Ethnic Stereotyping and Identification in a Multicultural Context: "Acculturation",Self-esteem and Identity Diffusion in Hong Kong Chinese University Students
Available accessResearch articleFirst published online March, 1996
Ethnic Stereotyping and Identification in a Multicultural Context: "Acculturation",Self-esteem and Identity Diffusion in Hong Kong Chinese University Students
Ethnic identity and "acculturation" in a multicultural context were investigated in terms of the relationship between people's intergenerational identification and their varying degrees of identification with stereotyped alternative ethnic groupings, and the consequences for their self-esteem and identity diffusion. The conceptual frame work of Identity Structure Analysis (Weinreich, 1989a) is outlined and used to formulate hypotheses concerning the relationship of patterns of identification with self-esteem and identity diffusion. A group of 156 Hong Kong Chinese university students responded to an identity instrument using constructs suitable for the Chinese perception of personality characteristics. Results demonstrated that a greater degree of (a) identification with the mainstream Hong Kong Chinese was correlated with continuity of parental and peer identification, where greater emphasis was on peers, and with self-esteem; (b) identification with the modern Oriental peoples was also correlated with continuity of intergenerational identification, but with a greater emphasis on parents, and with identity diffusion; (c) identification with the tradi tional Chinese was correlated solely with identification with the parental generation and with identity diffusion; (d) identification with the Western world was correlated . solely with the peer generation and with self-esteem; and (e) identification with the developing peoples was correlated with identity diffusion and inversely correlated with self-esteem. Implications for theory and policy are discussed.
References
1.
Aboud, F.E., & Skerry, S.A. (1984). The development of ethnic attitudes: A critical review. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 15, 3-34.
2.
Alexandra, C.N., JR. , & Wiley, M.G. (1981). Situated activity and identity formation. In M. Rosenberg & R. H. Turner (Eds.), Social psychology: Sociological perspectives. New York: Basic Books.
3.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
4.
Barnes, E.J. (1980). The black community as the source of positive self-concept for black children. In R.L.Jones (Ed.), Black psychology. New York: Harper & Row.
5.
Berry, J., Kim, U., Minde, T., & Mok, D. (1987). Comparative studies of acculturative stress. International Migration Review, 21, 491-511.
6.
Berry, J., Trimble, J., & Olmeda, E. (1986). Assessment of acculturation. In W. Lonner & J. Berry (Eds.), Field methods in cross-cultural research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
7.
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
8.
Bond, M.H. (1986). Mutual stereotypes and the facilitation of interaction across cultural lines. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 8, 347-276.
9.
Bond, M.H., & Cheung, M.K. (1984). Mutual stereotypes and the facilitation of interaction across cultural lines. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 10, 259-276.
10.
Bond, M.H., & Hewstone, M. (1988). Social identity theory and the perception of intergroup relations in Hong Kong. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 12, 153-170.
11.
Bond, M.H., & King, A.Y.C. (1985). Coping with the threat of westernization in Hong Kong. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 9, 351-364.
12.
Brand, E.S., Ruiz, R.A., & Padilla, A.M. (1974). Ethnic identification and preference: A review . Psychological Bulletin, 81, 860-890.
13.
Burke, P.J. (1980). The self: Measurement requirements from an interactionist perspective. Social Psychology Quarterly, 43, 18-29.
14.
Connor, T. (1991). An identity exploration of anorexia nervosa within a family context. Doctoral dissertation, University of Ulster, Jordanstown.
15.
Devos, G., & Romanucci-Ross, L. (1982). Ethnic identity: Cultural continuities and change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
16.
Donnelly, S. (1994). Ethnic identity redefinition during acquisition of one's ancestral language (Irish): An approach based on Identity Structure Analysis. Doctoral dissertation, University of Ulster, Jordanstown.
17.
Erikson, E.H. (1968). Identity, youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
18.
Farr, R.M., & Moscovici, S. (Eds.). (1984). Social representations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
19.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, Ill: Row, Peterson.
20.
Harris, P.D.G. (1988). Identity development and identification conflict in female anorectic and bulimic patients. In E.J.Anthony & C. Chiland (Eds.), The child in his family. Perilus development: Child raising and identity formation under stress (Vol. 8). New York: Wiley.
21.
Hauser, S.T. (1971). Black and white identity formation. New York: Wiley.
22.
Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: Wiley.
23.
Hogg, M.A., & Abrams, D. (1988). Social identifications: A social psychology of intergroup relations and group processes. London: Routledge.
24.
Irvine, H. (1995). Identity development and adult education: A theoretical and empirical investigation of identity development in adults returning to education. Doctoral dissertation, University of Ulster , Jordanstown.
25.
