The self image of Chinese-American adolescents: a cross-cultural comparison

Individualism-Collectivism and Global Self-Esteem

How does the cultural construct of individualism-collectivism relate to global self-esteem? It is proposed that highly collectivist cultures promote the development of one dimension of global self-esteem (generalized self-liking) but challenge the development of the other (generalized self-competence), whereas highly individualist cultures are characterized by the inverse asymmetry. This cultural trade-off hypothesis was investigated by comparing a sample of 302 Chinese with a sample of 343 American college students. The cross-cultural equivalence of the two-dimensional model of self-esteem was first assessed and found to be adequate. Given the high intercorrelation of the 2 self-esteem dimensions, only the unique or non-common part of each dimension was used in hypothesis testing. As predicted, the Chinese were lower in self-competence but higher in self-liking than the Americans. Caveats and implications are discussed.

The Relationship between Self-Esteem and Parenting Style

Within Western cultures, self-esteem consistently has been demonstrated to be inversely related with parenting styles characterized by low levels of acceptance and high levels of overprotection (i.e., affectionless control). Although in traditional collectivist cultures there may be a preference for this parenting style, within a strong collectivist framework it is not thought to have a negative impact on self-esteem. However, for immigrant adolescents, the cultural context of collectivism may no longer support such a parenting style as adaptive, particularly because they tend to acculturate more quickly than their parents. To investigate this proposal, 118 Vietnamese Australian and 120 Anglo-Australian adolescents, aged 11 to 18 years, were recruited. They were administered the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory; the Parental Bonding Instrument, an acculturation measure; and two subscales of Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire. As expected, parenting characterized by high levels of overprotection and low levels of acceptance related negatively with self-esteem for both samples of adolescents.

Dating and Sexual Attitudes in Asian-American Adolescents

Dating behaviors and sexual attitudes of Asian-American youth were examined in a cross-sectional, mixed-methods study in the context of adherence to Asian values, measured by the Asian Values Scale (AVS). In all, 31 Asian-American adolescents (age 14-18 years old) from a Houston community center were interviewed regarding dating behaviors and sexual attitudes. Almost three-fourth of adolescents dated without parental knowledge. Compared with adolescents with the lowestAVS scores, those with the highestAVS scores were significantly more likely to date without parental knowledge and date longer before sex. Many adolescents proceeded directly to single, steady, relationships. Parents permitted dating, as long as grades were maintained. Asian-American adolescents should be questioned about secret dating, sexual activity, and participation in other high-risk activities.

Southeast Asian immigrants' perceptions of good adolescents and good parents

The authors examined the extent to which Southeast Asian immigrant parents and adolescents agree on what it means to be a "good" parent and a "good" adolescent. Thirty-six parents and 37 adolescents of Cambodian, Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese descent participated in a series of focus groups. Content analyses of their discussions showed that good adolescents were obedient, helpful around the house, and respectful to parents and elders, and good parents were those who provide for, nurture, and monitor children's activities. The findings suggest that ideas about good parents and good adolescents are influenced by both the parents' traditions and by adolescents' acculturation to American values.

Race and self-esteem: meta-analyses comparing whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indians and comment on Gray-Little and Hafdahl (2000)

These meta-analyses examine race differences in self-esteem among 712 datapoints. Blacks scored higher than Whites on self-esteem measures (d = 0.19), but Whites scored higher than other racial minority groups, including Hispanics (d = -0.09), Asians (d = -0.30), and American Indians (d = -0.21). Most of these differences were smallest in childhood and grew larger with age. Blacks' self-esteem increased over time relative to Whites', with the Black advantage not appearing until the 1980s. Black and Hispanic samples scored higher on measures without an academic self-esteem subscale. Relative to Whites, minority males had lower self-esteem than did minority females, and Black and Hispanic self-esteem was higher in groups with high socioeconomic status. The results are most consistent with a cultural interpretation of racial differences in self-esteem.

Perspectives on nursing care of Chinese Americans

Chinese population growth in the United States is expected to accelerate more rapidly than that of any other Asian group in the coming decades. As a result, nurses will be encountering members of this diverse and rich cultural group more frequently. A better understanding of the cultural beliefs, customs, and health care practices of Chinese Americans can only improve the quality of nursing care provided for these clients. Awareness of the barriers to health care that confront many Chinese Americans will be useful in designing appropriate nursing interventions. Knowledge of the positive and negative effects of some traditional Chinese health care practices can be incorporated into individualized client teaching plans.