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Intergenerational conflict, family functioning, and acculturation experienced by Asian American community college students

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Intergenerational conflict, family functioning, and acculturation experienced by Asian American community college students

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Content INTERGENERATIONAL CONFLICT, FAMILY FUNCTIONING, AND
ACCULTURATION EXPERIENCED BY
ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
Copyright 2003
by
Brooke Neumeyer Choo
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(EDUCATION - COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY)
August 2003
Brooke Neumeyer Choo
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UMI Number: 3116679
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UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90089-1695
This dissertation, written by
under the direction o f h&T dissertation committee, and
approved by all its members, has been presented to and
accepted by the Director o f Graduate and Professional
Programs, in partial fulfillment o f the requirements fo r the
degree o f
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Director
Date A ugust- 1 ? , 700^
Dissertation Committee
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my dissertation chair and advisor, Dr. Ruth Chung, as
well as my dissertation committee, Drs. Rodney Goodyear and Jane Iwamura for
their invaluable input and guidance. I also would like to thank Jeffrey Pedroza and
Drs. Anna Salsman and Joyce Earl for their assistance in data collection. Finally, I
would like to thank Chris Haddy, Estrella Ramirez, Renee Mills, Robert Choo and
my parents for their encouragement and support throughout this process.
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iii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ii
List o f Tables iv
Abstract V
Chapter 1 - Introduction 1
Chapter 2 - Literature Review 11
Chapter 3 - Methods 55
Chapter 4 - Results 66
Chapter 5 - Discussion 84
Bibliography 105
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IV
List of Tables
Table 1 - Demographic Characteristics of Participants
Table 2 - Zero-order Pearson Product Correlation for Overall Population
Table 3 - Summary of Stepwise Regression Analysis for Intergenerational
Conflict
Table 4 - Summary of Stepwise Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting
Seven Areas of Family Functioning
Table 5 - Gender X Ethnicity Multivariate and Univariate Analysis of Variance
for Seven Subscales of the Family Assessment Device (Family
Functioning) With Significant Post Hoc Tests
Table 6 - Means and Standard Deviations for the Seven Subscales of the Family
Assessment Device (Family Functioning) by Gender and Ethnicity
Table 7 - Gender X Ethnicity Multivariate and Univariate Analysis of Variance
for Three Subscales of the Intergenerational Conflict Inventory With
Significant Post Hoc Tests
Table 8 - Means and Standard Deviations for the Three Subscales of the
Intergenerational Conflict Inventory by Gender and Ethnicity
Table 9 - Summary of Mean and Standard Deviations of the Language
Component Items in AAMAES, and Items with Gender Differences
Table 10 - Summary of Reason for Immigration
Table 11 - Means and Standard Deviations of Family Descriptive Statistics by
Ethnic Groups
Table 12 - Summary of Generational Status by Ethnic Groups
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V
Abstract
This study examined the relationship between intergenerational conflict,
family functioning and behavioral and values acculturation in Asian American
younger adults. An Asian American community college student sample (n = 196)
was surveyed using a packet consisting of a demographics questionnaire, the
Intergenerational Conflict Inventory, the Family Assessment Device, the Asian
Values Scale, and the Asian American Multidimensional Acculturation-
Enculturation Scale. It was found that participants with unhealthy family
functioning experienced more intergenerational conflict. In addition, lower Asian
behavioral acculturation predicted unhealthy family functioning on all seven
subscales of the FAD. Female participants reported significantly more
intergenerational conflict than male participants and Southeast Asian American
participants reported significantly more intergenerational conflict than the Filipino
American participants. Implications for future research are discussed.
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Chapter I - Introduction
Since the 1965 Immigration Law ended the exclusion of non-European
immigration, there has been an influx of Asian families immigrating to the United
States (Uba, 1994). Between 1980 and 1990 the Asian American/Pacific Islander
population grew 107.71% (U.S. Census Bureau, 1992). It is estimated that this
pattern will continue with net immigration of Asian Americans being the highest
than that of any other ethnic group through the year 2050 (U.S. Bureau of the
Census, 1996). Currently there were more than 10.2 million Asian Americans in the
United States (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2002). The large influx of Asian
American immigrants has resulted in many societal and mental health concerns.
Recently, the field of psychology has come to realize the dire need for
culturally competent practitioners and psychological services (Walsh, 1993).
Psychologists have a professional responsibility to develop appropriate intervention
strategies and treatment strategies that take into account the historical, cultural, and
environmental experiences/influences of the Asian American client (Sue & Sue,
1999). Even under the guise of increasing cultural competency, counseling and
psychotherapy often lapse into cultural encapsulation. Encapsulation refers to the
substitution of models of cultural stereotypes for real world cultural dynamics (Sue
& Sue, 1999). Essentially cultural encapsulation disregards cultural variations and
rigidly adheres to cultural stereotypes. This is evidenced in existing mental health
techniques that rely on cultural stereotypes and don’t acknowledge individual or
interethnic differences (Sue & Sue, 1999). Without culturally sensitive counseling,
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mental health services are in danger of imposing Western cultural values and models
onto clients of different cultures (Sue & Sue, 1999).
Asian American Mental Health
Because the mental health needs of Asian American families often go
unrecognized, research dedicated to exploring Asian American issues is critically
important. Among Asian Americans, both politically and through media, society has
perpetuated the “model minority” myth (see Fong, 1998; Kitano & Daniels, 1995).
This myth suggests that Asian Americans have a lower prevalence of
psychopathology and mental health concerns than all other ethnic groups (Kim &
Chun, 1994; Tanaka, Ebreo, Linn & Morera, 1998; Uba, 1994). U.S. media and
politics often use an idealized picture of Asian families to criticize everything from
non-Asian ethnic minorities’ use of government aid to the lack of traditional nuclear
families among other ethnic groups (Lee & Zhan, 1998). What is delivered as a
compliment is actually doing a disservice to the Asian American population: “The
effect of the myth is to direct attention away from the problems facing Asian
Americans [and] the culture conflicts that [go] unrecognized” (Cocking &
Greenfield, 1994). The model minority myth deems the need for culturally sensitive
mental health services as a low priority and sweeps important issues such as
intergenerational conflict under the rug. For instance, neglecting the needs of Asian
American immigrant parents may result in greater mental health needs in their
children and in greater intergenerational isolation (Buki, Ma, Strom & Strom, 2003).
In addition, using the model minority label “forces Asian Americans to become a
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buffer for the dominant class; that is, Asian Americans are used as an example to
follow - which, in turn, creates resentment among other minorities” (p. 422, Young
& Takeuchi, 1998). Clearly, stress experienced by Asian Americans is likely to be
perpetuated by a variety of factors and societal phenomena.
Help-Seeking Patterns
Despite inevitable family conflicts, identity confusion, and related stressors,
research has established that the Asian American population as a whole underutilizes
mental health services (Chin, 1998; Satcher, 2001). Several factors appear to be
contributing to this underutilization, including, a lack of culturally sensitive and
Asian-language speaking therapists (Satcher, 2001), incompatibility ofWestem
psychotherapy models with the expectations and preferences of many Asian
American clients (Atkinson, Maruyama, & Matsui, 1978), and cultural beliefs and
values that are incompatible with seeking outside help for personal family conflicts
(Chin, 1998; Kim & Omizo, 2003). Research has shown, however, that acculturation
plays a major role in Asian American help-seeking patterns. Atkinson and Gim
(1989) found that more acculturated Asian American college students were more
likely to recognize personal need for professional help, more tolerant of the stigma
associated with seeking this help, and were more open to discussing their problems
with a professional. These findings, in addition to research suggesting that children
acculturate more quickly than adults (Buki et al., 2003; Ying, 1997), suggest that
Asian American youth are more likely to present for mental health sendees.
Furthermore, Asian American youth are more likely to have access to mental health
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services through college counseling centers, while their parents remain unaware of
available psychological services or lack financial resources/insurance to attain such
services (Satcher, 2001). Therefore, in an effort to facilitate appropriate treatment
interventions and support it is imperative to examine the issues that Asian American
families are confronting.
Asian American Families
When psychologists employ what they believe to be “healthy” family
functioning standards, it is likely that these beliefs are “hypothetical, pre-scientific
and normative” (Textor, 1989; p. 71). Walsh (1993) adds, that “all views of
normality are socially constructed, influenced by our own world view and by the
larger culture” (pp. 3-4). Given that societal norms and traditions vary greatly
among ethnic groups, it is critical for psychologists and researchers to avoid the error
of mislabeling as pathological those patterns that are different from the dominant
culture norms. Behaviors practitioners see as “different” may actually be typical,
desirable, and functional within the family’s ethnic community (Walsh, 1993).
Walsh (1993) adds that mental health providers “need to become more
knowledgeable about family functioning in its diversity if we are to be attuned and
responsive to the broad spectrum of families we serve” (p. 60). In this case, it is
clear that Asian American families in the U.S. are struggling with intergenerational
conflict which may be partially due to acculturative differences among family
members (Yee, Huang, & Lew, 1998). Difficult transitions to majority culture can
deleteriously impact the entire family. However, Asian American youth are most
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likely to present for counseling. Therefore, in order to understand the role
acculturation and family functioning plays in intergenerational conflict, the concerns
of Asian American youth must be examined. In order to effectively address parent-
child conflict, a fuller understanding of the cultural dynamics is needed.
Despite the current struggles of Asian American families, surprisingly
research in this area is limited. As Yee, Huang, and Lew (1998) state: “The
empirical work on [Asian Pacific Islander] families has just begun and is a relatively
unexplored area of psychology” (p. 122). The prevalence of mental illness among
Asian Americans has been difficult to assess due to inadequate sampling and
underreporting and/or untreated cases (Chun, Eastman, Wang & Sue, 1998). This
paucity of empirical research limits mental health professionals’ ability to develop
culturally sensitive interventions and to competently serve the Asian American
population. Additionally, risk factors including immigration stressors, acculturative
stress, and racism, suggest the need for continued research with this population
(Chin, 1998). According to Lee and Zane (1998), all Asian American immigrants,
regardless of economic status, “[are] grappling with the age-old issues of place and
identity that inhabit the boundaries between disparate cultures.” (p. 19) And
furthermore as a call to arms, “Coming to understand the forces and conditions that
have created such diversity requires far-reaching and diligent efforts” (p. 19). The
current study attempts to address the importance of Asian American issues by raising
awareness and cultural understanding among mental health professionals.
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Despite the psychological issues Asian Americans confront, it is beneficial
for empirical research to put particular focus on the experiences of the families given
how important the family unit is within Asian culture. Much of Asian culture is
influenced by Confucianism which places great value on familial relationships
(Wong & Ujimoto, 1998). In this collectivist culture the strength of the family rests
on the strength of the individual members (Buki et al., 2003). As Osako and Liu
(1986) explain, “In Confuciansim, the family occupies one of the central
positions.. .The core of moral behavior lies in being filial to the parents. Thus.. .filial
piety [is] the most important moral precept, having prevailing influence on the order
of an entire society.” (p. 130) Asian American children are taught to unconditionally
serve their parents because they owe their life (birth) to them (Hong & Ham, 1986).
D. Chen (1997) asserts that from a very young age children “are taught to respect
and obey parental authority, to place great value on family solidarity, and to sacrifice
self-expression in the interest of maintaining harmonious relationships within the
family.” (p. 205) Given the Asian American emphasis on family preservation and
collectivism, salient psychological issues will undoubtedly affect the family unit.
Therefore, because many Asian American mental health problems are not
conceptualized as individual issues devoid of family impact, it is essential for
psychologists to make interventions at the family level (Chin, 1998).
Intergenerational Conflict
A particular strength of the Asian American community involves the strong
family ties that serve to support family members (Yee et al., 1998). While this
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support is helpful, particularly for recent immigrants who lack alternative resources,
it is not sufficient to mediate the variety of stressors that Asian American immigrant
families are faced with. As Hong and Ham (1992) note, “The external crises of
immigration alters the family unit in unpredictable ways.” (p. 39) Furthermore, each
family attempts to maintain homeostasis and cultural familiarity while in a
transitional state of change: “the immigrant family struggles to maintain consistency
within the family unit boundaries as they simultaneously respond and react to their
new environment and country.” (p. 28) Since Asian ethnic groups have varied
immigration patterns, these stressors tend to have an increased effect on the more
recent immigrant groups, such as Southeast Asian American families (Gong-Guy,
1987).
Asian immigrant families are expected to adjust to American culture, while
continuing to value and acknowledge their own Asian heritage. In this manner, each
family member is faced with the task of maintaining a balance between Asian and
American culture, with each generation within the family experiencing this process
of acculturation differently (Lee, 1997). For many of these families, the parents have
been entrenched in Asian culture for almost a lifetime; whereas the children have
been only briefly exposed to Asian culture before emigrating to America.
Differences in acculturation levels are evidenced when Asian American parents
continue to use traditionally Asian parenting styles, while their quickly acculturating
children expect a parenting style more similar to their American peers. Incongruent
expectations of parent-child interaction styles are likely to emerge. Due to the
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overwhelming stress of attempting to integrate two cultures, tensions that manifest as
family conflict are inevitable (Huang, 1997). Therefore, many Asian American
families experience and struggle with intergenerational conflict (Buki et al., 2003).
Cultural awareness related to issues such as intergenerational conflict may
facilitate appropriate, efficacious treatment interventions with young Asian
American adults seeking mental health services. Furthermore, culturally sensitive
treatment must acknowledge that Asian American youth currently faces the risk of
cultural marginalization. There is pressure upon Asian American youth to identify
with American culture. However, as they discover that many of their American
values conflict with their Asian upbringing, they are likely to experience cultural and
identity crises (D. Chen, 1997; Uba, 1994). That is, many Asian American youth are
faced with identity confusion—feeling neither Asian nor American—and rejected by
both of these cultures (Sue, Mak, & Sue, 1998). If youth feel unaccepted by their
family for not being “Asian enough”, and unaccepted by peers and colleagues for not
being “American enough”, the development of a strong ethnic identity becomes
compromised and these Asian American youth will likely experience psychological
distress (Kim, Brenner, Liang & Asay, 2003). The risk of marginalization further
supports the need for culturally aware and sensitive mental health professionals
available to serve Asian American youth.
Asian American intergenerational conflict not only impacts family
relationships, but also serves to inhibit the development of young Asian Americans.
If marginalization and dysfunctional conflict occur, the family may become
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fragmented. Resulting negative emotional family dynamics exacerbate already
weakened communication between parents and children (Uba, 1994). In very
extreme cases, despondency within the family can result in a child committing
suicide (D. Chen, 1997). In an effort to prevent broken homes, psychologists must
become involved with Asian American families. The goal of mental health
professionals is to facilitate conflict resolution among family members and to
promote intergenerational strength and understanding (Buki et al., 2003). Therefore,
it is imperative that psychological professionals educate themselves in order to
competently serve the needs of Asian Americans families.
Purpose o f Study
The present study is particularly important because, as mentioned, within the
existing body of psychological research there are relatively few studies on Asian
American families and even fewer on intergenerational conflict in immigrant
families. The studies that do exist are limited by sample homogeneity (i.e. four-year
college students). Therefore, the current study is unique in its investigation of the
experiences of Asian American community college students. It is likely that a
community college sample will be more diverse in terms of age and socioeconomic
status than a traditional university sample. Additonally, given the achievement
orientation of Asian American families (which is discussed further later), a
community college sample provides an interesting look into the experiences of
families whose children have not necessarily succeeded in the traditional academic
sense of attending a prestigious four-year university (as many Asian American
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parents aspire for their children to do; see Sue & Sue, 1973). Clearly, studies based
on Asian American four-year university students are not representative of all Asian
American young adults, although the vast majority of Asian Americans in this age
group do attend college. Furthermore, the current research bridges the ethnicity-gap
so often found in Asian American research which tends to overemphasize East Asian
American participants (Sue et al., 1998). The current sample is drawn from an
institution with a large Southeast Asian population, an ethnic group often overlooked
in Asian American research. A greater representation of all Asian American ethnic
groups and educational levels will better equip psychologists to address the needs of
this very diverse population.
The purpose of the current research is to identify the relationships between
the numerous variables involved in parent-child conflict within Asian American
families and in particular, examine the roles of family functioning, acculturation
(both behavioral and values-based), gender and ethnicity. The primary goal of this
study is to identify the predictors of intergenerational conflict and family functioning
among Asian American community college students. The implications of this study
are significant and can be used to develop interventions for Asian American families
that promote positive acculturative experiences and smooth ethnic identity
development for all family members. If Asian American families have access to
psychological interventions and acquire tools to work together as a family unit,
parent-child conflict is likely to be reduced.
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Chapter II - Literature Review
This chapter will provide a review of the literature on Asian values,
acculturation, Asian American family functioning and the main focus of this study,
intergenerational conflict.
Immigration Experience
Within the diversity of the Asian American population, there are great
numbers that have lived in the U.S. for several generations however, due to the
history of exclusionary laws of our country (see LEAP, 1991) most of the Asian
American population are more recent immigrants. It is without a doubt that the
process of immigration (whether by choice or as a refugee) is difficult: “Although
immigrants set out in search of a better life.. .the experience of immigration.. .has a
down side. Being uprooted from a familiar world, leaving close relatives, friends,
and all other objects of emotional attachment behind is a painful experience.” (Das &
Kemp, 1997) And once one has immersed oneself in the new country there is an
attempt to not to lose all of one’s culture of origin: “The desire to maintain a distinct
ethnic and cultural identity is strong in the first generation.” (Das & Kemp, 1997)
Immigrants experience multiple losses and major upheavals in their lives
before and during migration (Nicholson, 1997). One of the major changes in the
lives of Asian immigrants is in cultural environment. The task of adjusting to a new
culture is a principle source of stress for many Asian American families. They are
living in an American society whose norms and values often contradict the norms
and values that they learned in Asia (Williams & Westermeyer, 1983): “American
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behavior patterns frequently do not make sense to [sic] Asians, and some feel
uncertain that they will ever understand American culture.” (Bemak, 1989) Many
Asians feel that they will embarrass themselves by not behaving in line with
American norms (Knoll, 1982). Lack of familiarity with common American objects
and practices adds to the confusion and upheaval Asian immigrants already feel.