Jones, R.A., & Ashmore, R.D. (1973). The structure of intergroup perception: Categories and dimensions in views of ethnic groups and adjectives used in stereotype research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 25, 428-438.
26.
Josselson, R. (1987). Finding herself: Pathways of identity development in women. New York: Jossey-Bass .
27.
Keesing, R.M. (1975). Kin groups and social structure. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
28.
Kelly, A.J.D. (1989). Ethnic identification, association and redefinition: Muslim Pakistanis and Greek Cypriots in Britain. In K. Liebkind (Ed.), New identities in Europe: Immigrant ancestry and the ethnic identity of youth. London: Gower.
29.
Kelly, G.A. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs. New York: Norton.
30.
La Fontaine, J. S. (Ed.). (1972). The interpretation of ritual: Essays in honour of A. I. Richards. London: Tavistock.
31.
Laing, R.D., Phillipson, H., & Lee, A.R. (1966). Interpersonal perception: A theory and method of research. London: Tavistock.
32.
Lau, S.K., & Kuan, H.C. (1988). The ethos of the Hong Kong Chinese. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
33.
Liebkind, K. (1983). Dimensions of identity in multiple group allegiance . In A. Jacobson-Widding (Ed.), Identity: Personal and socio-cultural. Stockholm : Almqvist & Wiksell International/ Atlantic Highlands : Humanities Press.
34.
—. (1984). Minority identity and identification processes: A social psychological study. Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, Commentationes Scientiarum Socialium, 22Helsinki: Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters.
35.
—. (Ed.). (1989). New identities in Europe: Immigrant ancestry and the ethnic identity of youth. (Vol. 3 of the European Science Foundation Series Studies in European Migration). London: Gower.
36.
McCarney, W. (1991). Changes in identity structure of unemployed school-leavers consequent upon a Youth Training Programme. Doctoral dissertation, University of Ulster, Jordanstown.
37.
McCoy, D. (1986). Identity transition in persons undergoing elective interval sterilisation and vasectomy: An approach based on Identity Structure Analysis. DPhil dissertation, University of Ulster, Jordanstown.
38.
McCrae R.R., & Costa, P.T., JR. (1985). Openness to experience. In R. Hogan & W. H.Jones (Eds.), Perspectives in personality (Vol.1). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
39.
McMackin, D. (1993). Redefinition of identity following surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy. DPhil dissertation, University College, Dublin.
40.
Macnabb, A., McCoy, J., Northover, M., & Weinreich, P. (1994). The entrepreneurial identity: Application of Identity Structure Analysis to the study of entrepreneurship. Frontiers for Entrepreneurship Research1992, 12, 89-103.
41.
Mak, L.P. (1993). Ethnic perceptions by Hong Kong adolescents. Undergraduate thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
42.
Marcia, J. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology . New York: Wiley.
43.
Marcia, J.E., Waterman, A.S., Matteson, D.R., Archer, S.L., & Orlofsky, J.L. (1993). Ego identity: A handbook of psychosocial research. New York: Springer-Verlag.
44.
Mead, G.H. (1934). Mind, self and society: From the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
45.
Merton, R.K. (1968). Social theory and social structure. New York: The Free Press.
46.
Needham, S. (1984). Maternity blues and personal identity development in first-time mother: An exploratory study. Diploma in Clinical Psychology research dissertation, British Psychological Society, Leicester.
47.
Northover, M. (1988a). A theoretical and empirical investigation of ethnic identity and bilingualism. Doctoral dissertation, University of Ulster, Jordanstown.
48.
—. (1988b). Bilinguals or "dual linguistic identities"? In J. W. Berry & R. C. Annis (Eds.), Ethnic psychology (International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology). Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
49.
—. (1988c). Bilinguals and linguistic identities. In J. N. Jorgensen, E. Hansen, A. Holmen, & J. Gimbel (Eds.), Bilingualism in society and school (Copenhagen Studies in Bilingualism, Vol. 5).Clevedon: Multilingual Matters .
50.
Northover, M., Harris, S., & Duffy, M. (1994). Politicians, ideological messages and voters. Political Psychology, 15 (4), 713-730.
51.
Phinney, J.S. (1990). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 499-514.
52.
Pye, L.W. (1991). The challenge of modernization to the Chinese national identity. Chinese University Supplement, 22, 12-29.
53.
Rampton, B. (1986). A methodology for describing socio-linguistic variability within multi-lingual settings in general, and "interactive" and "reactive" ethnic processes in language in particular. York Papers in Linguistics 12. York: University of York .
54.
—. (1987). Sociolinguistic variability in multilingual settings . Doctoral dissertation, University of London, Institute of Education, London.
55.
Reid, H.R. (1990). Theoretical and empirical evaluation of occupational stress. Doctoral dissertation, University of Ulster, Jordanstown.
