for Asian Americans in
the U.S.?

What are the unique developmental issues that
Asian American children face in adjustment?

What are the critical developmental competencies
for successful adjustment?
Besides academic excellence:
A. To develop American identity
B. To develop strong ethnic identity
C. To develop coping skills to deal with prejudice
D. To develop 21st century skills
Format to discuss
each developmental task
(1). Define a developmental task/competence
(2). Identify unique parental challenges due to
immigration
(3). Propose parental socialization strategies
Task A:
To develop American identity
What is American Identity?
Six aspects of American identity
(Tsai, 2002)
Principles-oriented
 Political ideology (Freedom and justice)
 Ethnic diversity (welcome ethnic diversity)
 Patriotism (being proud of America)
Daily living-oriented
 Dominant cultural exposure
 Customs/traditional behavior
 Social status
(2). Unique parental challenges
Inherited intergenerational conflicts:
Examples:

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Differences in acculturation rate
Differences in focus of attention
Differences in cultural involvement
Differences in reconciling cultural differences
(3). Parental socialization strategies
Examples:
 Encourage positive goal of personal
achievement
 Encourage cross-ethnic group interactions
 Role model for good citizenship as to full
social participation
 Reinforce American pride
Task B:
To develop strong ethnic identity
Ethnic Identity: Who Am I?
Am I American, or Am I Chinese?
Am I both, or neither, or
am I belonging to a third group?
Ethnic Identity

“Ethnic identity is the degree to which
individuals view themselves as members of
a particular ethnic cultural group and
incorporate specific cultural ideas and
practices into their self concepts.” (Cheryan
& Tsai, 2007)
Three components of ethnic identity
(Phinney, 1995)

Affect component

Cognitive component
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Behavior component
Affect component



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Self identification of ethnic group
membership
A sense of belonging and commitment to one’s
ethnic group
Attitudes toward one’s ethnic group
Example:
 “I have a strong sense of pride in my ethnic
group and its accomplishments”
Cognitive component
-
Have interest and knowledge about ethnic history
and heritage
-
Passive or active learning
-
Example:
-
“I have spent time trying to find out more about my
own ethnic group.”
Behavioral component

Involvement in various cultural practices,
including language usage

Level of competence in carrying out each
behavior in their ethnic setting

Example:

“I participate in the cultural practices of my own
group, such as special food, music, or customs”
Ethnic Identity

Three components influence each other in
determining the level of ethnic identity, but
also can operate independently.
Ethnic identity
-
Is a dynamic process that it is a constant
negotiation between the individual and
various contextual variables.
-
Is developmental oriented.
Impact of ethnic identity
Strong ethnic identity relates to:

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High self esteem
High sense of self efficacy and confidence
Better academic performance
Better able to handle racism and
discrimination
(2). Unique parental challenges
-
Differences in the formation and the
meaning of being Chinese between
immigrant parents and children of
immigrants.
(3). Parental socialization strategies
Examples:
-
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Aware of parental role in ethnic identity
development
Deliberately teaching cultural heritage and
ethnic pride
Maintaining ethnic language
Providing direct experience with ethnic cultural
group
Utilize ethnic community resources
Task C: To develop coping skills
to deal with racial prejudice
What does it feel being Asian American?
Being perceived as a foreigner:
Incidents:
-
“Where are you from?”
“I am from New Jersey.”
“Yes, but where are you really from?“
The sense of feel:
- Felt offensive
- Perceived as an outsider, not part of the America
- Perceived as lack of knowledge, less American
Authentic ethnicity expectation
Incident: at work place
-
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Assumed to have connection with the ethnic culture
outside of the U.S.
Assumed to speak the ethnic language.
The sense of feel:
-
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Very annoying
Disappointment
Model minority
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Incident:
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“You are Chinese, smart. Why are you not in math
advanced class?”
The sense of feel:
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Felt hurt
Sense of failure
Being boxed in
(2). Unique parental challenges
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Lack of personal experience of what does
it mean to be Chinese American.
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Limited practical knowledge and skills to
help our children to copy with racial
prejudice.
(3). Parental socialization strategies
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To help children to understand different
perspectives of the racial hierarchical
system of the society and be aware of the
likelihood of inclusion and exclusion.
(3). Parental socialization strategies
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To teach children coping skills to respond
racial prejudice in a proactive way so that real
or perceived prejudice is not detrimental to
their sense of self or being marginalized.
Adolescent coping skills to prejudice
(Phinney 1995)

Discussion
“I try to talk to the person, to clarify things with
them about the common misconceptions about
ethnic backgrounds.”

Self affirmation
“I love being Chinese. To me it seems like a
privilege, because I know how to speak Chinese.”
Adolescent coping skills to prejudice
(Phinney 1995)

Educational approach
 “Excuse
me, I think what you mean is
“what is your ethnicity.” As far as my
nationality, I am a U.S. citizen. As far as
my ethnicity, I am a Chinese American.”
Adolescent coping skills to prejudice
(Phinney 1995)

Disapprove
“It makes me angry and it just makes me want to
work harder to prove them wrong.”

Ignore
“I think you should forget about it and go on
with your life.”
Adolescent coping skills to prejudice
(Phinney 1995)

Verbal retort
 “If they talk to you rudely, I’d probably
answer back with the same rudeness.”
Impact of teaching and preparation
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Better grades
Greater sense of personal efficacy
High self esteem
More usage of proactive styles
Be more aware of multiple possible ways to
deal with prejudice
Task D: Globalization and
21st century skills
To be:
- A critical thinker and a problem solver
- An innovator
- An effective communicator
- An effective collaborator
- A self directed learner
- Information and media literate
- Globally aware and culturally competent
- Civically engaged
- Financially and economically literate
Stereotype about Asian Americans:
“Model Minority”
Asian immigrants tend to adjusted well to the
dominant society
 Has high economic upward mobility
 Children are often overrepresented on the lists
of the national award winners and on academic
fast track.
 There is some truth to it.

Challenges to the notion of
“Model Minority”
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Not recognize the diversity within the Asian
population
Create a sense of failure if individuals not meet the
expectation of high achievement
Fail to meet the unique needs of each individual child
Ignore the need to study the unique developmental
process of adjustment of Asian American children
Create resentment from other ethnic minority groups