Often compounding these struggles is a lack of proficiency in English: “For many
lower SES immigrant parents whose facility in English is limited, the difference in
language.. ,result[s] in a communication barrier with their children. This difference
in acculturation could be stressful for both the parents and the children [and] serious
conflicts and dysfunctions might result.” (p. 35; Hong & Ham, 1992).
All of these issues that Asian American immigrant issues face impact their
family functioning and additionally may contribute to parent-child conflict. This
chapter provides a review of literature on Asian American families, with a particular
focus on values, acculturation, family functioning, as well as intergenerational
conflict. These constructs are important to understand in order to study their
interrelatedness and influence upon each other.
Asian Values
Values influence both one’s belief system and one’s behaviors. We learn
values from many sources, including our families, media, peers and society. Given
these multiple influences in the development of individuals’ value system it is
readily apparent that cultural differences exist in values. Each culture has its own
worldview and established value system. Often times the disparity between different
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culture’s values is not fully recognized until one comes into contact with these
different cultures through personal experience. As was discussed above, for Asian
American families, cultural differences in value systems are quite salient. Therefore
Asian values are important to examine because they very much influence Asian
American family functioning. In order to understand Asian American family and
parenting patterns, one must first be aware of the values that parents are espousing
and how these values are guiding the behaviors of family members.
One of the main dichotomies that can be drawn between Eastern and Western
values is that of collectivism versus individualism. Many of the core Confucian-
based East Asian values are based on the notion of collectivism. Within collectivism
there is a sense of the self being connected to family, community, and greater
humankind (Saha & Ghosh, 1999). That is, a person is defined and exists through
his/her relationship to others (Tsai, Yu, & Maynard, 1999). In the U.S.
individualism is emphasized, so much so that it impacts the majority’s worldview in
ways they may be unaware of.
Family Unity and Filial Piety
A core value in the Asian American community is filial piety: the obligation
of family members to care for each other, with a particular obligation for the younger
generation to care for the older generation and family ancestors (Kim, Kim, & Hurh,
1991; McLaughlin & Braun, 1998). This concept stems from one of the basic tenets
of Confucian thought which places a high value on the family unit (Crawford, 1966;
Lee, 1997). Asian American children are generally taught that their relationship to
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the family is very important and carries obligations. (Ho, 1997; Morrow, 1989) Of
particular importance is the role of first (oldest) son in the family structure. The first
son in the family is expected to not only be the torchbearer for his siblings but also a
caretaker for his parents in their elderly years (Hong and Ham, 1992). Additionally,
children must obey and respect their parents, have heirs (children) someday to
continue the family line, and succeed in career as to bring honor to their parents and
ancestors (Osako & Liu, 1986).
As would be expected, modifications are made in interpretations of filial
piety more or less depending on the level of acculturation of the individual and the
family itself. However, such unquestioning obedience to ones parents is not
considered healthy family functioning by Western psychological standards (Ching,
McDermott, Fukunaga, Yanagida, Mann & Waldron, 1995). Using Minuchin’s
(1974) structural family approach, a traditional Asian American family would be
classified as overly rigid and inflexible. In addition, in a review of family
functioning literature Textor (1989) deems that in “healthy families, the spouses
have separated themselves from their parents [and] the relationship with their partner
and children is much more important to them than that with grandparents...” (p. 70)
This may not be the case, however, in a traditional Asian American family in which
the father was the first son in his family and feels bound to take care of his parents
(and give more attention to them) more so than his children.
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Gender
Confucian philosophy dictates hierarchical roles that families should ascribe
to based on age, birth position, and gender (Tsai et al., 1999; Yee et ah, 1998). In
Asia a patriarchy exists where males are considered the head of the household (D.
Chen, 1997). Traditionally first sons are second-in-command and come before even
the wife/their mother. Women in the household were expected to obey the authority
of the father and/or first son. There are strict gender roles set that are expected to be
upheld. Generally the father works and economically provides for the family. The
mother is expected to run the household and care for the children. This was either
done by herself or with the help of servants depending upon the socioeconomic
status of the family. Only in more recent decades have Asian women attained higher
educational status and employment opportunities. The degree to which Asian
American parents espouse these traditional gender roles depends upon a number of
factors, including economic status and acculturation level (Ching et al., 1995).
Given these potential traditional gender role patterns, it is therefore pertinent to
assess gender differences among the experiences of study participants.
As was discussed above in regard to filial piety, such strict gender roles are
considered “unhealthy” by Western family psychology. It is believed that a rigid
hierarchy or great difference in rank between family members is dysfunctional and
that “in ‘healthy’ families, relationship definitions are handled in a flexible manner
and can always be changed” (p. 68; Textor, 1989). Once again, traditional Asian
American familial patterns are not looked upon favorably by Western scientists.
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Communication and Emotional Restraint
Asian American families tend to use a collectivist style of silent
communication that relies on an implied understanding between people of that
culture. Because of cultural norms, implicit concerns are generally not expressed
verbally (McLaughlin & Braun, 1998). Candid verbal communication between
parent and child is usually avoided in Asian American families, and the verbal
communication that does take place is usually unidirectional - that is, from parent to
child (Morrow, 1989). That, and children are expected never to interrupt parents
when they are talking (Strom, Daniels, & Park, 1986). In contrast, “healthy”
families by Western psychological standards communicate in a clear and direct
manner (Epstein, Bishop, Ryan, Miller & Keitner, 1993).
In terms of dealing with emotions, Asian American children are customarily
taught to suppress aggressive behavior, strong feelings, and personal grievances
(Morrow, 1989; Tsai et al., 1999). Asian values dictate that the emotions of anger,
pain and suffering should be withheld rather than expressed (Kim & Omizo, 2003).
Hostility toward peers and siblings is frowned upon in Asian American families, and
hostility toward parents is usually prohibited (Slote, 1972). This pattern stems from
the Confucian value of maintaining an even temper, adjusting to life around oneself,
and avoiding exaggeration (Crawford, 1966). The concept of maintaining harmony
and not “rocking the boat” is advocated (Ching et al., 1995). The concept of face-
saving (which is both a behavior and an Asian value) is tool of maintaining harmony
and is influential to parent-child interactions. Interactions are directed with the goal
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of preserving everyone’s “face,” or position or status (Tsai et al., 1999). Within the
parent-child dyad, children are expected to “save his/her parent’s face” by upholding
their parental authority and not contradict their parents, even if they are wrong. In
fact, in a study of 129 Taiwanese students, Tsai et al. (1999) found that the behavior
of face-saving for one’s parent was used as a conflict resolution style.
This family pattern of emotional restraint is at odds with the Western practice
of affective responsiveness and involvement (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983).
What is deemed “healthy” in a family by American cultural standards is familial
relationships that are characterized by “passion, warmth, affection and the striving to
intensify interpersonal involvement.” (p. 67; Textor; 1989) Such disparity in what is
considered normal functioning within Asian and American culture leads to
pathologizing Asian American families (Morris, 1990). Also, as will be detailed
later in ‘areas of intergenerational conflict,’ Asian American youth often expect
American levels of affective responsiveness and involvement from their parents and
subsequently feel rejected when they don’t receive it (even though their parents are
following what they believe to be culturally normal patterns).
Measurement o f Asian Values
Given how important Asian values are to Asian American families, it is
critical that adherence to Asian values is measured when conducting Asian American
family research. It is apparent that Confucianism greatly influences Asian values
and that the major distinction between Western and Asian value orientation is
collectivism versus individualism. This collectivist nature engenders strong family
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unity and the belief of filial piety. Asian American families operate under the notion
that behaviors should promote family solidarity and that children should always
respect and obey their parents. Confucian philosophy also promotes hierarchal roles
within the family and specific gender expectations. Communication is conducting in
an indirect style and emotional restraint is practiced. The extent to which family
members ascribe to these Asian values is a sign of their values acculturation-
enculturation, that is, how much they either espouse Asian or American values.
Since an individual’s values impact his/her behavior, it is important that family
functioning research include an assessment of participants’ values acculturation.
This is particularly needed within Asian American family research where certain
traditional Asian values are not considered “healthy” by Western standards.
Acculturation
Acculturation is defined as the acquisition of values and behaviors of an
alternate culture, which involves changes in the behavioral and subjective domains
of ethnicity (Tanaka, Ebreo, Linn, & Morera, 1998). Kim and Abreu (2001) offer a
similar definition of acculturation: the process of adaptation to the cultural values,
behavior, knowledge, and identity of the dominant society. This process greatly
impacts immigrant Asian American families. In order to conceptually understand
Asian American family functioning, one must first comprehend the construct of
acculturation. Acculturation is a complex concept that has many facets and is
influenced by many factors. For instance, it was important to present Asian values
first in order to appreciate how much they impact the acculturative process. This
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section will discuss the conceptual developments within the study of acculturation,
discuss the measurement of acculturation, and finally, explain the different types of
acculturation.
Conceptual Models o f Acculturaton
Acculturation has long been a research interest of multicultural psychologists
(Tanaka et al., 1998). It is a variable that has been considered to have as much
impact as ethnic differences within Asian American psychological research (Tanaka
et al., 1998). Acculturative status has been shown to be significantly related to a
whole host of behaviors and other variables associated with the Asian American
population. While there is uniform agreement that acculturation is a major factor to
study in Asian American research, psychologists do not, however, always agree upon
which model of acculturation to use.
One of the early models of acculturation was the assimilation model (Tanaka
et al., 1998; Ward, 1999). It proposed that acculturation is a unidimensional process,
consisting of an individual acquiring the new (host) culture at the lost of their culture
of origin (Nguyen, Messe, & Stollak, 1999). That is, as one takes on the new
American culture they subsequently lose their original cultural identity. Using this
model, individuals are classified along a continuum ranging from their cultural of
origin (traditional) to assimilated. The midpoint would be considered bicultural, that
is, having competencies in both U.S. culture and one’s culture of origin (Kim et ah,
2003). A downside of such a model is that “it pits one culture against another.. .and
assumes a perfectly inverse relationship between the ethnic and host cultures. That
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is, high involvement in one culture requires low involvement in the other.” (p. 7;
Nguyen et al., 1999) It is questionable if such mutual exclusion truly exists.
A second major conceptual model of acculturation is the multidimensional
approach which emphasizes ethnic pluralism (Nguyen et al., 1999). The
multidimensional model distinguishes among affective, cognitive, and behavioral
components (Tanaka et al., 1998). This model maintains that “certain aspects of
behavior are more susceptible or amendable to change than are others (e.g., a newly
immigrated Asian Indian woman might readily discard her sari for Western attire but
still prefer vegetarian cuisine)” (p. 55; Tanaka et al., 1998). Additionally, within
each of these components individuals can be at very different places. For example,
an individual could be “very Americanized” in terms of their values, yet he always
speaks Vietnamese at home because his parents do not speak English. Another
advantage of the multidimensional model is that it recognizes the orthogonal nature
of the relationship between culture of origin and dominant culture (Ward, 1999) and
allows for classification of individuals into different modalities or categories (Tanaka
et al., 1998). Instead of the unidimensional model’s three-point scale (traditional,
bicultural or assimilated), the multidimensional model affords more flexibility. One
can either obtain scores on each component (i.e. cognitive, behavioral, etc.) or within
each culture (i.e. degree identify with Asian culture, with American culture, etc.)
(Chung, Kim, & Abreu, 2001). This categorical approach often distinguishes
acculturative attitudes or strategies into the following four types: integration
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(bicultural), separation (traditional), assimilation, and marginalization (Berry, Kim,
Power, Young, & Bujaki, 1989; Chung et al., 2001; Ward, 1999).
Measurement o f Acculturation
The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA; Suinn,
Rickard-Figueroa, & Vigil, 1987) is the most well established Asian American
acculturation measure to date (Tanaka et al., 1998). The SL-ASIA assesses
acculturation through measuring cognitive, behavioral, and attitudinal areas (Suinn et
al., 1987). Suinn and colleagues intended to development an acculturation rating
scale for Asian Americans, using the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican
Americans (Cuellar, Harris, & Jasso, 1980) as a model. While Suinn et al. (1987)
did not indicated using a theoretical base to develop the scale, others have noted the
similarities between their three scored levels of acculturation (Asian identified,
bicultural, Western identified) and Sue and Sue’s (1973) three identity Chinese
American Identity Model (Traditionalist, Marginal Person, Asian American) (see
Ponterotto, Baluch, & Carielli, 1998). To score the SL-ASIA, a total value is
obtained by summing across the answers to all 21 items. The authors devised a final
acculturation score by dividing the total value by 21; thus scores range from 1.00
(low acculturation/Asian identified) to 5.00 (assimilated/Westem identified). A
middle score of “3” would be considered “bicultural;” thus the scale uses three levels
of acculturation (Suinn et al., 1987). This instrument follows the unidimensional
model of acculturation and perceives one’s scores as lying upon a bipolar continuum
(Nguyen et al., 1999).
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Even though an instrument is well established and shows considerable
validity and reliability (Ponterotto et al., 1998); that does not necessarily mean it is
without problems. Tanaka et al. (1998) points out that, “A problem arises in the
arbitrary weighting of each of the dimensions [they addressed] because there are four
questions that deal with language and therefore approximately 19% (4/21) of the
acculturation score has a language component.” (p. 65) Gim (1994) also critiques
the SL-ASIA for its heavy dependence on nonorthogonal behavior-based items.
Acculturation is a very complex issue and one’s behaviors may not always indicate
how one feels or thinks. For instance, a student may be more Asian identified, yet he
does not eat Asian food often because he is off at college in a non-Asian area and it’s
not available. Additionally, Nguyen et al. (1999) asserts that unidimensional-bipolar
acculturation scales are susceptible to problems of social desirability or social
preferences. Finally, Nguyen et al. (1999) continues to point out that such scales are
unable to distinguish between a true bicultural person versus a marginalized person.
That is, has the individual truly mastered both cultures or is it that she/he feels
rejected by both?
While most acculturation models tend to center around relationships with the
dominant culture, individuals actually are both “enculturated and acculturated in
various aspects of both their ethnic and the dominant cultures at variable levels” (pp.
311-312; Sue et al., 1998). This is why a multidimensional approach to measuring
acculturative status is advantageous. The 18-item Asian American Multidimensional
Acculturation-Enculturation Scale (AAMAES; Chung et al., 2001) is a useful
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acculturative assessment tool. The AAMAES is an orthogonal instrument. That is,
individuals do not simply lie on one end or the other, unacculturated versus
assimilated, but rather may share qualities of each in their individual bicultural way.
As Sue et al. (1998) states, “we need to look at and separate acculturation.. .at
multiple levels.. .in multiple areas (feelings, attitudes, values, knowledge, and
practice), and in multiple settings (being alone, being with members of own ethnic
group, other ethnocultural groups, the dominant group, or a mix).” (p. 312) The
AAMAES is successful in this remark since it assesses individuals in the areas of
attitudes, values, knowledge, and practice and as well in the settings of within their
Asian ethnic group, with other Asian Americans, and with dominant White culture.
Respondents receive scores on three separate cultural dimensions, giving the
researcher the ability to see not only how much they identify with mainstream U.S.
culture, but also their level of identification within their own ethnic culture and
among other Asian Americans.
Types o f Acculturation
As has been discussed, acculturation has many components. Sue et al. (1998)
pointed out that within the general construct of acculturation lays multiple areas such
as, feelings, attitudes, values, knowledge, and practice. Specifically, there is beliefs
or values acculturation-enculturation, that is, the extent to which individuals adhere
to culture of origin values and belief systems (Kim & Abreu, 2001). In terms of
“practice,” behavioral acculturation addresses the frequency of behaviors consistent
with either dominant culture or one’s ethnic culture. Kim, Atkinson and Yang
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(1999) insist that “the distinction between behavior-focused and value-focused
measures of acculturation is particularly important because there is some evidence
that behavioral and value acculturation processes occur at different rates” (p. 343).
Within the research of Kim et al. (1999), the authors found that values acculturation
occurs more slowly than behavioral acculturation for Asian Americans. The authors
go on to state that some Asian American individuals “may evidence behaviors
suggesting a high level of acculturation, [but they] may still retain traditional Asian
values that could conflict with values inherent in conventional counseling strategies”
and interventions (p. 351). That is, high adherence to Asian cultural values may not
be equivalent to low acculturation (Kim & Abreu, 2001). Finally, Kim et al. (1999)
recommends that a values acculturation measure be administered along with a
behavioral acculturation measure in order to provide a more comprehensive
assessment of acculturation.
While there is consistent understanding about what is acculturation, there still
needs to be more research conducted in order to easily and adequately assess
acculturative processes (Tanaka et al., 1998). This is vital for Asian American
research, however, given the readily apparent acculturation gaps between parents and
children. It has been well established that such gaps in acculturation can lead to
parenting challenges, communication problems, and lower parenting satisfaction
among Asian American families (Buki et al., 2003). It is particularly important to
assess acculturation status in an Asian American sample given the separate
immigration patterns for different Asian ethnic groups (Fong, 1998). Certain Asian
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ethnic groups have been in the U.S. historically for longer periods of time than, say,
more recent ethnic groups such as Southeast Asians fleeing the Vietnam War. These
acculturative differences interethnically can lead to significant group differences on
other variables measured. Finally, additional research is warranted to examine the
course of acculturation given the mixed findings upon how it is related to
intergenerational conflict and adjustment outcomes, among other variables (Nguyen
et al., 1999).