56.
Rokeach, M. (1960). The open and closed mind. New York: Basic Books.
57.
Roelins, B.C., & Feldman, H. (1970). Marital satisfaction over the family life cycle . Journal of Marriage and the Family, 32, 20-27.
58.
Rosaldo, M. Z., & Lampere, L. (Eds.). (1974). Woman, culture and society . Stanford: Stanford University Press.
59.
Rosenberg, M.J., & Abelson, R.P. (1960). An analysis of cognitive balancing. In M.J. Rosenberg, C. I. Hovland, W.J. McGuire, R. P. Abelson, & J. W. Brehm, Attitude, organization and changeNew Haven: Yale University Press.
60.
Sheeran, P., & Abraham, C. (1994). Unemployment and self-conception: A symbolic interactionist analysis. Journal of Community & Applied Psychology, 4, 115-129.
61.
Slater, P. (1964). The principal components of a repertory grid. London: Vincent Andrew.
62.
Stryker, S. (1980). Symbolic interactionism: A social structural version . Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin Cummings .
63.
Tajfel, H. (Ed.). (1978). Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations . London: Academic Press.
64.
—. (Ed.). (1982). Social identity and intergroup relations . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
65.
Turner, J. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self categorization theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
66.
Wager, M. (1994). Constructions of femininity in academic women: Continuity between private and professional identity. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica.
67.
Watson, J.L. (1991). The renegotiation of Chinese cultural identity in the post-Mao era. Social Sciences Research Centre Occasional Paper 4. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong.
68.
Weinreich, P. (1969). Theoretical and experimental evaluation of dissonance processes. Doctoral dissertation, University of London , London.
69.
—. (1979a). Ethnicity and adolescent identity conflict. In V.Saifullah Khan (Ed.), Minority families in Britain. London: Macmillan .
70.
—. (1979b). Cross-ethnic identification and self-rejection in a black adolescent. In G. Verma & C. Bagley (Eds.), Race, education and identity. London: Macmillan .
71.
—. (1980). Manual for identity exploration using personal constructs (Reprint)Coventry: University of Warwick/Economic and Social Research Council, Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations.
72.
—. (1983a). Emerging from threatened identities: Ethnicity and gender in redefinitions of ethnic identity. In G. Breakwell (Ed.), Threatened identities. Chichester: Wiley.
73.
—. (1983b). Psychodynamics of personal and social identity: Theoretical concepts and their measurement in adolescents from Belfast sectarian and Bristol minority groups. In A. Jacobson-Widding (Ed.), Identity: Personal and sociocultural. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International/ Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press.
74.
—. (1985). Rationality and irrationality in racial and ethnic relations: A metatheoretical framework. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 8, 500-515.
75.
—. (1986). The operationalization of identity theory in racial and ethnic relations. In J. Rex & D. Mason (Eds.), Theories of race and ethnic relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
76.
—. (1989a). Variations in ethnic identity: Identity Structure Analysis. In K. Liebkind (Ed.), New,identities in Europe: Immigrant ancestry and the ethnic identity of youth (ch. 3). London: Gower .
77.
Weinreich, P. (1989b). Conflicted identifications: A commentary on Identity Structure Analysis concepts. In K. Liebkind (Ed.), New identities in Europe: Immigrant ancestry and the ethnic identity of youth (ch.8). London: Gower.
78.
—. (1991). Ethnic identities and indigenous psychologies in pluralist societies. Psychology and Developing Societies , 3 (1), 73-92.
79.
—. (1992). Socio-psychological maintenance of ethnicity in Northern Ireland: A commentary. The Psychologist, 5, 345-346.
80.
Weinreich, P., Doherty, J., & Harris, P. (1985). Empirical assessment of identity in anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 19, 197-303.
81.
—. (1986). Empirical assessment of identity in anorexia and bulimia nervosa. In G. I. Szmukler, P. D. Slade, P. Harris, D. Benton, & G. F. M. Russell (Eds.), Anorexia nervosa and bulimic disorders: Current perspectives. Oxford: Pergamon .
82.
Weinreich, P., Kelly, A.J.D., & Maja, C. (1988). Black youth in South Africa: Situated identities and patterns of ethnic identification. In D. Canter, C. Jesuino, L. Soczka, & G. Stephenson (Eds.), Environmental social psychology. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
83.
Wright, P.H.,.& Keple, T.W. (1981). Friends and parents of a sample of high school juniors: An exploratory study of relationship intensity and interpersonal rewards. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 43, 559-570.
84.
Yik, M.S.M., & Bond, M.H. (1993). Exploring the dimensions of Chinese person perception with indigenous and imported constructs: Creating a culturally balanced scale . International Journal of Psychology, 28, 75-95.
