aas perspectives quiz 1

historical trauma

collective complex trauma inflicted on a group of people

intergenerational trauma

impact of historical trauma on subsequent generations

orientalizing narratives

psychologists who describe Asian American behavior in terms of ancient Asian cultures

membership metaphor

belief that someone can have traits granting them access to a particular culture, contributing to perceptions of ethnicity as culture

heirloom metaphor

belief that cultural values are passed down to succeeding generations, implying culture has a static nature

cultural explanation

ascribing Asian American behavior to their “culture,” which stereotypes and dismisses them

perpetual foreigner

stereotype casting Asian Americans as inherently foreign and not truly American

When and how was the term model minority first used?

“Success Story: Japanese American Style” by sociologist William Petersen in New York Times Magazine (1966)

Why is median household income not a good metric for justifying the model minority myth?

It doesn’t consider how some Asian families are generally larger and therefore have more wage-earners

Why is per capita income an inaccurate justification for the model minority myth?

Asian American families are heavily concentrated in high-cost urban areas, which may inflate their earnings.

What group in Fisher’s 2000 study reported the highest levels of peer discrimination?

East Asian high school students

aggregate (relating to model minority)

tendency to use data that portrays Asian Americans as a single homogeneous community

household income

income based on the entire household or family

income-to-education disparities (relating to model minority)

Asian Americans earn less with the same education level as whites.

model minority

stereotype of Asian Americans that promotes the image of Asian Americans as uniformly successful in terms of economic, educational, and social capital

peer discrimination

racial discrimination from one’s peers as opposed to authority figures

per capita income

income based on each wage-earning individual

parachute children (modern definition)

first-generation Asian American immigrants who migrate to the West for educational opportunities while family remains far away

parachute children (original definition)

diasporic kids of elites in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore after the Cold War

ontological questions

What is the nature of the world and people?

epistemological questions

What can we know about the world and people?

cross-cultural psychology

comparative framework where Western psychological concepts are examined across 2+ cultural groups

dominant cultural theories/explanations for cross-cultural Asian American psychology

individualism-collectivism, independent-interdependent self-construal

phenomena explained by cross-cultural Asian American psychology constructs

• depression and anxiety

• psychopathology and psycho-therapy

• child-rearing beliefs

• academic achievement

• career development

• violence

Asian cultural constructs used as cultural explanation

Confucianism and face/shame

fourfold theory of acculturation / bidirectional model

a person can identify with 2 different cultures and the degree of acculturation to each culture can be independent of one another

unidimensional model for Asian Americans

investigated by Suinn in 1987, assuming a linear scale with high identification with Asian culture on one end and mainstream American culture on the other

Sue’s 3 typological characters in Chinese American identity

Traditionalist, Marginal Man, Asian American

entry points to Asian American psychology

1. migration history

2. population trends

3. internal processes

migration histories of Asian America

• recent waves of proximal migration (as opposed to direct coastal migration before)

• flexible citizenship

• working-class migrants (e.g. Filipina nurses)

• diasporic refugees (Hmong, Laotian, Burmese)

population trends of Asian America

• historically Chinese and Japanese, becoming increasingly South and Southeast Asian

• Asian Americans adopted into white households

• inter-racial marriages

internal processes of Asian America

• Asian Americans acculturate in a variety of ways, better shown by segmented assimilation

• racial triangulation

segmented assimilation

Asian immigrants may acculturate vertically in some life domains but horizontally in others; proposed by Zhou (1997)

third-culture identification

an example of segmented assimilation where Asian Americans identify with another minority group due to discrimination by white society

regard

an individual’s opinion of their own group

Sellers Racial Identity Model

Identity has 4 different dimensions:

1. salience

2. centrality

3. ideology

4. regard

salience

how relevant an individual’s race or ethnicity is to one’s overall identity

can be triggered by external or internal catalysts

external catalyst to salience

behaviors heightening an Asian American’s feeling of their “Asianness”

e.g. “Where are you really from?”

internal catalysts to salience

individual’s conditioned sensitivity to the potential implications of racial salience during cross-racial interactions

e.g. an Asian American is aware a particular area is retired manufacturing and hostile towards Asians, and so doesn’t park their car there

centrality

how important one’s race or ethnicity is to their identity

racial identity

how individuals deal with effects of racism, give up dominant cultural views of their own racial group in exchange for self-definition, and develop positive attitudes toward their own racial group

Helms Racial Identity Model

1. conformity

2. dissonance

3. immersion

4. internalization

5. integrative awareness

Roughly sequential; not mutually exclusive.

What is the major difference between Helms and Sue’s model?

They have the same 5 stages, but Sue’s is also oriented towards cultural identity while Helms focuses on race.

conformity

individual seeks validation from whites and feels no loyalty to any POC

dissonance

confusion about racial issues and sense of belonging

entered when seeking validation from whites conflicts with awareness of racism

immersion/emersion

individuals idealize their racial group, denigrate whites

defining themselves and others according to race

internalization

status of racial identity where individuals use internal criteria for self-definition and accept all racial groups, including whites

integrative awareness

individuals integrate their identities as members of multiple groups

external ethnic identity

participation in cultural activities

internal ethnic identity

personal attachment to ethnicity

Phinney’s Three Stages of Ethnic Identity Development

1. unexamined ethnic identity

2. ethnic identity search

3. achieved ethnic identity

For all stages, people negotiate exploration vs. commitment.

exploration (Phinney)

one questions and tries out various aspects of ethnic identityc

commitment (Phinney)

making firm decisions about one’s identity and engaging in activities to implement those decisions

unexamined/diffused ethnic identity

lack of concern/thought about ethnicity issues

ethnic identity search

triggered by a significant experience, individual confronts their ethnicity by immersing in activities and experiences

achieved ethnic identity

appreciating and owning one’s ethnicity

What model is Phinney’s model of ethnic identity based off of?

Marcia’s (1980) adolescent identity model, which was itself derived from Erikson’s (1969) ego identity formation theory

Smith ethnic identification process

1. preoccupation with self

2. preoccupation with ethnic group conflict (majority/minority group status)

3. attempting to resolve conflict

4. make sense of ethnic identity

What did Smith believe about multicultural societies in relation to ethnic identity development?

there are boundary lines between majority (e.g. white Americans) and minority groups that influence ethnic identity development

ethnocentric realization

individuals reject racial identities in favor of their ethnic identities

ethnic identity

an individual’s country of origin and historical settlement

ideology

attitudes and beliefs one holds about race and ethnicity

ethnopsychology

psychology of races and people

psychic nowhere

absence of clear geographical belonging or destination

can lead to racial dissociation