Asian American Family Functioning
Raising Children
Chao (1994) found that traditional Asian parenting style is considered
authoritarian based upon American standards. This goes back to the influence of
Confucian philosophy that dictates children are to unconditionally serve their
parents. Literally speaking, “whether or not the parents are good enough to be
respected is an irrelevant issue.” (p. 130; Osako & Liu, 1986) In addition to
parenting style, there are other cultural differences as well. Morrow (1989)
compared several different refugee groups in their parenting styles and found that
during the preschool years (ages 3 to 5), Southeast Asian parents expect increasing
self-sufficiency in their children (i.e., preschoolers are expected to dress and groom
themselves). In terms of older children, in Asia elder siblings assume much
responsibility for the care and behavior of younger siblings: “If a younger sibling
misbehaves, the elder sibling, who may not have even been present at the time of the
younger sibling’s misbehavior, may be blamed: This situation can be exploited by
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younger siblings and can create resentment in the elder sibling” (Slote, 1972).
Essentially, Asian American families have a broader range of adults (other
caregivers) and older children who have responsibility for what mainstream U.S.
culture would define as traditionally parenting responsibilities (Yee et al., 1998).
Gender
Upon immigrating to the U.S., families frequently undergo many changes in
their values; an example is in the area of male domination (Nguyen & Henkin,
1983). Many Asian males have found it to be economically impossible to be the sole
provider for the family. As their wives enter the workforce, learn the English, and
become acculturated, it changes the traditional gender roles (Espirifu, 1999; Kim, et
al., 1991). Asian women are often provided with more power than they would have
been in Asia. Compounded with having less power at home, Asian men are
subjected to little to no power in greater society. This can cause stress in the marital
relationship. Consequences of the frustration and emasculation that Asian males feel
can be expressed in unhealthy ways, such as battering. Uba (1994) cites high rates
of spousal abuse in the Asian population (specifically within Vietnamese American
population see Kibria, 1993; within East Inadian American families see Prathikanti,
1997; and within Korean American families see Tran and Des Jardins, 2000). To
correct for the fact that they feel like they are losing control, some Asian men react
by increasing the amount of patriarchal control they have over their family. As Lum
(1998) states, “family violence among Asian Americans is both an ignored and
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significant problem.” (p. 505) These changing gender roles of the father and mother
are likely to affect their parenting style.
In terms of gender expectations for the children, Asian American girls are
raised more strictly and given less freedom in activities than boys are (keeping with
patriarchal values) (Ho, 1990). In a class of 50 Asian American psychology college
students, all but 2 students agreed that their parents treated boys and girls differently
in the family (C. Louie, personal communication, January 2002). The most
commonly cited differences including letting boys stay out later at night, allowing
boys to date sooner, concerned about the girls maintaining their virginity, and
division of household tasks. Additionally, in a study of 100 Chinese American
mothers, Buki et al. (2003) found that the mothers had greater expectations for boys
than for girls because traditionally boys carry the family last name. Also keeping
with traditional gender roles, Asian American mothers generally talk with their
children more than fathers do (Morrow, 1989). Fathers are often seen in a silent a
role, exerting behind-the-scenes influence over the children’s lives. It is therefore
important to assess gender differences among research participants, given these
previous studies’ gender-based findings.
Education
Confucian values have always stressed scholarly pursuits. This has continued
with Asian values, where education is esteemed. Many Asian American parents
assign the highest priority to arranging a good education for their sons and daughters
(Strom et al., 1986). In a study of Asian American fifth through eleventh graders
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who scored above the 90th percentile on achievement tests, it was demonstrated that
their parents expected them to obtain higher grades than European American parents
did and were less satisfied with their children’s grades than European American
parents were. In addition, 46% of the Asian American parents hoped that their
children would enter a medical field, compared to 29% of the European American
parents studied. (Yao, 1985)
This academic pressure and career choice emphasis is very common among
Asian Americans of the 1.5 generation. The major motivation for many parents to
leave Asia was to provide a better life for their children. These academic issues
often come to a culmination during the college years when adolescents disagree with
the major that their parents have picked for them. This is especially true when they
want to pursue a nontraditional career (Leong, 1998) or major (such as art,
psychology, writing, theatre, etc.) instead of pre-med, pre-law, or business
(Prathikanti, 1997). Or conflict can occur during the high school years when
adolescents want to pursue extracurricular activities, such as sports, and their parents
only want them to study and focus on their education. Education being an area of
parent-child conflict will be discussed in further detail later. The exertion of
academic pressure is a two-way street. On one side the parents may be placing this
pressure on their children, but on the other side society has its say. The model
minority myth purports that Asian American students do better academically than
other students (Hsia & Peng, 1998). This myth can push Asian American students
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into feeling that they have to excel academically when in reality they may not have
this motivation (either internal or from their parents) or ability (Yee et al., 1998).
Reward
Asian American parents generally do not think that rewards should be given
for expected behaviors; therefore the reinforcement that their children receive for
being responsible and succeeding academically is muted and indirect (Morrow,
1989). It is common for a parent to acknowledge good behavior by encouraging the
child to do even better, often by comparing them to other “higher achieving” peers or
relatives (i.e. “Well that’s nice you applied for an academic scholarship, did you
know your cousin Becky won a Fulbright Scholarship?”). While this is meant to
motivate the child, often their children feel resentful and upset by these comments.
In therapy Asian American young adults often cite these constant comparisons as
making them feel like they are “never good enough” (author’s clinical observations)
and it subsequently causes strain on the parent-child relationship. Furthermore, if
outside individuals compliment their child, Asian parents, in an effort to be modest,
will often dismiss or negate these compliments with statements that deprecate the
child (Morrow, 1989).
Measurement o f Asian American Family Functioning
In measuring Asian American family functioning it is critical that we taken
into consideration cultural norms. Walsh (1993) asserts that families who are in
transition between two cultures “may become caught between two social worlds,
which tugs in incompatible directions. Here especially, [psychologists] must assess
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the fit, or adaptability of.. .families, and their sociocultural context in any evaluation
of health or dysfunction” (p. 21). She warns, however, that researchers still must
assess what is indeed functional versus dysfunctional: “It would be a grave error to
swing from one extreme, holding a single model of family normality and health, to
the other extreme, of concluding that family diversity prevents us from identifying
and commonalities or unifying principles for family well-being” (p. 60). Therefore,
researchers must both be aware of their assumptions and biases and attempt to be
true to the complexity and diversity of family functioning and processes (Walsh,
1993).
Specifically, assessing Asian American family functioning is problematic
given that there are no published and validated measures on general Asian American
family relations. While there are several existing instruments measuring Asian
American acculturation and family conflict, there are none that assess overall family
functioning. In order to study this population, researchers are left to choose from
well established mainstream U.S. culture family instruments. While these
instruments are well validated, their norms often underrepresent Asian American
individuals. Therefore we do not know if these instruments are even valid for use
with Asian American populations (Tanaka, Ebreo, Linn, & Morera, 1998). In
addition, these measures are based upon Western conceptualizations of what is
considered to be “healthy” functioning (Walsh, 1993). This is concerning, given that
many traditional Asian values are considered dysfunctional by Western
psychological standards (as was discussed earlier). As McGoldrick (1993)
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comments, “No two families share exactly the same cultural roots” (p. 331). Boyd-
Franklin (1993) goes on to add that, “In order to evaluate what is ‘normal’ in the
development of any family, clinicians must explore the larger social context in which
the family lives” (p. 361). Clearly future empirical study needs to address the lack of
culturally valid family functioning instruments available to assess Asian American
families.
This section gave a description of general Asian American family functioning
and in particular, addressed the issues that are salient to this study at hand. The
authoritarian parenting style was discussed in terms of how Asian American
approach raising their children. Additionally, Asian American gender roles were
presented, including the traditional patriarchal model and how this is changing due to
the impact of immigration. Parental involvement in education and career choice was
examined as well as educational attainment among Asian American youth. Finally,
behavioral control methods such as using comparisons and instead of rewards, was
offered.
Intergenerational Conflict
Now that an understanding of Asian American family functioning has been
presented, the focal issue of Asian American intergenerational conflict can be
presented.
Theory o f Intergenerational Conflict
Intergenerational conflict is a theory that has been studied over the years in
family research. One particular model, developed by Traub and Dodder (1988),
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maintained that intergenerational conflict was mediated by “continuity and
discontinuity in terms of value-norm acceptance, differential interaction patterns, and
behavioral dissimilarity” between parents and their children. To test their theory,
Traub and Dodder (1988), gathered data from 415 southwestern college students and
their guardians (ethnicity not specified). They found that their participants did not
accept the same values as their parents, and that “based upon differential interaction
patterns and the acceptance of divergent norms, normative ‘dissensus’ exists between
youth and adults between individuals within each group.” While these findings
support the “generation gap” or intergenerational conflict theory, the question
remains of how this affects Asian American families in particular.
At a superficial glance one could say that all families suffer from conflict
between parents and children. While this may be developmentally true, there are
however, specific nuances that occur within the Asian Pacific Islander American
population as a whole and warrant individual attention. As Lee and Zhan (1998)
explain, “It is commonly the case that...especially during adolescence, parent-child
conflicts increase [however] in Asian American families,...the conflict are often
greater because many parents adhere to traditional values of their homeland, whereas
their children.. .are strongly influenced by the American value system” (p. 138).
Additionally, both Asian American parents and the children are reporting
intergenerational conflict as being a problem that is affecting their family. For
instance, Lese and Robbins (1994) solicited personal goals from 39 first generation
Southeast Asian adolescents and found that 25% of these goals were regarding their
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family and that 9% of the students reported the goal of prevention of family conflict
(while another 8% sought increased independence from one’s family). One of the
areas that is unique to Asian American families over European American families is
that not only do they face discrimination as persons of color, but regardless of time
of immigration, Asian culture is far more different from American culture than
European culture is. That is, both individuals could be 3rd generation US citizens but
American and European cultures are similar so the process of acculturation is much
different than for those coming from an Eastern culture.
The Development o f Intergenerational Conflict
As was discussed previously, many Asian American families are recent
immigrants to the U.S. (including specific Asian ethnic group differences). Pettys
and Balgopal (1998) assert that “Greater emphasis on immigrant groups to maintain
their cultural heritage and traditional values while struggling to gain structural
assimilation into American society creates new conflicts. Not all cultural differences
are accepted and treated equally.” This can be seen in the above caution of the
model minority myth. Certain Asian values, such as that of education and family
cohesion, are supported by the majority culture because they approve of it, while
other Asian values that are more in contrast to American values are shunned. Pettys
and Balgopal (1998) go on to state that, “These double messages create confusion
not only for immigrants but also for their children. ..children often feel they do not fit
in with either culture.” Therefore these experiences are amplified for more recent
immigrant families.
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Because of these double messages that society gives parents, often they end
up “picking and choosing” what characteristics of each culture they want their
children to acquire. Unfortunately intergenerational conflict can result from this
very method: “On one hand, they expect their children to be proficient in English and
to be successful in school and, later, in a promising career. On the other hand, they
restrict their children from having too much contact with American friends and
prevent them from being too ‘Americanized.’” (Wong, 1997) It is important to note,
however, that the fault does not lie with the parents - they are simply trying to pick
out the best coping strategies they can to afford their children a better future while
still keeping them while not losing them completely to America. Nevertheless, this
can obviously become quite stressful on the child and cause both intrapersonal
conflict as well as conflict with the parents.
This phenomenon is also reiterated by Kitano and Daniels (1995): “[In
addition to the parents] Children are also caught in the familiar conflict between
disparate cultural norms. In school they are taught to express their opinions and ask
why, whereas at home their parents want them to be more traditional and do what
they are told.” Lee and Zhan (1998) believe that “conflicts can arise as children
sense the differences between the view of mainstream U.S. society and those of their
parents.. .these children have to deal with the incongruity between their parents’
values and the values held by their American peers and society in general” (p. 138).
For instance, within Confucian philosophy which influences Asian values,
the conflict resolution style of endurance and forbearance are encouraged (Tsai et al.,
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1999), this being otherwise known as the “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,
so grin and bear it” style. So on one hand, Asian American parents expect their
children to silently endure and not engage in direct conflict with them, while on the
other hand Asian American children learned through American cultural exposure to
assert oneself and to stand up for one’s rights. Also relevant here is the Asian value
of emotional restraint. Asian American youth may experience very strong negative
emotions toward their parents, but due to the value of emotional restraint, they may
not outwardly show such emotions (Tsai et al., 1999)
How the child chooses to deal with such conflicts varies. The child may
either attempt to develop two identities, one at home (Asian values) and one at
school (American values), or the child may result to rebelling against one force or
the other. Lee and Zhan (1998) found that “children see that their parents are
different and sometimes reject those differences” (p. 138). Whatever method is
employed produces a situation that is difficult to maintain, at one point or another
conflict will likely arise.
Areas o f Intergenerational Conflict
While conflict can occur in virtually any area, the literature indicates that
Asian American families time and time again experience intergenerational conflict in
certain areas more than others. Researchers have classified these prominent areas
several ways, for instance Chung (2001) outlined three main areas of conflict in
Asian American families: Family Expectations, Dating/Marriage, and
Education/Career. Pettys and Balgopal (1998) found six major themes of conflict in
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their study of South Asian American families: Gender roles, Respect versus
assertiveness, Power shifts between generations, Life cycle issues, Triangulation
between generations, and Westernization. Rosenthal, Ranieri, and Kimidis (1996)
classified intergenerational conflict among Vietnamese Australian youth along two
dimensions: Adolescent Independence Values (includes dating, marriage, gender
roles, education and career) and Vietnamese Family Values. And this is just a
sample; however for the present paper we will looks at intergenerational conflict in
Asian American families along the themes of: values, family structure and
expectations, gender roles, education/career, and dating/marriage.
Asian versus American values.
As mentioned above, Pettys and Balgopal (1998) examined intergenerational
conflict in 30 immigrant South Asian (Asian Indian) American families. A particular
strength of their study is that they interviewed not only the children and parents, but
the grandparents too. Often times researchers tend to focus on the children,
neglecting the impact that family conflict has upon the family elders. (This is also
quite ironic given the important role elders play in Asian culture, [see Yee, 1992])
Pettys and Balgopal (1998) first explained the role of values: “In this western
culture.. .autonomy and individuation are the governing developmental tasks of
individuals. This confrontation between opposing value systems can produce degrees
of conflict and stress as the immigrant family attempts to., .adapt to this new
environment.” Concluding their interviews, the authors found among six themes,
two revolved around values - that of Respect and Westernization.
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Regarding the issue of Respect, the children wanted to know how they
disagree and be assertive and yet still respect their parents and grandparents. The
parents and grandparents questioned how much assertiveness they could encourage
without losing the respect of the children. In terms of Westernization, the children
were pondering what it means to be American and how can they incorporate some
and avoid other aspects of Americanism into their own identity. The parents
wondered how much Americanism is unavoidable among children and how to avoid
negative American values. The grandparents had the conflict ofhow much Western
culture should be adopted by an Indian family. Given these questions, Das and
Kemp (1997) concluded that “Raising children in a cultural environment where they
are exposed to values that are different and at times conflicting with core ethnic
values creates stress for the parents as well as for the children.” Ying, Coombs, and
Lee (1999) caution however, that “the presence of [intergenerational] conflict does
not necessarily imply that Asian American children and adolescents have given
rejected Asian values. In fact, while their parents lament that the children are ‘too
American,’ in the eyes o f European Americans, they may be ‘too Asian.’” (For a
further discussion of South Asian versus American values, see Das and Kemp, 1997
and Hines, Garcia-Preto, McGoldrick, Almeida, and Weltman 1992; for Vietnamese
values Chung and Beraak 1998; for Korean values Drachman, Kown-Ahn, and
Paulino, 1996; and for Asian Pacific American as a whole, see LEAP, 1996).
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Family structure and expectations.
Family expectations, reflecting both values and behavior norms, are often
cited by children and parents as being an area of intergenerational conflict. The
emphasis on family stems from traditional Asian collectivist culture where the family
is considered over the individual, and thus children are taught that their behavior
reflects upon the entire family (Shon & Ja, 1982). “Subsequently, to regulate and
guide behavior, parents use guilt-inducing techniques by appealing to the children’s
sense of obligation, family pride and shame.” (Chung & Bemak, 1998) That is,
parents use shame as a mechanism to reinforce societal expectations and proper
behavior (Lee, 1997). If a child misbehaves or disrespects someone in the
community it is considered to bring the family shame and loss of face. The child
may not understand, however, why his or her behavior is not an individual choice
and evaluated as such - for this goes against the very core of America’s “every man
for himself’ attitude. For parents and grandparents, however, it is incomprehensible
why a child would not put their family first, for that is what they were taught to do.
In addition to the use of shame, even positive emotions get confused in the cross-
cultural dyad. Children often cite not feeling “loved” by their parents due to the lack
of affection and affective expressiveness in the family when in reality the parents are
just following their known cultural norms of exhibiting emotional restraint.
Asian American immigrant families in particular have experienced disruption
of some established patterns due to acculturation difficulties (Uba, 1994). Family
expectations may change too as roles change in the family. Immigration has many
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consequences and a likely one is the change of traditional family roles. For example,
Asian American parents frequently have lost their former social and economic status,
and there often has been a role reversal in the family: “Even those immigrants who
are educated professionals and have some English knowledge frequently have to take
jobs below their academic qualifications...” (p. 207; D. Chen, 1997) The economic
stresses and demands placed upon the family to adjust often leads to changes in
gender roles between husband and wife, often resulting in the wife joining the labor
force (see D. Chen, 1997; Kibria, 1993; and Kim, et al., 1991). Many fathers have
lost their ability to be the sole support of their families, as they were in Asia, and
may now be dependent on their children - who interpret for them, help them cope
with American ways, and so on. “Significant stress and family problems often
accompany these changes.. (Chung & Bemak, 1998) As Fong (1998) explains,
“With both the wife and husband work, there is precious time for each other, their
children...” While there are many families that consist of dual wage-eamers, what is
notable here is that often each parent is working substantially more than 40 hours a
week, and that these extra hours compound all the other acculturative struggles that
the families face (Kim, et al., 1991). It is feasible that since the Southeast Asian
American population as a whole immigrated more recently, they are more
susceptible to these gender role and economic stressors. It is therefore hypothesized
that Southeast Asian American participants in this sample will experience greater
intergenerational conflict than the other ethnic groups.
