Asian American Cultures: Personal Characteristics & Values
While some Americans may assume all Asian-Americans are foreigners, nearly half of Asian-Americans were born in the United States, and many families have been in the U.S. for generations. And not all Asian-Americans are the same; many stereo-types only fit certain Asian-American groups. Still, when considered as a whole group, Asian-Americans do display some general personal characteristics and values that distinguish them from other Americans.
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Self-Restraint
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Social scientist Laura Uba says the majority of studies, which admittedly rely on self-reports of assertiveness, have found that Asian-Americans are less assertive than other Americans. She says they are more hesitant in expressing their feelings, disagreeing with their parents or general complaining. Uba cites a 1976 study by Abbot that shows Chinese-Americans testing very high in personality tests on tolerance and self-control.
Social Affiliation
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Social affiliation is the ability and desire to form strong social attachments and then spend time with social relationships. It does not refer to sociability in general, but only to association with friends. A 1962 study by Fenz and Arkoff compared the social affiliation of Filipino Americans, Hawaiian Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans and Euro-Americans in the state of Hawaii. All Asian-American groups except for Chinese Americans were more affiliative than Euro-Americans, according to the study. Filipino Americans were had the strongest social affiliation.
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Anxiety
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Asian-Americans have shown more anxiety than other Americans in a variety of situations. Asian-Americans in middle school, for example, showed significantly more test anxiety than European-Americans in a 1991 study by Pang. A similar study of Sansei High School students in 1977 found Asian-Americans to be more anxious than their Euro-American classmates. Of course, all forms of Asian-American anxiety may have very much to do with the fact that they are living in a European-American society and, therefore, must accommodate themselves to Euro-Americans in social situations.
Family Values
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A year 2000 study by Hildebrand, Phenice and Hines detailed evidence of strong family values in Asian-Americans. The study found a strong respect for the elderly in the Asian-American community, an interdependence of families and individuals, and a general respect for authority. The study concluded that strong family values may lead Asian-Americans to emphasize educational achievement for their children and personal discipline.
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References
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