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Rosenthal, Ranieri, and Kimidis (1996) postulated that there is a “disruption
to family life and erosion of parental authority [occurs] when the usual familial roles
are reversed, as in the case where adolescents become spokespersons for parents
whose knowledge of the host language or customs is inadequate.” This role of
“spokesperson” for the family is titled “cultural broker” by Kibria (1993); noting
how the child picks up US culture more quickly than the parents then ends up being
the “broker” between the two realms. Asian children tend to acculturate at a fastest
rate than their parents (such as acquiring English in school), and thus gain power in
the family structure. They may be put in the position of having to teach, explain, and
help their parents with routine tasks that involve majority U.S. society (Kim et al.,
2003). This change in the Asian American child’s role in the family can also lead to
change in values, and in particular challenging the notion of unquestioning
obedience to parents (Moore, Keopraseuth, Leung & Chao, 1997; Nguyen & Henkin,
1983). They may use their needed skills as a means to negotiate more power for
themselves. Subsequently, this may manifest in the disobedience of their parents’
wishes. The youth may not see their parents as having the power to stop them. This
further overwhelms the parents and adds to their feelings of loss of control.
Yet being in this role of cultural broker, children can feel “frustrated, angry,
or contemptuous toward their parents for their parents’ inability or unwillingness to
learn a new life-style and ways of behaving.” (Drachman, Kwon-Ahn, Paulino,
1996) Asian American children often are also aware of the despondency of their
parents and feel very obligated to improve their parents’ situation and compensate
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for their difficulties (Nidorf, 1985). These changes in parent/child roles can result in
the disruption of family relations, as well as confusion and insecurity for the children
and despondency for the parents (D. Le, 1983; Moore et al., 1997). Therefore it is
not surprising that there is some evidence of increasing intergenerational conflict
based on cultural conflicts in Asian American families in the West (Woon, 1986).
It must also be kept in mind that many Asian American families have a
multigenerational household with often the grandparents living with their adult
children, as it is customary (Yee et al., 1998). This adds to the generation gap that
the family is already facing between parent and child (Kao & Lam, 1997). In
addition, there are another whole set of generational issues that the Asian American
elderly face: In Asia, “older persons are revered; they [have] high status in all social
settings, and their views are important in family decisions. In the United States some
elderly persons feel less valued.” (Drachman, Kwon-Ahn, & Paulino, 1996) This
was also reiterated by Barsky, Este and Collins (1995) in reference to the issues that
Vietnamese American elderly face as well as by Osako and Liu (1986) in terms of
Japanese American seniors, Kim et al. (1991) with Korean American elders, and D.
Chen (1997) with Chinese American elderly.
As Yee (1992) notes, “The elderly face rapid acculturation of their family
members and a lesser acceptance of the elderly in American society, and are more
tied to traditional ways.” Due to language barriers grandparents may not be able to
communicate with their grandchildren or feel isolated when the rest of the family
speaks in English (Hong & Ham, 1992). A major source of conflict involves child
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rearing practices in which “Asian seniors often are shocked and saddened by the
attitude and behavior of their American-born grandchildren.” (p. 188; Wong &
Ujimoto, 1998) For example, the behavior and communication with their
grandchildren “may be perceived by the elders as disrespectful” - such as saying
“hi” to greet an elder is inappropriate but the grandchild may not be sensitive to this
(Drachman et al., 1996). The resulting effects can be conflict with the grandchildren,
or “Feeling devalued and isolated may lead some elders to demand more attention
from their overworked, overburdened adult children, adding more stress to the
family.” (Drachman et al., 1996; also see D. Chen, 1997)
Given the diversity among Asian ethnic groups, family structure can vary
significantly depending upon the cultural and ethnic background of the individual.
While this discussion provided an overview of major family dynamics found in most
Asian American families, see Footnote 1 for resources that are ethnic group specific.
Gender roles.
Conflicts over gender roles are often cited as a major area of
intergenerational conflict as well. This is no surprise given that traditional Asian
culture is patriarchal, which contrasts with US culture which is more egalitarian
between the sexes by comparison. Specifically, traditional Asian families valued
sons over daughters and believed that the women should be subservient to the men of
the house. This was demonstrated by, among other things, women preparing and
serving the meals and never questioning a man’s word. For even some of this
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differential treatment to occur between sons and daughters raised in the U.S. today
would likely produce conflict.
Rosenthal, Ranieri, and Kimidis (1996) tested this by examining the
relationship between intergenerational conflict, gender dissatisfaction, and
endorsement of traditional values among 204 Vietnamese Australian adolescents.
They found that the female respondents of the questionnaires valued Vietnamese
traditions less than did their male peers, regarded their parents as being less
accepting of independence, and were more dissatisfied with their gender role than the
male respondents. The results also showed that “For girls, but not for boys,
discrepancy between adolescent and parental values was associated with more
conflict and greater gender dissatisfaction.” These findings support the notion that
for girls it is more difficult to accept the traditional Asian values (gender roles) than
it is for boys, likely due to fact that it puts them in a perceived lower, less powerful
position. As for the parents being less accepting of independence among daughters,
this also supports traditional gender role socialization. Rosenthal et al. (1996)
concluded that the Vietnamese Australian “girls have more difficulty than boys in
dealing simultaneously with the expectations of two cultures.” Fong (1998)
describes this sentiment as, “Asian American women often feel tom between a sense
of independence encouraged by American society and the sense of obligation to their
parents’ and their parents’ cultural values.” (p. 220) It is therefore hypothesized that
the female participants will experience more intergenerational conflict than the male
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participants. For more information on gender roles within specific ethnic groups, see
Footnote 2.
Dating and marriage.
There are many reasons why Asian American parents and grandparents
become involved in the dating and marriage decisions of their children (Yee et al.,
1998). For some, they may be coming from a culture where arranged marriages are
commonplace (i.e. some South Asian), others may not want to have their child
engage in an interracial relationship for fear they “will lose their child to America
altogether” (Hong & Ham, 1992). Some families ascribe to their culture’s norms
regarding the appropriate age to start dating and the differences that exist for boys
versus girls. Many Asian American parents see dating as a distraction from the
children’s studies (D. Chen, 1997). All of these many aspects collide when coming
in between a teenager who wants to date and who does not understand or disagrees
with the cultural perspective of his or her family (Prathikanti, 1997). Das and Kemp
(1997) discussed about how South Asian American parents, in an effort to help select
their child’s mate, will often restrict or even prohibit dating (especially with
daughters) which “further complicates the lives of young people who are brought up
to love and obey their parents, yet want to assimilate into mainstream American
culture by dating.” But at the same level, “parents may relent slightly in the face of
pressure from their children to ‘fit in’ with mainstream society by dating.” (Mok,
1999)
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Restricting interracial dating may be in part the product of prejudicial
attitudes of the parents. Liu, Pope-Davis, Nevitt and Toporek (1999) found in a
study of 289 Asian American college students that those who were more acculturated
tended to be less prejudicial. It could be that Asian American parents, who tend to
be less acculturated, retain more prejudicial attitudes and thus oppose interracial
relationships for their children. Relatedly, Mok (1999) found in a study of 157 Asian
American college students that those who were more highly acculturated also had
higher rates of interracial dating. She also found that parental influence did have an
affect on interracial dating rates, more so for women. This indicates that
acculturation does play a role in the matter of interracial dating and that it is possible
that differing rates of acculturation between parent and child may contribute to
intergenerational conflict regarding the matter. D. Chen (1997) points out that often
Asian American youth experience feelings of guilt for engaging in an interracial
relationship, perceiving it as disrespecting their heritage and resulting in disapproval
from their parents. Fore more information on interracial dating as a source of
conflict in Asian American families and specific ethnic group resources, see
Footnote 3.
Education and career.
Education is highly valued by Asian culture (LEAP, 1996). Educational
attainment is seen as a way to bring pride to the family and as a means of gaining
economical success: “Korean culture emphasize education as a means to success,
power, and status...” But placing such a high value on education has caused “many
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families to begin preparing their children for college when they are very young and
has caused.. .considerable pressure on children to achieve in school.” (Drachman,
Kwon-Ahn, & Paulino, 1996) In addition, studies have shown that financial
pressures are one of the top concerns for Asian immigrants (Jones & Strand, 1986).
It is such that some Asian American children have to help their parents earn a living
(Uba, 1994). This means that these children not only have to struggle with
navigating through two cultures, but in addition they must work on top of completing
their schoolwork. Asian American students may be expected to put in long hours at
the family business while still maintaining top grades.
Often times Asian American children will want to be rewarded for their good
grades, as they see that there European American peers often are. The Asian value
system practice of not providing much positive reinforcement with their children is
incongruent with the U.S. majority culture’s system of complementing a child’s good
deeds. This can often be a source of pain for Asian American youth. They see how
other (majority culture) parents interact with their children and begin to feel that they
parents don’t love them or are never happy with what they have done because they
never hear anything positive from their parents. The Asian American parents,
however, have a different take on this situation. They may take the collectivist
approach and see that their child’s grades are a family rather than an individual
accomplishment (Chung & Bemak, 1998). In addition, to encourage further
academic achievement, they may point out the areas the child can still improve in
(Why did you get a B+ in this? or Who placed ahead of you?). Unfortunately,
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misinterpreted, this can be devastating for the child who feels slighted because of a
difference in perception on the matter. When compounded with all of the other
stresses that a bicultural Asian American youth must go through, it can become quite
overwhelming.
Once children attend college a common conflict occurs around what to major
in. Whereas American culture dictates that choosing one’s career is a matter on
individual choice, Asian culture maintains that it is a joint-matter to be decided
ultimately by the parents (Prathikanti, 1997). Often times Asian American parents
decide that their children should major in pre-med, science, or engineering (LEAP,
1996) and just as often children want to choose a different major for themselves,
leading to intergenerational conflict. Park and Harrison (1995) examined career-
related interests, values and acculturation level among 184 Asian American college
students and found that indeed, what career interests they had were related to their
values and acculturation level. Asian American parents probably encourage these
majors because originally they were areas where one could be successful financially
and they were not as language-based (since the immigrant parents at the time were
not as fluent in English). However, what they may fail to realize is that their
children do not face the same kinds of language struggles as they did. Another
possible reason for emphasis on these select majors is the status and prestige they
bring to the family (Yee et ah, 1998). For more information on the emphasis on
educational success among Asian American families and ethnic group specific
resources, see Footnote 4.
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Consequences o f Intergenerational Conflict
There have been several studies that have examined the impact that
intergenerational conflict has on children: “The problem of meeting the normative
demands of two cultures.. .has been linked to adolescent substance abuse as a way to
cope with conflicts with parents.” (Bhattacharya, 1998) Traub and Dodder (1988)
found increased marijuana use among adolescents facing higher ‘generation gap’
conflict. Later Bhattacharya (1998) found that intergenerational conflict was a
precursor to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among second-generation Asian
Indian adolescents. Wong (1997) also tested the theory of intergenerational conflict
in explaining the prevalence of delinquency in 315 Chinese-Canadian youth (149
Canadian bom, 153 foreign bom). In these first- and second-generation adolescents,
it was found that adherence to Chinese culture decreased the presence of delinquency
involvement. That is, he found a positive correlation between acculturation and
delinquency (P = .21 ,P < .01); those who were more acculturated committed more
offenses. “However, the effect was not explained by Chinese cultural norms and
traditions.” Instead, Wong (1997) found that there was a negative correlation
between parents’ level and child’s level of acculturation: “.. .acculturation caused
delinquency involvement to increase for those whose parents were less acculturated,
suggesting the presence of a widened generation gap exacerbated by acculturation.”
Wong (1997) concluded that “the findings lend considerable support to
intergenerational conflict theory.” Furthermore, in a study of 58 Cambodian
American youth in California, Lim, Levenson and Go (1999) found that the
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adolescents who were less acculturated, tended to have delinquent behaviors.
Interestingly, however, the authors did not find parent-child difference in
acculturation to be significantly related to delinquency.
In addition to substance abuse and delinquency, intergenerational conflict can
have other serious consequences if it is not dealt with appropriately. For instance,
Ying, Coombs and Lee (1999) present an incident where a young man was disowned
by his parents because he was gay. While we may argue that many families would
not accept their child’s homosexuality, there are two specific nuances for Asian
American families though. First, in some Asian cultures homosexuality is
considered not to exist (and there may not even be a word for it directly). While
conventional knowledge would assert that is still does exist, but the point to be taken
is the level to which homosexuality is rejected. This further contributes to the
isolation this youth experiences (Yee et al., 1998). If parents have no knowledge of
homosexuality prior to living in the U.S. they may blame Westernization for this
sexual orientation (Yee et al., 1998). Second, as described earlier, a child’s behavior
reflects upon the whole family. This is where the concept of ‘disowning’ a child
comes into play. It can be considered so disgraceful for the family that the gay child
is now no longer considered part of the family. Such feelings of intense rejection
can easily cause suicidal thoughts, something for mental health professionals to keep
in mind. Beyond issues of sexual orientation, Barsky, Este and Collins (1995) warn
that in general, “Adolescents who believe that their parents are too strict may be
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vulnerable to the temptation to run away, because confronting conflict directly is not
seen as possible.”
Measurement o f Asian American Intergenerational Conflict
Research on the measurement of Asian American parent-child conflict has
been limited. While there has been much to say about parent-child conflict within
Asian American families (Lee & Zhan, 1998), the research methods by which this
information was derived vary greatly. A pivotal study on this topic was conducted
by Chung (2001) in the validation of the Intergenerational Conflict Inventory (ICI).
The ICI was one of the first published and validated measure of Asian American
parent-child conflict. While other research has relied upon narratives, open-ended
questions, and the like, to determine the areas of conflict within Asian American
families, the ICI is a psychometrically sound quanitative instrument. This gives
researchers the opportunity to collect data that then can be compared across studies
and subsequently, improve the generalizability of the findings.
Summary o f Literature on Asian American Intergenerational Conflict
The development of intergenerational conflict has often been attributed to the
fact that children of “Asian immigrants are socialized into two cultures, the culture
of the family and the culture of the larger American society. Most parents try to
inculcate ethnic pride and awareness of their cultural heritage in their children. For
young school-age children, this sometimes poses a problem.” (Das & Kemp, 1997)
That is, children are often still in the early development stages of their own ethnic
identity and are trying to meet both society and their parents’ wishes of who they
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should become. Researchers have also pointed to differing levels of acculturation to
explain this basis for conflict: “Studies have indicated that the acculturation process
may create intergenerational conflict.. .surrounding role expectations, and individual
behavior [which] in turn, tends to destabilize family relations” (Bhattacharya, 1998).
Chung and Bemak (1998) discuss the consequences: “Intergenerational conflict
between parent(s) and children may occur [because] with children who are
acculturating more rapidly then their parents, it is typical that many parents
experience the loss of traditional cultural authority and control as their children
become more outspoken, challenging parental authority and the ‘old culture.’” Since
there are many theories as to why and how intergenerational conflict exists, this
research aids in bringing to light how acculturation and family functioning influence
parent-child conflict in Asian American families.
Research Questions and Hypotheses
The stress brought about by immigration is taking a toll upon Asian
American families. The difference in cultural experiences of parents and children
engender a clashing of cultural values and expectations. This leads to parent-child
conflict which, if left unchecked, will erode the family unit and cause a strain in
parent-child relationships. As such, the more that can be learned about
intergenerational conflict and Asian American family functioning, the better
equipped the field of psychology is to develop interventions to aid these families.
Therefore the purpose of this study is to gain information about the parent-child
conflict and family functioning of Asian American community college students in
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order to understand how best to develop future psychological interventions to aid in
reducing intergenerational conflict among Asian American families. This study
sheds light on the interrelatedness of the numerous variables involved in parent-child
conflict within Asian American families and in particular, the role of acculturation.
The primary goal of this study is to determine how well acculturation and different
types of family functioning predict intergenerational conflict. The secondary goals
of the study were to examine gender and ethnic group differences in
intergenerational conflict and family functioning, as well as, the relationship of
acculturation to family functioning. The specific research questions are as follows:
Research Question 1.
Do behavioral and values acculturation and family functioning predict
intergenerational conflict?
Research Question 2.
Do behavioral and values acculturation predict family functioning?
Research Question 3.
Are there gender and ethnic differences in intergenerational conflict and
family functioning?
Hypothesis 1: It is hypothesized that female participants will experience more
intergenerational conflict than male participants.
Hypothesis 2: Southeast Asian American participants will experience more
intergenerational conflict than all other ethnic groups.
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Limitations
Whenever one tries to describe a phenomenon there is always the risk of
either generalizing too much or making it too specific and therefore limiting its
helpfulness. The present review of literature attempted to shed light on the issue of
intergenerational conflict for all Asian American families. This is challenging given
Asian ethnic group differences: “The Asian American population comprises
historically, socially, and culturally diverse ethnic groups. Given this diversity,
investigators caution that combining disparate ethnic groups together may lead to
erroneous conclusions.” (Uehara, Takeuchi, & Smukler, 1994) Therefore due to the
cultural differences among Asian Americans, additional references for specific Asian
ethnic groups were included where possible. This study addresses these concerns by
examining ethnic group differences and sampling from an ethnically diverse student
population.
Chapter Footnotes
Footnote 1:
For more on Vietnamese American family structure and dynamics, see Chung and
Bemak (1998) and Yee (1992); for Laotian American families see Moore et al.
(1997); for Korean American families, see Drachman, Kwon-Ahn, & Paulino (1996);
for Japanese American families see Homma-True (1997); for Filipino American
families see Almirol (1982); for Chinese American families see D. Chen (1997) and
X. Chen (1997); and for Asian Indian American families, see Ramisetty-Mikler
(1993) and Prathikanti (1997).
Footnote 2:
For more on gender issues in South Asian American identity development, see
Ibrahim, Ohnishi, and Sandhu (1997) and Hines et al.. (1992); for Vietnamese
American women, see Yee (1992); and for Asian American men see Kim, O’Neil,
and Owen (1996).
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Footnote 3:
For more information on interracial dating as a source of conflict in Asian American
families, see Fujino (1997 and 2000). For interracial dating issues within Asian
Indian families see Durvasula and Mylvaganam (1994). For interracial marriage
patterns across all Asian American ethnic groups, see Kitano, Fujino and Sato
(1998).
Footnote 4:
For more on the emphasis on educational success among Asian American families,
see Hsia and Peng, (1998), Kim and Chun (1994), and Lew, Allen, Papouchis, and
Ritzier (1998), for Korean American children Choi, Bempechat, and Ginsburg
(1994), and for Japanese American families see Shoho (1994).
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Chapter III - Method
This chapter will describe the methods employed in this study. The
participant sample will be described in detail, followed by an outline of the
procedure. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the measurement instruments
included in this study. This study is descriptive and non-experimental with a causal-
comparative design (Tanaka et al., 1998). A survey containing questions on
participant’ demographic information; level of intergenerational conflict, family
functioning, and acculturation was administered to community college students in
the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
Participants
Thirty-three of the distributed 256 surveys were invalid. The valid sample
consisted of 223 Asian American students, with 53.8% female (n=120) and 45.7%
male (n=102). One participant failed to report sex. All participants were enrolled at
a community college in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
It was decided to only include participants aged 30 and under. This
eliminated 27 participants from the sample. Since family functioning and parent-
child conflict are undoubtedly affected by time and developmental stage an age limit
was set with the sample. Five of the original participants were over the age of 38
(including a 60-year-old participant) and it is likely that their looking back on their
childhood and conflict with parents will be different than an 18-year-old who is still
living with his parents. Also, participants over age 30 are more likely to have their
own children and thus their recalled data may be influenced by the experience of
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now being a parent themselves. It has been shown that recalled information may not
be as valid as current experiences. Henry, Moffitt, Caspi, Langley, and Silva (1994)
conducted a longitudinal study with youth from birth to 18 years of age and found
that subjective reports of psychological states and family processes differed between
prospective and retrospective measures. Thus reliance on retrospective reports must
be cautioned and therefore the effect of time was reduced by placing an age limit on
the sample.
Of the 196 participants who are below the age of 30, 55.1 % were female
(n=108) and 44.9 % were male («=88). All demographic data is summarized in
Table 1. Participants’ average age was 22.06 years (SD = 3.37, range 16 to 30).
This mean age is younger than the overall mean age of the college from which the
sample was drawn (33 years of age). Students who attend community colleges are
typically older than those from traditional four-year colleges for a variety of reasons,
among them: older students returning to school after having been in the workforce,
students who already have a college degree but are returning for a different
certificate or degree, students who are of lower income and have to hold full time
jobs for financial reasons while taking classes part-time (which extends their college
completion time), and students who immigrated from another country and have to
repeat schooling in the U.S. even if they had college degrees from their country of
origin.
The average number of years of education after high school was 2.74 years
(SD = 1.91, range 0 to 10). The participants have lived in the U.S. for an average of
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16.29 years (SD - 7.64, range 1 to 30). Almost forty-two percent (41.8%) of the
participants reported being bom in the U.S., 56.6 % in Asia, and 1.5% in Europe or
Canada. This figure is consistent with the national 1992 figure of 62% of Asian
American residents being foreign-born (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1992).
Regarding to the ethnicity of the participants, 21.9 % of the participants identified
themselves as being Vietnamese, 21.4% as being Chinese, 13.3 % as being Filipino,
7.1% as being multiethnic Asian American (i.e. more than one Asian ethnicity was
endorsed), 9.7% as being Japanese, 9.2% as being Korean, 3.6% as being Taiwanese,
1.0% as being Asian Indian, 2.6% as being Cambodian, and 1.0% as being Hmong,
1.0% as being Thai, 6.6 % as Southeast Asian, and 1.5% as being multiracial. When
performing analyses based on ethnicity differences, Chinese and Taiwanese were
combined into one ethnic group, and Cambodian, Vietnamese, Hmong and Thai
were combined with the Southeast Asian group. Due to the small sample size of
some ethnic groups, only Filipino, Southeast Asian, and Chinese/Taiwanese groups
were included in the analyses focusing on ethnicity differences.
In terms of generational status, 55.1% of the participants reported being 1s t
generation (if they were not bom in the U.S.), and 37.2% reported being 2n d
generation (if they were bom in the U.S. and at least one parent not bom in the U.S.).
Thus, 92.3% of the participants were either 1st or 2n d generation. Finally, 5.1% of the
participants were 4th generation; and 2.6% of the participants were 3rd generation.
The most common situation endorsed by participants was their family as having
immigrated in search of a better life, which was 60% of the sample, followed by
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21.6% describing their family as joining relatives already in the U.S., 11.1 %
described their family as fleeing the home country, and finally 7.4% reported other
reasons for immigration (including several Filipino American participants who stated
that their family originally came to the U.S. as part of the U.S. military).
Table 1
Demographic Characteristics o f Participants (N = 196)
Characteristic M SD
Age at time of survey (years) 22.06 3.37
Education after high school (years) 2.74 1.91
Years lived in the US 16.29 7.64
Father’s years of education 13.45 3.74
Mother’s year o f education 12.95 3.74
n %
Sex
Female 108 55.1
Male 8 8 44.9
Location Bom
US 82 41.8
Asia 1 1 1 56.6
Europe 2 1 . 0
Canada 1 .5
Ethnic Groups
Southeast Asian (Cambodian, Vietnamese, Hmong, and Thai) 65 33.2
Chinese and Taiwanese 49 25
Filipino 26 13.3
Multiethnic Asian 14 7.1
Japanese 19 9.7
Korean 18 9.2
Others (Asian Indian, Other Asian, Multiracial) 5 2.5
Generation Status
First generation 108 55.1
Second generation 73 37.2
Third generation 5 2 . 6
Fourth generation 1 0 5.1
Reason for Immigration
Search for a better life 114 60.0
Join relatives already in US 2 1 1 1 . 1
Fleeing home country 41 2 1 . 6
Other 14 7.4
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Table 1 (continued)
Demographic Characteristics o f Participants (N = 196) _ _ _ _ _
Characteristic n %
Family Socioeconomic Class Status
Working class 43 21.9
Lower middle class 29 14.8
Middle class 85 43.4
Upper middle class 29 14.8
Upper class 1 0 5.1
Family Annual Income
Less than $20,000 39 2 1
$20,001 -$40,000 36 19.4
$40,001 - $60,000 44 23.7
$60,001 - $80,000 2 2 1 1 . 8
$80,001 - $ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 . 8
Over $100,000 23 12.4
Birth Order
Eldest 70 35.7
Middle child 46 23.5
Youngest child 63 32.1
Only child 17 8.7
Primary Ethnic Composition of Childhood Neighborhood
Asian American 95 49.7
European American 31 16.2
Latino American 2 0 10.5
African American 19 9.9
Other or an equal ethnic group mix 26 13.6
Procedure
The undergraduate participants were recruited from undergraduate
psychology, counseling and Asian American studies courses. Some professors gave
their students extra credit to participate in the study. The study was advertised as
studying family functioning among college students. The students were given the
packet of questionnaires and a letter of informed consent in class. There was no
threat or coercion connected to completing the survey. The students were not
penalized for non-participation and could withdraw at any time. Participants were
notified of the voluntary nature as well as any risks or benefits of the study on the
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letter of informed consent. The criterion for inclusion was the participants’ self-
identified ethnicity that falls under the Asian American category.
Measures
Demographic Variables
Self-reported information of gender, age, ethnicity, generational level,
country bom in, years in United States, birth order, reason for immigration, ethnicity
of neighborhood, educational level, self-reported class, family income and
educational level of parents was collected as background variables on the
participants.
Intergenerational Conflict
The dependent variable of intergenerational conflict was measured by the
Intergenerational Conflict Inventory (ICI; Chung, 2001). This 33-item inventory
was developed for use with Asian American young adults to measure parent-child
conflict. The respondent is asked to self-report on a six-point Likert Scale the degree
to which they encounter different areas of intergenerational conflict (from 1.0, No
conflict over this issue to 6.0, A lot of conflict over this issue). The instrument has
three subscales: Education and Career, Dating and Marriage, and Family
Expectations. An overall score of Total Conflict is also derived. Items include such
statements (conflict areas) as: Expectations based on birth order, How much time to
help out in the family business, Being compared to others, Race of the person I date
or marry, and Which school to attend. The ICI demonstrates psychometric
soundness, both in terms of reliability and validity (Chung, 2001). Coefficient alpha
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reliability measures for the three subscales were .86 for Family Expectations, .88 for
Education and Career, and .84 for Dating and Marriage (Chung, 2001). Test-retest
reliability ranged from .81 to .87 (Chung, 2001).
Family Functioning
The measure of family functioning administered was the Family Assessment
Device (FAD; Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983). The FAD was chosen over other
measures of family functioning, such as the Family Environment Scale (Moos &
Moos, 1986) and FACES III (Olsen, Portner, & Lavee, 1985), due to its
multidimensional nature and its previous use with Asian American samples. While a
General Functioning score is obtained, the FAD also provides scores in six other
family dimensions (Epstein et al., 1993). The FAD has also demonstrated successful
used with Asian American samples of ethnic and geographical diversity. Morris
(1990) examined the cultural sensitivity of the FAD for use with Hawaiian American
and Japanese American families in Hawaii. In addition, Chen, Westling, Chung and
Kim (1996) examined ethnic group differences in family functioning using the FAD
with 216 Asian American undergraduate college students in Southern California, the
same geographical region of the present study. Finally, the authors of the FAD
themselves “take the position that knowledge of the culture to which a family
belongs is necessary for understanding a family, and the judgments of health or
normality are relative to the culture of the family” (p. 141; Epstein et al., 1993).
The FAD is designed as a screening device to determine family functioning,
identify problem areas, and operationalize the McMaster Model of Family
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Functioning (MMFF; Epstein et al., 1993). The MMFF describes structural,
occupational, and transactional properties of families and using the FAD, it assesses
the six family dimensions (each composed of 5-12 statements): Problem Solving,
Communication, Roles, Affective Involvement, Affective Responsiveness, and
Behavior Control. Affective Involvement is the extent to which family members are
interested in and place value on each other’s activities and concerns. Affective
Responsiveness is the extent to which individual family members are able to respond
to a given stimulus with the appropriate quality and quantity of feelings. Behavioral
Control refers to the family’s expression and maintenance of standards for the
behavior of its members. Communication is the exchange of information among
family members. Problem Solving on this scale refers to the family’s ability to
resolve problems at a level that maintains effective family functioning. The Roles
subscale shows whether the family has established patterns of behavior by which
family members fulfill family functions. Finally, General Functioning indicates the
overall health/pathology of the family (Epstein et al., 1993). The FAD contains 60
statements about an individual’s family and can be completed by any family member
over the age of twelve (Halvorsen, 1991). Using a four-point Likert scale ranging
from 1.0 (healthy) to 4.0 (unhealthy), the person indicates how strongly he or she
feels each item describes his or her family. Psychometric evaluation deems the FAD
to have acceptable internal consistency, reliability, test-retest reliability, and free
from social desirability bias (Halvorsen, 1991). Cronbach’s Alpha reliability
measures of the subscales ranged from .74 to .92 and test-retest reliability measures
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with 45 non-clinical individuals ranged from .66 to .76 (Epstein et al., 1983; Miller
& Epstein, 1985). Concurrent and predictive validity were also demonstrated with a
sample of 218 nonclinical families and 98 clinical families. Discriminant analysis
revealed that 67% of the nonclinical group and 64% of the clinical group were
correctly predicted based on their FAD scores.
Behavioral Acculturation
The 18-item Asian American Multidimensional Acculturation-Enculturation
Scale (AAMAES; Chung et al., 2001) was used as the acculturation instrument for
this study. The AAMAES was chosen over other Asian American acculturation
measures due to its multidimensionality. While there are different schools of thought
in conceptualizing acculturation, the AAMAES considers acculturation to be
multidimensional and is thus an orthogonal instrument. That is, individuals do not
simply lie on one end or the other, unacculturated versus assimilated, but rather may
share qualities of each in their individual bicultural way. The self-report six-point
Likert scale AAMAES best captures this phenomenon (ranging from 1.0, Not very
well to 6.0, Very well). This is an improvement over the linear, but often used
Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA; Suinn et al., 1987).
As was discussed in the acculturation section of Chapter 2, while the SL-ASIA is
well published, it is limited by the singular score respondents receives ranging from
1.00 (low acculturation/Asian identified) to 5.00 (assimilated/Westem identified).
The SL-ASIA is also heavily depends on nonorthogonal behavior-based items.
Acculturation is a very complex issue and one’s behaviors may not always indicate
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6 4
how one feels or thinks. For instance, someone may be more Asian identified, yet
she does not eat Asian food often because she’s off at college in a non-Asian area
and it’s not available. On the other hand, someone may be very Americanized, yet
he always speaks Vietnamese at home because his parents do not speak English.
Therefore having a strictly linear model of acculturation may not be sufficient (see
Gim, 1994).
The AAMAES amends this concern by addressing a variety of content areas
such as behavior and interests in the area of language, social relations, leisure, etc.
Two scores were used that give a measurement of each participant’s extent of
identification with their culture of origin (Asian Acculturation) and mainstream
majority culture (Western Acculturation). Participants then can be categorically
grouped into four acculturation statuses: traditional (high Asian, low White),
marginalized (low Asian, low White), bicultural (high Asian, high White), and
assimilated (low Asian, high White). This measure has demonstrated both reliability
and validity in psychometric testing. Three additional experimental questions not in
the published version where added by the author of the scale in this study.
Values Acculturation
Endorsement of Asian values was measured using the Asian Values Scale
(A VS; Kim, Atkinson & Yang, 1999). The A VS contains 36 Likert scale items in
which respondents report the extent to which they adhere to traditional Asian cultural
values. The seven-point scale ranges from 1.0 (strongly disagree) to 7.0 (strongly
agree). After accounting for reverse-scored items, a total Values Score is derived.
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Sample items include: One should not be boastful, One need not remain reserved and
tranquil, One should not inconvenience others, and One should think about one’s
group before oneself. Factor analysis and comparisons of the AVS to other cultural
values and Asian American acculturation scales provided evidence of convergent
and divergent validity for the AVS (Kim et al., 1999). Additionally, coefficient
alphas of .81 and .82 based on two samples were demonstrated, as was a test-retest
reliability of .86 (Kim et al., 1999).
This scale was selected for two main reasons. One, it is the only published
instrument that assesses general Asian values. Two, the AVS is essentially a
measure of values enculturation and assesses the degree to which the participants are
not acculturated. As we know, acculturation is a complex variable and to assess it
properly it is wise to include multiple measures. Many acculturation measures focus
on how much the participant identified with the majority culture (i.e. how
Americanized s/he is). The AVS provides this study with a unique look of
acculturation and informs us of the degree to which the sample is not acculturated.
Thus this study does not fall into the trap of measuring acculturation in a one-way
linear fashion.
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6 6
Chapter IV - Results
This chapter discusses the research findings as well as a description of the
statistical methods employed. The data were coded and prepared for computerized
analysis using SPSS-PC 10.00. Statistical analyses were conducted in several stages
in keeping. First, basic descriptive statistics and Pearson Product intercorrelations of
all the major variables were examined. The primary research question was examined
via stepwise multiple regression in the first stage of analysis to investigate which of
the variables of Behavioral acculturation, Values acculturation, and Family
Functioning best predicts Intergenerational Conflict. In the second stage of analysis,
additional stepwise multiple regressions were conducted to examine the relationship
of Behavioral and Values Acculturation to Family Functioning. In the final stage of
analysis, Multivariate Analysis of Variances (MANOVA) tests were conducted to
see if there are gender and ethnic group differences in family functioning and
intergenerational conflict.
Stepwise Multiple Regression was selected to test the main research
questions over Simultaneous Multiple Regression because the primary goal of the
study was to determine which variables best predict intergenerational conflict rather
than the 'unique' contribution of each independent variable, when controlling the
effects of others
Intercorrelations
Means, Standard Deviations, and Zero-order Pearson Product Correlations
among all measured variables are shown in Table 2.
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6 7
Table 2
Zero-order Pearson Product Correlation fo r Overall Population _______ ________
Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Demographic Characteristics
1. Sex
2. Age .11
3. US .07 .27***
4. SES -.06 .17** .13
Intergenerational Conflict Subscales
5: FE . 1 1 -.26*** -.17* -.15* -
6 : EC . 1 0 -.26*** - . 1 0 -.04
7 7 ***
-
7: DM -.25*** -.08 -.05 - . 1 0 .45*** .37*** -
acculturation
8 : A .24** .08 - 52*** -.05 . 0 2 .07 . 0 2 -
9: W .05 - . 0 0 2 .50*** .05 - . 1 0 -.05 -.15*
_ 1 9 **
10. V .13 -.18* .04 .04 .19** .28*** .2 0 ** . 1 0
amily Functioning Subscales
11. PS 0 2 -.06 .14 - . 0 2
^2 *** 3g***
.23** -.25**
12. C 09 -.06 -.03 -.05
4Q*** 32***
.18* -.2 0 **
13. R 05 -.08 . 1 0 -.15* .37***
34***
.2 0 ** -.25***
14. AR 14 -.08 .1 1 -.06 .40*** .35*** .2 1 ** -.30***
15. Al 16* -.05 -.03 - . 0 1
27***
.27*** .16* -.2 1 **
16. BC 1 2 - . 0 2 - . 1 0 -.15* . 1 0 . 1 0 .04 -.18*
17. GF 16* -.08 .05 -.07 .52***
4 7 ***
.26***
_ 3 4 ***
Table 2 (Continued)
Zero-order Pearson Product Correlation fo r Overall Population
Variables ____ 9_____ _ 1 0 1_...12 _____ 13....... 14 15____ 16
10. V -.02
Family Functioning Subscales
11. PS -.04 .2 0 ** -
12. C -.15* .04 .63*** -
13. R .03 .08
5 4 ***
-
14. AR -.08 .2 1 ** .56*** .52*** .54*** -
15. Al -.06 . 1 0
4 3 *** 4Q***
.54*** .60*** -
16. BC -.16* -.09
2 7 * * * 2 3 *** 51***
24***
3 3 ***
-
17. GF -.08 . 1 1
7 7 sjc sjc sls
.65*** .6 6 ***
7 1 * * *
.63***
40***
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Table 2 (Continued)
Note. All scores are scaled scores. Demographic Variables: 1. Sex, 2. Age, 3. US yr = Years in the
US, 4. SES = Socioeconomic Status; Intergenerational Conflict Scales: 5. FE = Family Expectations,
6. EC^ Education and Career, 7. DM= Dating and Marriage; Acculturation Scales: 8. A= Behavioral
Asian Acculturation, 9. W = Behavioral Western Acculturation, 10. V = Values Acculturation;
Family Functioning: 11. PS = Problem Solving, 12. C = Communication, 13. R = Roles, 14. AR =
Affective Responsiveness, 15. Al = Affective Involvement, 16. BC = Behavioral Control, 17. GF=
General Functioning.
*p <.05; **p < .01; ***p <.001
Participants’ age was found to be significantly inversely related to
Intergenerational Conflict in the areas of Family Expectations (r = -.262, p = .000)
and Education and Career (r = -.257, p = .000). It was also significantly inversely
related Values Acculturation (r = -.180,/? = .012), but was not related to neither
aspects of Behavioral Acculturation (Asian or Western). Reported family
socioeconomic background was only found to be significantly inversely related to
Intergenerational Conflict in the area of Family Expectations (r = -.147,/? = .040),
and Family Functioning in the areas of Roles (r = -.149,/? = .040) and Behavioral
Control (r = -.144,/? = .045). Furthermore, participants’ sex was found to be
significantly inversely related to Dating and Marriage aspects of Intergenerational
Conflict (r = -.247,/? = .000), and only Asian Behavioral Acculturation (r = -.231, p
= .001). In the areas of Family Functioning, it is significantly related to, Affective
Involvement {r= .163,/? = .024), and General Functioning (r = .164,/? = .023). In
other words, within this study, female participants reported more Intergenerational
Conflict in the area of Dating and Marriage, and higher degree of Asian Behavioral
Acculturation, while male participants reported higher (unhealthier) levels o f Family
Functioning in the area of Affective Involvement and General Functioning.
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When examining the relationships between Intergenerational Conflict,
Acculturation, and Family Functioning, it was found that, within the different areas
of Intergenerational Conflict, Family Expectation was significantly related to
Education and Career (r = .774, p = .000) and Dating and Marriage (r = .452, p =
.000). Education and Career was also significantly related to Dating and Marriage (r
= .370, p = .000). Further, all three aspects of Intergenerational Conflict was
significantly related to Values Acculturation, and all aspects of Family Functioning,
except for Behavioral Control. In addition, Dating and Marriage aspect of
Intergenerational Conflict was significantly inversely related to Western Behavioral
Acculturation (r = -.145,p = .044), suggesting that less conflicts in the area of
Dating and Marriage in Intergenerational Conflict were associated with higher level
of Western Behavioral Acculturation among the participants in our study. This
relationship with Western Behavioral Acculturation was not observed in the other
two aspects of Intergenerational Conflict.
Regarding to Acculturation, Asian Behavioral Acculturation was found to be
significantly inversely related to Western Behavioral Acculturation (r = 192, p =
.008), but not with Values Acculturation. No relationship was observed between
Western Behavioral Acculturation and Values Acculturation, either, which supports
the hypothesis in this study that Behavioral Acculturation and Values Acculturation
are two different constructs of acculturation. When examining the relationship
between Acculturation and Family Functioning, Asian Behavioral Acculturation was
found to be significantly inversely related to all aspects of Family Functioning, while
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7 0
Western Behavioral Acculturation was found to be significantly inversely related to
only Communication and Behavioral Control aspects of Family Functioning (r = -
.153, p - .034; r = -.164,p = .024). Further, Values Acculturation was found to be
significantly related to Problem Solving, and Affective Responsiveness aspects of
Family Functioning (r = .198, p = .006; r = .21 \,p = .003). Within different areas of
Family Functioning, all areas of Family Functioning are significantly related to each
other, which suggest a common construct underlying all aspects measured in this
study.
Research Question 1: Do Behavioral and Values Acculturation and Family
Functioning Predict Intergenerational Conflict?
To examine the relationship between Intergenerational Conflict, Family
Functioning, and Acculturation, and to investigate the degree of predictability of
different dimensions of Family Functioning and Acculturation on each area of
Intergenerational Conflict, Stepwise Multiple Regression was performed with each
area of Intergenerational Conflict as dependent variables (Family Expectations,
Education and Career, and Dating and Marriage), seven dimensions of Family
Functioning (Problem Solving, Communication, Roles, Affective Responsiveness,
Affective Involvement, Behavior Control, and General Functioning) and both
dimensions of Behavioral Acculturation (Western and Asian) and Values
Acculturation as predicting variables. Results of the three Stepwise Multiple
Regressions revealed that different predictors emerged when examining three
dimensions of Intergenerational Conflict separately (see Table 3).
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Table 3
Summary o f Stepwise Regression Analysis fo r Intergenerational Conflict (N =202) ____
Scale_____________ B SE j } _ _R~^___ R2 change _ _ F change _ p
Family Expectation
General Functioning a .937 .108 .548 .300 75.829 . 0 0 0
Asian Behavioral Acc .015 .004 .238 .351 .051 13.926 . 0 0 0
Behavior Control -.354 .161 -.145 .369 .017 4.804 .030
Education and Career
General Functioning a 1.090 .136 .515 .265 63.834 . 0 0 0
Asian Behavioral Acc .019 .005 .244 .319 .054 13.885 . 0 0 0
Values Acculturation .338 .109 .192 .354 .036 9.632 . 0 0 2
Dating and Marriage
General Functioninga .684 .192 .259 .067 12.689 . 0 0 0
Values Acculturation .405 .158 .184 . 1 0 0 .033 6.536 .011
Note. a: Best Predictor within each dimension
Acc: Acculturation
With regard to the area of Family Expectations, General Functioning
emerged as the best predictor [/?= .55, p = .000], which explained 30 % of the
variances in Family Expectations Intergenerational Conflict. Other significant
predictors included Asian Behavioral Acculturation explaining an additional 5.1 %
[/?= .24,p = .000], Behavior Control explaining a further additional 1.7 % \J3= -.15,
p = .030] of the variances above and beyond all the previous predictors. This
suggests that unhealthy General Family Functioning has the best predictability in
predicting high intergenerational conflict in Family Expectations. Next, high Asian
Behavioral Acculturation, and low (healthy) Behavior Control each further
contributed to the predictability of high intergenerational conflict in Family
Expectations in this order.
In the area of Education and Career, three predictors emerged, including
General Functioning, Asian Behavioral Acculturation, and Values Acculturation.
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The best predictor was General Functioning, which explained 26.5% of the variances
in the area of Education and Career of Intergenerational Conflict [fi= .52, p = .000];
next was Asian Behavioral Acculturation, which further accounted for 5.4% of the
variances [(3= .24,p = .002]; the last significant predictor was Values Acculturation,
which accounted for another 3.6% of the variances [fi— .20, p = .002], This suggests
that in predicting high Education and Career intergenerational conflict, unhealthy
General Family Functioning was the best variable, second best was high Asian
Behavioral acculturation, and the next significant predictor was high Values
Acculturation.
The last dimension of Intergenerational Conflict was in the area of Dating
and Marriage, of which 2 significant predictors emerged, including General Family
Functioning and Values Acculturation. The best predictor was General Family
Functioning, explaining 6.7% of the variances [/?= .26, p = .004]; next was Values
Acculturation, explaining an additional 3.3% of the variances [/?= .18,p = .011
above and beyond the effects of General Family Functioning. This suggests that, in
predicting high intergenerational conflict in Dating and Marriage, unhealthy General
Family Functioning was the best variable, with the next best predictor being high
Values Acculturation
Research Question 2: Do Behavioral and Values Acculturation Predict
Family Functioning?
Stepwise multiple regressions analysis was performed to examine the
predictive relationship of Behavioral and Values Acculturation to Family
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73
Functioning: Problem Solving, Communication, Roles, Affective Responsiveness,
Affective Involvement, Behavior Control, and General Functioning. Using these
seven subscales of the FAD as dependent variables, seven individual stepwise
multiple regressions were conducted. Results (summarized in Table 4) indicate that
Asian Behavioral Acculturation was the best predictor of all seven areas of Family
Functioning in an inverse manner. In other words, high Asian Behavioral
Acculturation was the best predictor for healthy family functioning in all seven areas
of the FAD.
Table 4
Summary o f Stepwise Regression Analysis fo r Variables Predicting Seven Areas o f Family
Functioning ____________________ _______
Scale B SE
P
R-
/* ; • '
change Fchange
P
Problem Solving (N = 189)
Asian Behavioral Acc “ ■ -.008 . 0 0 2 -.241 .058 11.586 . 0 0 1
Values Acc .152 .049 .217 .105 .046 9.707 . 0 0 2
Communication (N = 190)
Asian Behavioral Acc a -.007 . 0 0 2 -.198 .039 7.684 .006
Western Behavioral Acc -.008 .003 -.199 .077 .038 7.785 .006
Roles (N = 187)
Asian Behavioral Acc a
Affective Responsiveness (N =
-.007
189)
. 0 0 2 -.259 .067 13.424 . 0 0 0
Asian Behavioral Acc a -.011 .003 -.288 .083 17.007 . 0 0 0
Values Acc . 2 0 0 .058 .236 .138 .055 11.984 . 0 0 1
Western Behavioral Acc -.006
Affective Involvement (N = 187)
.003 -.142 .158 .019 4.268 .040
Asian Behavioral Acc a -.007 . 0 0 2 -.209 .044 8.523 .004
Behavior Control (N = 189)
Asian Behavioral Acc a -.005 . 0 0 2 -.178 .032 6.165 .014
Western Behavioral Acc -.006 . 0 0 2 -.206 .073 .041 8.234 .005
General Functioning (N = 188)
Asian Behavioral Acc a -.013 .003 -.343 .118 25.003 . 0 0 0
Values Acc .128 .059 .150 .140 . 0 2 2 4.781 .030
Western Behavioral Acc -.006 .003 -.137 .158 .018 4.043 .046
Note. “ Best Predictor within each dimension
Acc: Acculturation
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In Problem Solving, Asian Behavioral Acculturation accounted to 5.8% of
the Variances [/?= -.24, Fchange (1, 188) = 11.59, p = .001] and Values
Acculturation further accounted for another 4.6% of the variances [/?= .22, Fchange
(1, 217) = 9.70,p = .002], This suggests that while higher Asian Behavioral
Acculturation best predicts healthier Problem Solving Family Functioning, low
Values Acculturation is attributed to unhealthy Problem Solving Family Functioning
above and beyond the effect of Asian Behavioral Acculturation.
In Communication, Asian Behavioral Acculturation accounted for 3.9% of
the variances \fi- -.20, Fchange (1, 189) = 7.68, p = .006] and Western Behavioral
Acculturation further accounted for another 3.8% of the variances [fi= -.20, Fchange
(1,188) = 7.79, p - .006], This suggests that above and beyond the effects of higher
Asian Behavioral Acculturation on healthy Communication Family Functioning,
higher Western Behavioral Acculturation further predicts healthy Communication
Family Functioning.
In the area of Roles, the only significant predictor was Asian Behavioral
Acculturation, which accounted for 6.7% of the variances [/?= -.26, Fchange (1,
186) = 13.42, p = .000], indicating higher Asian Behavioral Acculturation with
healthy Roles Family Functioning.
In the area of Affective Responsiveness, higher Asian Behavioral
Acculturation best predicts healthy Affective Responsiveness Family Functioning,
accounted for 8.3% of the variances [fi= -.29, Fchange (1, 188) = 17.01,/? = .000];
next with lower Values Acculturation predicting healthy Affective Responsiveness,
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which further accounted for 5.5% of the variances [/?= .24, Fchange (1, 187) =
11.98, p - .001]; and finally with higher Western Behavioral Acculturation
predicting healthy Affective Responsiveness accounted for another 1.9% of the
variances [fi= -.14, Fchange (1, 186) = 4.27,p = .040].
In the area of Affective Involvement, Asian Behavioral Acculturation was the
only significant predictor accounted for 4.4% of the variances [/?= -.21, Fchange (1,
186) = 8.52,p = .004], with higher Asian Behavioral Acculturation predicting
healthy Affective Involvement Family Functioning.
In the area of Behavior Control, two predictors were significant. Higher
Asian Behavioral Acculturation best predicted healthy Behavior Control Family
Functioning, and accounted for 3.2% of the variances [fi- -.18, Fchange (1, 188) =
6.17,/?= .014], when higher Western Behavioral Acculturation further accounted for
another 4.1% of the variances [/?= -.21, Fchange (1, 187) = 8.23,/? = .005],
Finally, in the area of General Family Functioning, Asian Behavioral
Acculturation was again the best predictor, while accounting for 11.8% of the
variances [/?= -.34, Fchange (1, 187) = 25.00,/? = .000], Lower Values
Acculturation further predicted unhealthy General Functioning, and accounted for an
additional 2.2% of the variances \fi= .15, Fchange (1, 186) = 4.78, p = .030]. Lastly,
above and beyond the effects of Asian Behavioral Acculturation and Values
Acculturation, higher Western Behavioral Acculturation predicted healthy General
Functioning, and accounted for even further an additional 1.8% of the variances [fi=
-.14, Fchange (1, 185) = 4.04,/? = .046],
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Research Question 3: Are There Gender and Ethnic Group Differences in
Intergenerational Conflict and Family Functioning?
It Was Hypothesized that Female Participants and Southeast Asian American
Participants Will Experience More Intergenerational Conflict.
Gender, Ethnicity, and Family Functioning
Because of small sample sizes of several ethnic groups, only three ethnic
groups were included in this stage of analyses, they are, Southeast Asian Americans
(;n = 65, 33.2%), Chinese/Taiwanese Americans in - 49, 25%), and Filipino
Americans (n = 26, 13.3%). A 2 (gender) X 3 (ethnic groups) MANOVA was
performed, with seven areas of family functioning as the dependent variables
(Problem Solving, Communication, Roles, Affective Responsiveness, Affective
Involvement, Behavior Control, and General Functioning). The MANOVA revealed
a significant effect by gender [Wilks’s X - .843, F (7, 117) = 3.109, jt? = .005], but not
by ethnic groups. Subsequent univariate and post hoc analyses revealed significant
gender differences in only the Affective Involvement, Behavioral Control, and
General Functioning subscale of the FAD with males participants scoring higher
(unhealthier) than females (see Table 5 and 6).
Table 5
Gender X Ethnicity Multivariate and Univariate Analysis o f Variance fo r Seven Subscales o f the
Family Assessment Device (Family Functioning) With Significant Post Hoc Tests ^ jr ___
Source A F d f p Significant post hoc test
Gender
Problem Solving
Communication
Roles
Affective Responsiveness
.843 3.109 7 .005
.455 1 .501
.993 1 .321
.001 1 .981
2.771 1 .099
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Table 5 (Continued)
Gender X Ethnicity Multivariate and Univariate Analysis o f Variance fo r Seven Subscales o f the
Family Assessment Device (Family Functioning) With Significant Post Hoc Tests
Source X F d f p Significant post hoc test
Gender (continued)
Affective Involvement 8.058 1 .005 Females < Males
Behavior Control 4.423 1 .038 Females < Males
General Functioning 5.825 1 .017 Females < Males
Ethnicity .873 1.171 14 .298
Problem Solving .046 2 .955
Communication 1.015 2 .365
Roles 2.243 2 .111
Affective Responsiveness .173 2 .842
Affective Involvement 1.412 2 .248
Behavior Control .341 2 .712
General Functioning 1.452 2 .238
Table 6
Means and Standard Deviations fo r the Seven Subscales o f the Family Assessment Device (Family
Functioning) by Gender and Ethnicity
Problem
Solving
Communication
„ . Affective
Roles _
Responsiveness
Variable M SD M SD M SD M SD
Gender
Female 2.35 .50 2.32 .48 2.41 .39 2.51 .57
Male 2.42 .37 2.42 .43 2.44 .37 2.70 .47
Ethnic Group
Southeast Asian 2.37 .43 2.38 .50 2.49 .40 2.63 .55
Chinese/T aiwanese 2.41 .39 2.31 .38 2.35 .33 2.59 .50
Filipino 2.35 .60 2.41 .51 2.38 .41 2.51 .56
Table 6 (continued)
Means and Standard Deviations fo r the Seven Subscales o f the Family Assessment Device (Family
Functioning) by Gender and Ethnicity ............... ....................... ........... ................................
Affective Behavior General
Involvement Control Functioning
Variable M SD M SD M SD
Gender
Female 2.35 .50 2.15 .42 2.18 .53
Male 2.60 .46 2.26 .40 2.40 .54
Ethnic Group
Southeast Asian 2.47 .48 2.23 .41 2.33 .58
Chinese/T aiwanese 2.43 .51 2.17 .39 2.21 .39
Filipino 2.49 .56 2.16 .47 2.28 .54
Note. All scores are scaled scores.
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78
Gender, Ethnicity, and Intergenerational Conflict
To examine gender and ethnic group differences in intergenerational conflict,
a 2 (gender) X 3 (ethnic groups) Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) was
performed with 3 subscales of the Intergenerational Conflict Inventory as the
dependent variables (Family Expectations, Education and Career, and Dating and
Marriage). Only three ethnic groups were included in this stage of analyses: a)
Southeast Asian Americans (n — 65, 33.2%), b) Chinese/T aiwanese Americans (n =
49, 25%), and c) Filipino Americans (n - 26, 13.3%). The MANOVA revealed an
overall effect of participants’ gender [Wilks’s Z = .915, F (3, 132) = 4.088, p < .008]
and ethnicity [Wilks’s X= .903, F (6, 264) = 2.301,= .035], but not by their
interaction. Subsequent univariate analyses were conducted along with appropriate
post hoc tests to locate specific group differences. Table 7 provides a summary of
these analyses.
Table 7
Gender X Ethnicity Multivariate and Univariate Analysis o f Variance fo r Three Subscales o f the
Intergenerational Conflict Inventory With Significant Post Hoc Tests
Source X F d f p Significant post hoc test
Gender .915 4.088 3 .008
Family Expectations 4.156 1 .043 Female > Male participants
Education and Career 3.049 1 .083
Dating and Marriage 12.126 1 . 0 0 1 Female > Male participants
Ethnicity 2.301 6 .035
Family Expectations 5.016 2 .008 Southeast Asian > Filipino
Education and Career 2.084 2 .128
Dating and Marriage 4.773 2 . 0 1 0 Southeast Asian > Filipino
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79
Gender difference was observed in two of the three areas of intergenerational
conflict, in Family Expectations [F (I, 134) = 4.156, p ~ .043] and in Dating and
Marriage [F (1, 134) = 12.126, p — .001], both with female participants reporting
higher conflicts than male participants, supporting the research hypothesis (see Table
8 for means and standard deviations). Ethnic group differences were observed only
in the Family Expectation area [F (2, 134) = 4.603, p = .008] and in the Dating and
Marriage area [F (2 ,134) = 4.773, p = .010], both with Southeast Asian Americans
reporting higher conflicts than Filipino American participants, supporting the
research hypothesis.
Table 8
Means and Standard Deviations fo r the Three Subscales o f the Intergenerational Conflict Inventory
by Gender and Ethnicity .......................
Family Education and Dating and
Expectations Career____________Marriage
Variable M SD M SD M SD
Gender
Female (n - 78) 2.77 1.03 3.06 1.24 3.25 1.64
Male (n = 62) 2.55 .91 2.81 1 . 1 1 2.47 1.48
Ethnic Group
Southeast Asian (n = 65) 2.89 .95 3.1 1.09 3.19 1.67
Chinese/T aiwanese (« = 49) 2.57 .90 2.90 1.14 2.85 1.47
Filipino (n = 26) 2.31 1 . 1 1 2 . 6 8 1.45 2.30 1.58
Note. All scores are scaled scores.
Post Hoc Analyses
Gender Difference in Asian Behavioral Acculturation
Post hoc analysis was conducted to further examine the gender differences in
AMMAES Asian Behavioral Acculturation subscale. When all the items were
analyzed, 5 items were found to have significant gender differences: 1) proficiency
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80
in understanding Asian language, t (169.45) = 2.70, p = .006, (Levene’ s F = 6.784,/?
= .010); 2) proficiency in writing Asian language, t (193) = 2.28, p = .024, (Levene ’ $
F - .878, p = .350); 3) frequency of listening to Asian music, t (193) = 2.22,/? =
.027, (Levene 2.947,/? = .088); 4) Competency in understanding Asian culture
and traditions, t (160.95) = 3.924,/? = .000, (Levene’ s F = 12.185,/? = .001), and 5)
frequency of practicing Asian traditions and keeping Asian holidays, t (193) = 4.35,
p = .000, (Levene’ s F = 1.802, p = .181). Female participants reported significantly
higher values in all of the above five items than the males. Means and standard
deviations of the language component are included in Table 9.
Table 9
Summary ofM ean and Standard Deviations o f the Language Component Items in AAMAES, and
Items with Gender Differences _ _
AAMAES
Female (n = 107) Male (n = 8 8 )
M SD M SD
Language Component
Speaking 4.23 1.72 4.11 1 . 6 8
Understanding* 4.91 1.30 4.33 1.56
Reading 3.51 1.98 2.98 1.94
Writing* 3.34 2 . 0 1 2.69 1.90
Thinking 3.41 1.84 3.00 1.89
Others
Frequency listening to Asian Music* 4.36 1.81 3.75 1.99
Knowledge o f Asian Culture and Traditions* 4.98 1 . 0 0 4.32 1 . 2 0
Practicing Asian Traditions and Asian Holidays* 4.70 1.41 3.77 1.57
Note. All scores are scaled scores.
* indicate significant differences between female and male participants.
Ethnic Group Differences in Immigration Patterns
Post hoc analysis was performed to investigate if there was ethnic group
difference in immigration patterns. An one-way ANOVA was conducted to examine
differences in years immigrated to the United States among Southeast Asian
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81
Americans, Chinese/Taiwanese Americans, and Filipino Americans. Results
indicated that there was no ethnic group differences in the number of years they
immigrated to the United States, F (2, 137) = 1.544, p = .217 (Levene’ s F (2, 137) =
1.225,p = .297). However, when examining their reported reason for immigration,
25% of the Southeast Asian American sample reported reason being fleeing form
home country, versus 8.5% for Chinese/T aiwanese Americans, and 0% for Filipino
Americans (see Table 10 and 11 for Summary). Results of the cross-tabulation test
was significant, X2 = 22.14, p = .001, which suggests an ethnic group differences in
reasons for immigration among Southeast Asian, Chinese/T aiwanese, and Filipino
Americans.
Table 10
Summary o f Reason fo r Immigration ___________ ________ _____________ ___
Ethnic Groups
Reason for Immigration
Southeast
Asian
Chinese/
Taiwanese
Filipino Total
n 38 25 19 82
Better life
% within Reason 46.3% 30.5% 23.2% 1 0 0 .0 %
% within Group 61.3% 53.2% 73.1% 60.7%
% of Total 28.1% 18.5% 14.1% 60.7%
n 26 4 0 2 0
Fleeing home country
% within Reason
% within Group
80.0%
25.8%
2 0 .0 %
8.5%
.0 %
.0 %
1 0 0 .0 %
14.8%
% of Total 11.9% 3.0% ,0 & 14.8%
n 6 1 2 7 25
Join Relatives
% within Reason 24.0% 48.0% 28.0% 1 0 0 .0 %
% within Group 9.7% 25.5% 26.9% 18.5%
% of Total 4.4% 8.9% 5.2% 18.5%
n 2 6 0 8
Other
% within Reason 25.0% 75.0% .0 % 1 0 0 .0 %
% within Group 3.2% 12.8% .0 % 5.9%
% of Total 1.5% 4.4% .0 % 5.9%
n 62 47 26 135
% within Reason 45.9% 34.8% 19.3% 1 0 0 .0 %
% within Group 1 0 0 .0 % 1 0 0 .0 % 1 0 0 .0 % 1 0 0 .0 %
% o f Total 45.9% 34.8% 19.3% 1 0 0 .0 %
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Table 1 1
Means m d Standard Deviations o f Family Descriptive Statistics by Ethnic Groups _ _ __
Southeast Asian Chinese/Taiwanese Filipino
(n = 65) (n = 49) (n = 26)
Variable M SD M SD M SD
Years in the U.S. 14.35 6.95 16.53 8.35 16.65 6 . 8 8
Socioeconomic Status 2.29 1.13 2.76 1 . 2 2 2.69 .93
F amily Income 2.15 1.30 3.18 1.76 3.72 1.54
Note. Socioeconomic Status and Family Income are scaled scores
Ethnic Group Differences in Family Characteristics
Post hoc analyses were performed to further examine ethnic group
differences in family characteristics, including self-report socioeconomic status,
family income (see Table 11), and generational status (see Table 12).
Table 12
Summary o f Generational Status by Ethnic Groupt
Ethnic Groups
Reason for Immigration
Southeast Chinese/ _... .
. . rr ■ Filipino
Asian Taiwanese r
Total
n
% within Generation
First ., . ^
% within Group
% of Total
42
50.0%
64.6%
30.0%
26
30.5%
53.2%
18.5%
16
23.2%
73.1%
14.1%
84
1 0 0 .0 %
60.0%
60.0%
n
Second and % within Reason
Above % within Group
% of Total
23
41.4%
35.4%
16.4%
23
41.1%
46.9%
16.4%
1 0
17.9%
38.5%
7.1&
56
1 0 0 .0 %
40.0%
40.0%
n
^ , % within Reason
Total „ ., .
% withm Group
% o f Total
65
46.4%
1 0 0 .0 %
46.4%
49
35.0%
1 0 0 .0 %
35.0%
25
18.6%
1 0 0 .0 %
18.6%
140
1 0 0 .0 %
1 0 0 .0 %
1 0 0 .0 %
Results of two separate one-way ANOVAs indicated that there was no ethnic
group differences in self-report socioeconomic status, however, there was a
significant ethnic group difference in Family Income, F (2, 135) = 11.784,/? = .000
{Levene’ s F (2, 133) = 4.798, p - .010). Results of Dunnett T3 post hoc tests
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indicated that Southeast Asian Americans reported significantly lower family income
than both Chinese/Taiwanese Americans and Filipino Americans. However, results
from cross-tabulation indicated that they did not differ in their generational status, X 2
= 1.586,p = . 453.
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84
Chapter V - Discussion
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between
intergenerational conflict, family functioning and acculturation among Asian
American community college students. The best predictors of intergenerational
conflict and family functioning were determined. In addition, gender and ethnic
differences in intergenerational conflict and family functioning were examined. The
results indicated that in terms of the primary research question of predictors of
intergenerational conflict, those participants with unhealthy family functioning
experienced more intergenerational conflict than those of healthy families.
Additionally, a high adherence to Asian values and high Asian behavioral
acculturation were predictive of intergenerational conflict. With regard to predictors
of healthy family functioning, high Asian behavioral acculturation was the best
predictor for all seven subscales of the FAD. Among gender differences, female
participants reported significantly more intergenerational conflict in the areas of
Family Expectations and Dating and Marriage. In addition, males reported more
unhealthy scores on the FAD subscales of Affective Involvement, Behavioral
Control, and General Functioning. Finally, in terms of ethnic group differences,
Southeast Asian American participants reported significantly more intergenerational
conflict than the Filipino American participants.
Predictors o f Intergenerational Conflict
The main focus of this study was to determine what variables best predict
intergenerational conflict. It was found that the General Functioning FAD subscale
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85
was the best predictor of all three areas of parent-child conflict. This means that
unhealthy general family functioning best predicts higher levels of intergenerational
conflict. This is an important finding because it implies that Asian American
families that are in conflict will indeed show up as scoring “unhealthy” on traditional
mainstream measures of family functioning. This finding points to the validity of
using such a measure with this ethnic population. Additionally, high Asian
behavioral acculturation and high adherence Asian values contributed as secondary
variables in explaining higher intergenerational conflict.
In terms of intergenerational conflict in the area of Family Expectations,
(unhealthy) General Family Functioning subscale proved to be the best predictor and
explained 30.0% of the variance. It seems intuitive that dysfunctional families are
likely to experience more parent-child conflict than healthy families, and in this
study, across all three areas of conflict. While low Behavioral Control (Family
Functioning subscale) only explained an additional 1.7% of the variance, it is an
interesting finding nonetheless. This indicates that families that express and
maintain standards for the behavior of its members are more likely to experience
higher parent-child conflict. It could be that when high expectations are placed they
are more likely not to be met and conflict may subsequently ensue.
With regard to predicting Education and Career intergenerational conflict,
once again the General Family Functioning subscale appeared to be the best
predictor by explaining 26.5% of the variance. That is, unhealthy family functioning
is predictive of parent-child conflict in the area of education and career matters.
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86
Additionally, high Asian behavioral acculturation and high adherence to Asian
values were also predictive of intergenerational conflict (5.4% and 3.6% variance
explained, respectively). In terms of this specific area of parent-child conflict, both
Yao (1985) and LEAP (1996) discuss how frequently Asian American parents
choose the educational and career path of their children, although this is equally
often met with resistance from their children. As Prathikanti (1997) describes, first-
generation Asian parents “may strongly endorse high academic achievement for their
children and the pursuit of a professional career; in their experience, this will buffer
against some of the more extreme forms of discrimination experienced by people of
color in a dominant white culture.” (pp. 88) While the parents have the best of
intentions in mind, children raised in the United States often feel that career is an
issue of autonomy and personal interest (not just a secure future). It could be that
traditional (Asian-identified both behaviorally and through values) Asian American
young adults feel conflicted about being obedient and following their parents’ wishes
while also weighing in their own feelings on the matter.
The last dimension of intergenerational conflict was in the area of Dating and
Marriage, of which two major statistically significant predictors emerged, including
General Family Functioning and Asian Values Acculturation, although they may
represent a weaker clinical implication due to the small percentages of explained
variance. The best predictor of high parent-child conflict in this area was of course
unhealthy family functioning, which explained 6.7% of the variances. Secondarily,
Values Acculturation explained an additional 3.3% of the variances. This finding is
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87
in line with the earlier discussion of the difference in dating and marriage norms
among traditional Asian and American cultures. Given the contrasting values of
American and Asian cultures on this matter, it could be that having such an
adherence to traditional Asian values (while living in an American-valued society)
indeed contributes to conflict between parents and children.
Predictors o f Family Functioning
Using seven areas of family functioning as dependent variables, seven sets of
stepwise multiple regressions were administered to investigate which dimension of
acculturation is the best predictor of family functioning. Lower Asian Behavioral
Acculturation was found to be the best predictor for unhealthy family functioning
across all seven areas, including General Functioning. This relationship shows that
participants who identify more with Asian culture behaviorally report their families
to be healthier in their functioning. Concerning this finding, there are at least two
plausible explanations.
It has previously been discussed how the acculturation gap between parents
and children can often negatively impact the family’s functioning (see Buki et al.,
2003). One explanation for finding is that more traditional Asian (behaviorally)
young adults have parents who are also more traditional and without an acculturation
gap there is healthy family functioning. This would occur in part due to parents and
children “being on the same page,” that is, they are more likely to hold the same
values and expectations regarding the functioning of the family and each of its
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8 8
members. Having these congruent acculturative statuses could lead to improved
(healthy) family functioning.
A second plausible explanation for this finding surrounds the experience of
marginalized Asian American youth. As was discussed earlier, youth who do not
identify with either American or Asian culture are marginalized and at risk for
psychological distress (Sue et al., 1998; Kim et ah, 2003). While low Asian
behavioral acculturation best predicts unhealthy family functioning, low Western
behavioral acculturation is the second best predictor, explaining additional variance.
That is, participants who do not identify with either Asian or Western culture
behaviorally are more likely to report their family functioning as unhealthy. When
youth are marginalized, not identifying with either culture, they are likely to have a
more difficult time functioning effectively in their family system.
Gender and Ethnic Group Differences in Family Functioning and Intergenerational
Conflict
Tests of Multivariate Analysis of Variance were administered to investigate
whether participants of different ethnicities and gender differ in their reported
intergenerational conflict and General Family Functioning. While significant ethnic
differences were found within intergenerational conflict, significant gender
differences were found for both family functioning and parent-child conflict. Both
research hypotheses were supported.
Within family functioning, male participants reported significantly more
unhealthy levels of Affective Involvement, Behavioral Control and General
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89
Functioning in their families than female participants. This means that overall males
reported their families to have less healthy functioning and specifically reported their
families as having less interest and placing less value on each other’s activities and
concerns as well as less expression and maintenance of standards for the behavior of
its members. It is interesting that while males overall report more unhealthy family
functioning, it is the female participants that report significantly higher levels of
conflict with their parents. This seems at odds with the finding that unhealthy family
functioning best predicts higher intergenerational conflict. More interpretable,
however, could be the findings on the Affective Involvement and Behavioral Control
subscales. Due to traditional gender roles, it could be that these findings reflect the
gender-based expectations of traditional Asian American families. As was presented
earlier, within traditional Asian gender roles sons are giving greater freedom than
daughters and are often less monitored than daughters. Because male participants
may experience less parental involvement in their concerns and behaviors, this could
cause them to perceive (and therefore report) lower levels of Affective Involvement
and Behavioral Control. As discussed below concerning parent-child conflict,
daughters are less likely to feel that their parents are not interested in their activities
and behaviors.
Specifically, female participants reported significantly greater parent-child
conflict on two subscales of the ICI, which supports the research hypothesis. This
means that within the areas Family Expectations and Dating and, young women are
experiencing more conflict with their parents.
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90
In terms of the Dating and Marriage subscale, this result confirms the
findings of Chung (2001) in which she found greater conflict in Dating and Marriage
among female traditional university students. It was hypothesized that this finding is
due to the impact of traditional gender roles in which the dating behaviors of women
are more strictly regulated than those of men. Asian-American culture still adheres
to longstanding beliefs about women being chaste and thus purports that women
should date less than men and be concerned with the preservation of their virginity
until marriage (Prathikanti, 1997). Asian American girls, when they are allowed to
date at all, are often forbidden to date until an age later than that of their non-Asian
American peers which can cause parent-child conflict. Historically, an Asian
daughter’s loss of her virginity prior to marriage (regardless of whether it was her
choice or rape) was considered a great shame to her family and rendered her not
marriageable. Depending upon how traditional the Asian American families are,
some of this belief may still be in place and thus a daughter’s movements may be
controlled. Even if the parents believe that premarital sex is acceptable, they may
worry that their daughter’s future Asian American husband’s family may not hold
this belief and thus want to protect their daughter’s virginity. It is not surprising then
that an Asian American young woman who grows up surrounded by U.S. culture
might disagree with this dating policy and that conflict might arise within the family.
That fact that females reported more conflict in the area of Family
Expectations may reflect women having more conflict with their parents due to
gender roles issues, which are often cited as a major area of intergenerational conflict
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91
(Fong, 1998; Rosenthal et al., 1996; Yee, 1992). Traditional Asian American
families ascribe to patriarchal hierarchal and familial roles in which sons are
generally given more power than daughters in the family system (Tsai et al., 1999;
Yee et al., 1998). In addition, daughters usually have greater restrictions placed
upon them and are more “protected” (D. Chen, 1997). It is possible that daughters
engage in more conflict with their parents due to this lack of power and greater
restrictions on their behavior. On the other hand, sons may enjoy the higher status
they have in the family (due to gender roles) and thus get involved in less conflict
with their parents. These overall findings suggest that Asian American female clients
may present with more issues related to parent-child conflict than their male peers.
Additionally, these gender differences point to the need for psychologists to become
particularly aware of the family conflicts Asian American young women may be
experiencing.
In terms of ethnic differences, the Southeast Asian participants in this sample
reported significantly greater parent-child conflict in the areas of family expectations
and dating and marriage than the Filipino American participants, which supported
the research hypothesis. No significant differences were found between
Chinese/T aiwanese Americans and Filipino Americans. These results support the
findings of previous research by Chung (2001) who also found that Southeast Asian
American college students reported significantly more Intergenerational Conflict
than the other Asian American students in the sample. In addition, other research
indicates that Southeast Asian Americans are at greater risk for psychological stress
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92
than other Asian American ethnic groups (Gim, Atkinson & Whiteley, 1990; Gong-
Guy, 1987; Moore et al., 1997; Satcher, 2001; Uba, 1994; Westermeyer, 1987).
It is believed that this is most likely due to immigration patterns and the
situation under which many Southeast Asian Americans came to this country.
Generally speaking, ethnic groups that tend to be more recent immigrants have more
conflict and stress than ethnic groups who may have been here for several
generations (i.e. many Japanese Americans) (Chung, 2001; Gim, Atkinson &
Whiteley, 1990; Uba, 1994). Filipino Americans began immigrating to the U.S.
much earlier than the Southeast Asian American population as a whole (Fong, 1998).
Therefore there are more higher generational status Filipino Americans than
Southeast Asian Americans. In addition, the majority of Southeast Asian Americans
immigrated to the U.S. as political refugees due to fleeing war and persecution in
their home countries. These are considered “push factors” for immigration which
differ greatly from the “pull factors” under which other Asian Americans came to the
U.S. (such as greater educational and economic opportunity) (Nguyen et al., 1999).
Therefore, Southeast Asian American refugees (i.e. Vietnamese, Laotian, Hmong,
Cambodian, Burmese, Thai, etc.) experience not only the stress related to present life
events but also stress related to the traumas associated with the war in their home
countries (Lee & Zhan, 1998). These pre-migration factors can impact one’s mental
health post-migration (Uba, 1994).
Post-hoc analysis was performed to see if this same immigration pattern
finding was also found in this study, which it was, with results indicating that 25% of
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93
the Southeast Asian American sample reported reason for immigration being fleeing
from home country, versus 8.5% for Chinese/T aiwanese Americans and 0% for
Filipino Americans. As such, immigrants who come to the U.S. under push factors
are likely to experience more stress than those coming for pull reasons. It is not
surprising then that the Southeast Asian American participants in this sample
reported more parent-child conflict than the Filipino American participants who have
immigrated to this country under different circumstances. These results as a whole
indicate that Southeast Asian American young adults may be at greater risk for
parent-child conflict and thus mental health practitioners should be savvy to these
issues when working with the Southeast Asian American population. Additionally,
developing familial interventions targeted specifically at Southeast Asian American
families may be called for.
Intercorrelations
Age was significantly inversely correlated to Values Acculturation. That is,
older participants espoused less traditional Asian values than younger participants. It
could be theorized that since the older participants have been in the U.S. longer on
average than the younger participants in this study they are more acculturated to U.S.
values. It should be noted, however, that within this study participants have lived in
the U.S. for only an average of 16.5 years and 57.8% of the sample was not bom in
the U.S. Thus, this sample contains many more recent immigrants than in the Asian
American college student populations of other studies (i.e. Chung, 2001). Given this
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94
pattern of more recent immigration, it is possible that the impact of age on
acculturation is heightened within this sample.
This study found that socioeconomic status was inversely correlated to the
intergenerational conflict area of Family Expectations, as well as to the family
functioning areas of Roles and Behavior Control. Thus, students in this study of
lower socioeconomic status reported more conflict with their parents in the area of
Family Expectations. This relationship may be due to that fact that poverty is a
stressor on the family and this added stress can lead to more conflict within the
family. It could also be the case that lower socioeconomic status students are
expected by their parents to contribute more time to the family business or work to
contribute to the family income (and spending less time on recreation and sports -
both areas assessed within the Family Expectations subscale of the Intergenerational
Conflict Inventory) about which the students may have conflicting opinions, thus
leading to more conflict. Previous studies have documented that often the
expectation of Asian American parents is that their children contribute to the family
finances (Morrow, 1989; Uba, 1994).
In addition, lower socioeconomic status participants reported unhealthy levels
of Behavior Control and Roles within their family functioning. This indicates that
they reported their families as having an unhealthy manner of expression and
maintenance of standards for the behavior of its members and less established
patterns of behavior for handling a set of family functions. One could theorize that
when a family is facing the stressor of poverty and struggling with many factors of
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95
which they are not in control, they then may implement rigid Roles and Behavior
Control within the family, two domains they can control. This theory has been
demonstrated by Kibria (1993) who examined gender roles within Vietnamese
American communities. Kibria found that when many families faced downward
social mobility upon immigrating to the U.S., that is, a loss of status and prestige,
they often responded by adhering to stricter gender roles than they had even in
Vietnam. In particular, the males who were used to having more power
economically and socially in the family were now in the place of being unemployed
and lacking English skills to effectively function in mainstream U.S. culture. (These
experiences among Asian immigrant men was also documented by Espiritu [1999].)
In order to compensate for this loss of power they held on to what control they did
have which was their patriarchal status in the family. Thus more rigid gender roles
were engendered due to decreased socioeconomic status, among other factors.
Moore et al. (1997) also saw this process occur among Laotian American immigrant
families (often low income) where the parent-child role reversals led the parents to
feel a lack of authority and subsequently they reacting by resisting all change within
the family. This phenomenon may be reflected in this study with the lower
socioeconomic status relating significantly to unhealthy Roles and Behavior Control
scores in Family Functioning.
An interesting significant gender finding in this study is that female
participants reported higher Asian Behavioral Acculturation than the males. This
means that the women adhered to Asian norms and behaviors more so than men in
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96
this study. It has been theorized that women are expected to be the preservationists
of culture more so than men who are expected to go out and succeed in the
workforce (which may mean interacting and becoming culturally competent with
mainstream U.S. culture). This supports traditional gender role theory in which
women are masters of the inner domain (household) and men are masters of the outer
domain (work outside of the home). In families that uphold traditional gender roles,
the daughters are expected to help out with the household tasks of cooking and
cleaning and thus may interact more with their mothers during these tasks, who are
feasibly more Asian behaviorally acculturated (traditional Asian). As such, the
females may learn more language and cultural traditions than the males in the family
with the result that the daughters may be more behaviorally acculturated within
Asian culture. Upon closer examination of the items on the AAMAES it was found
that this explanation is supported by the significant gender findings within the
AAMAES. Female participants reported significantly higher values than males on
the following items: proficiency in understanding Asian language, proficiency in
writing Asian language, amount listen to Asian music, competency in understanding
one’s Asian culture and traditions, and frequency of practicing Asian traditions and
keeping Asian holidays.
A final significant intercorrelation finding of interest is that Values
Acculturation is positively related to the family functioning subscale of Affective
Responsiveness. This indicates that those participants who endorsed more traditional
Asian values showed more ability to resolve problems effectively in their families
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97
and more expression of appropriate affect takes place within their families.
Appropriate expression of affect could include, but is not limited to, showing
concern over other family member’s feelings, being able to express love and
tenderness, and being able to cry openly. The later finding is interesting in that it is
at odds with the traditional Asian value of emotional restraint as shown in Crawford
(1966), McLaughlin and Brown (1998), Morrow (1989), and Uba (1994). One would
think that more Asian-valued families would show less Affective Responsiveness
given that holding in one’s emotions would be considered a sign of strength and
maturity. Items in the Affective Responsiveness subscale of the FAD include being
reluctant to show affection to each other, emotional responsiveness, showing love for
one another, saying what one really means, expression of tenderness and crying
openly. It could be, however, that when one does show emotion (affective response)
in a traditional Asian-values family, although the frequency may be limited, it is the
appropriate affect and given the stimuli and a genuine expression.
Limitations
The participants themselves provided very helpful informal spontaneous
feedback in terms of how the study could be improved by asking questions during
the administration. Some of the students who were more recent immigrants learning
English did not know the meaning of a few words on some questions. This is one
reason why it was very important that examiners were available to clarify verbally
any instrument terms. Without verbal clarification, there may have been a few
instances where the validity of the results on the instruments’ questions could have
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98
been compromised by the English vocabulary used. Words such as “frank,” “feeling
blue,” and “autonomy” on the FAD are not words commonly used in conversational
English and thus may be unknown to participants still learning English.
A factor related to the possibility of unknown vocabulary that must also be
considered is the English reading comprehension level of the sample. In general a
community college sample is likely to have a lower reading comprehension level
than that of a four-year university sample. Level of reading comprehension can
affect the level of concentration required to read and the overall time in which it
takes individuals to complete the questionnaire packet (fatigue) as well as the
understanding of more difficultly phrased items. Reading comprehension as an issue
also was raised in a few questions by participants in responding to a couple of the
items on the A VS in which double negatives were used. While double negatives are
more difficult to negotiate for any participant on a Likert-scale instrument, when low
English skills are added to the level of difficulty, it may become more problematic.
This was also true on the AAMAES where a couple of participants noted the Not
Very Well to Very Well scale doesn’t always match up perfectly with the content in
question (i.e. How often do you listen to music... or How often do you eat the
food...). These issues were not considered to invalidate the results because they
occurred for relatively few individuals on few questions and verbal clarification was
available, however, for future research, issues of unknown vocabulary, complicated
English language usage, and the implications of reading level for participant fatigue
need to be noted.
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99
The second limitation of this study concerns the impact of age on the
dependent variable of intergenerational conflict. This community college sample has
a mean age that is older than that of traditional university students. It is possible that
the current participant sample did not accurately report the amount intergenerational
conflict they experienced when they were younger. That is, recalled information
may not be as valid as current experiences, as supported by the findings of Henry et
al. (1994). This issue must be considered within the context that these participants
might have experienced various levels of parent-child conflict when they were
younger. Future research needs to clarify the ways in which intergenerational
conflict are affected by age and developmental stage.
A third limitation of the study surrounds the generalizability of the results.
This study drew its sample from a community college in Southern California. This
limits the ability to generalize the findings from this study to other Asian American
college students outside of California. Southern California is unique within the U.S.
in that is has a very large Asian American population. The experiences of Asian
American young adults growing up elsewhere in the U.S. where there is not a large
Asian American population are likely to be different. This Southern Californian
sample is geographically located near Asian immigrant neighborhoods (particularly
Vietnamese and Chinese) and they are not necessarily immersed in American culture
in the way an Asian American student would be who was living in the Midwest in a
predominantly White community. While the results show that not all the students
grew up in an Asian American neighborhood per se, there is a qualitative different of
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100
living in climate in which is more multicultural and you see your ethnic group
represented in daily interactions than being ethnically isolated. Also needless to say,
this study’s generalizability to Asian American youth who are not college students is
limited. The experiences of Asian American young adults who did not attend
college may be different from the participants in this sample.
A fourth limitation is that the results from this study can only be generalized
to the Asian ethnic groups represented. Asian American community college students
of other ethnic backgrounds (such as South Asian American, Pacific Islander
American, etc.) may differ in their experiences of family functioning and
intergenerational conflict.
A final limitation surrounds the clinical significance of the predictors of
family functioning and intergenerational conflict found in this study. Although the
beta weights were significantly greater than zero, the vast majority of the variance
still remains unaccounted for. Given that a large percentage of the variance
explained remains unknown, interpretations must be cautious.
Future Research
While this study was an important step in documenting the familial
experiences of Asian American community college students, more research is
needed. Given the paucity of research on the unique experiences of Asian American
community college students, it is vital to continue focusing on this important
segment of the population. It can no longer be believed that the studies based on
Asian American four-year university students are representative of all Asian
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101
American young adults. Sampling from other educational institutions, such as
vocational or trade schools and continuing education or adult schools would be
advantageous.
An issue that was not measured in this study, but that should be addressed in
future research, is whether or not participants are living at home. Since family
conflict is likely mediated by proximity, future studies should consider whether or
not their sample is living at home. This is particularly a salient issue when
considering a community college sample, which is probably more likely to be living
a home than a university sample. While this study did not measure this demographic
data, one can presume that community colleges tend to be more commuter colleges
than do four year universities where many students live in the dorms or off-campus
not with their families. It is possible that levels of intergenerational conflict will be
affected by home living environment and therefore it is a worthy issue to consider in
future studies.
In addition to the need for more studies including community college
samples, it would be fruitful to tap into more ethnically diverse Asian American
samples. This study contained a large Southeast Asian American sample which was
helpful given the usual overemphasis on East Asian American participants in many
other studies, but there remain other Asian American ethnic groups that are rarely
adequately represented in psychological research (Tanaka et al., 1998). More
research that explores the experiences of South Asian Americans, Filipino
Americans and Pacific Islander Americans is needed.
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102
As was discussed earlier, varying Asian ethnic groups have different
migration patterns and thus, often have different generational statuses. Generational
status can directly effect acculturation level, and subsequently, intrafamily dynamics
(Tanaka et al., 1998). Most of the participants in this study were of first or second
generation. Studies which collect information are three or more generations would
further clarify the relationships between intergenerational conflict, value
acculturation, behavioral acculturation, and family functioning.
Tanaka et al. (1998) purports that primarily Asian American ethnic
neighborhoods (i.e. Little Saigon, Chinatown) serve as a buffer against the
homogenization of Asian Americans. As noted earlier, Southern California culture is
different from that of Heartland, U.S.A. and thus it would be wise to conduct Asian
American research in parts of the U.S. that are less populated with Asian Americans
in order to see if there are geographical group differences within intergenerational
conflict and family functioning. It has already been established that acculturation
patterns differ depending upon how ethnically isolated Asian American individuals
are (Uba, 1994).
This study brought up the concern that mainstream family functioning
measures could possibly overpathologize Asian American families. Given likely
non-Asian norm groups, it is possible that these measures are invalid for use with
Asian Americans. Additionally, such instruments are value-laden in that they
impose Western ideals of healthy family functioning which may be at odds with
culturally congruent Asian family values. Future research is needed to determine
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103
which well-established family functioning instruments are best suited for use with an
Asian American sample.
Finally, the most obvious area overlooked in psychological family research is
the perspectives of parents. Undoubtedly out of convenience psychologists tend to
sample college students and although this provides helpful information, it would be
beneficial to survey the parents as well. If the experiences of both the children and
the parents can be assessed, the better information psychologists will have to go on
in the development of culturally competent family interventions.
To summarize the points above regarding future research, the Asian
American community is very diverse and thus it is our responsibility as
psychologists to comprehensively address the needs of the many subgroups under the
Asian American umbrella through representative research. Finally and importantly,
future studies need to look closer at the measurement being used to assess “healthy”
Asian American families to determine if the current instrument employed is
culturally sensitive. A flawed measurement runs the risk of contributing to the
pathologizing of the Asian American family, blocking the way to the development of
meaningful interventions with Asian American families.
Conclusion
This study addressed a deficit in the existing Asian American family research
by examining how gender, ethnicity, family functioning, intergenerational conflict,
and acculturation are related within Asian American families. The significant
predictors of intergenerational conflict and family functioning were presented. It
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was found that unhealthy family functioning best predicts higher intergenerational
conflict. Additionally, high Asian behavioral acculturation best predicted healthier
family functioning on all seven subscales. This underscores the need for additional
research examining the role that acculturation and Asian culture play within family
functioning. This study found that females reported more parent-child conflict than
males, supporting the findings of Chung (2001). On family functioning, however,
males scored unhealthier on three subscales. In terms of ethnic group differences,
Southeast Asian American participants reported significantly more intergenerational
conflict than the Filipino American participants. This finding lends support to
previous studies which established that Southeast Asian Americans are at greater risk
for psychopathology and mental illness and report more psychological problems than
other Asian American ethnic groups. Such family conflicts points to the need for
interventions targeting this ethnic population. These findings, when considered as a
whole, can deeply contribute to the development of interventions for counseling
Asian American families. Future research will continue to flush out how the
variables of family functioning, intergenerational conflict and acculturation interact
and impact one another.
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105
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Creator Choo, Brooke Neumeyer (author)

Core Title Intergenerational conflict, family functioning, and acculturation experienced by Asian American community college students

School Graduate School

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Education - Counseling Psychology

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag education, bilingual and multicultural,education, community college,education, educational psychology,OAI-PMH Harvest,Psychology, clinical,sociology, individual and family studies

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Advisor Chung, Ruth H. (committee chair), Goodyear, Rodney (committee member), Iwamura, Jane (committee member)

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