ACCULTURATION AND MULTICULTURAL IDENTIFY FORMATION OF
KOREAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS IN THE USA
Sang Bok Lee, Northwest Counseling & Education Institute
and Northwestern University
Introduction
There is a great need for research on ethnic group members who experience identity formation and acculturation in the U.S.A. The emerging contributions of multiculturalism have been reported for the following specific topics of Asian American studies: Asian American mental health and treatment issues (Fugita, 1990; Yamamoto, 1978; Zane, Enomoto & Chun, 1994); Asian American adjustment and acculturation (Kim & O’Neil, 1996; Suinn, et al., 1987; Suinn, Khoo & Ahuna, 1995); Asian American family studies (De Vos, 1983; Shon & Ja, 1982); Asian American’s educational achievement (Peng & Wright, 1994; Sandefur, 1995); multicultural education issues and alternative education for Asian American students (Lee, 1997a; Lee, 1997b); counseling guidelines or models for Asian Americans (Das & Kemp, 1997; Root, 1985); Asian American cultural and religious identity (Bair & Lee, 1995; Ibrahim, Ohnishi & Sandhu, 1997; Naomi, et al., 1996; Shinagawa & Pang, 1996); Asian American intergenerational family relations (Ishii-Kuntz, 1997), Asian American model minority (Crystal, 1989).
Research about Asian American college students has covered the following: psychosocial development ( Sheehan & Pearson, 1995); depression and social anxiety (Okazaki, 1997); sociocultural variables on acculturation (Sodowsky, et al., 1991); career choices and career aspirations (Haverkamp, Collins & Hansen, 1994; Leung, Ivey & Suzuki, 1994; Park & Harrison, 1995); counseling Asian American college students and college students’ help seeking patterns (Atkinson & Gim, 1989; Leong & Wagner, 1995; Narikiyo & Kameoka, 1992; Solberg, et al., 1994); academic success and failure (Yan & Gaier, 1994). Empirical researches about Korean American college students’ acculturation and identity development are not so sufficient that author may use them for further comparative studies in this project. The author uses the findings of this study as a model to conceptualize Asian American college students’ multicultural identity development in college.
In the mainline studies of psychology, counseling, education, and of family therapy, the implications of multiculturalism in Asian American researches have been explored in a more active manner. Pedersen (1996) defines multiculturalism as a fourth force in counseling psychology by recommending that as a generic theory, both the shared similarities across groups and the unique differences be considered simultaneously in multicultural perspective (p. 38). Lee (1997b) explores the emerging issues of multicultural education, and states that multicultural education is not an optional but a mandatory project to prepare for the global exchanges of students, scholars, educational researchers and educational administrators in the 21st century. By analyzing case vignettes of college students in the U.S.A. the author (1997b) proposed that "multicultural narrative as descriptive and patterned script or story provides the audience or the reader with a perspective, by which individual culture persuades and promotes its meanings and values among other culture."
In this research project, the author intends to empirically verify Asian American college students’ level of acculturation and their multicultural identity development. Acculturation can be analyzed at individual, family and community levels. For most Korean American families, immigration can be a critical turning point that is a highly stressful and challenging life event. The author speculates that a healthy acculturation will maintain the individual’s identity and characteristics based on his or her cultural heritage and tradition and facilitate participation in the host (dominant) country’s culture. This kind of dynamic acculturation process has been considered as an integration model rather than assimilation (Berry, J. W., 1998). The author’s discussion of multicultural identity formation is theoretically grounded in an integration model of acculturation and a positive view of a multiculturalist or relativist approach to cultural pluralism.
Regarding research methods of acculturation studies, clinical study method is able to report the clinician’s direct or indirect observations and interpretations about the client, who is in the process of acculturation. Also, the client’s multicultural experiences and
episodes can be heard, reported, construed or shared by the clinician. However, in quantitative or statistical research method, the researcher constructs the group members’ conscious worldview, value, behavior or attitude in terms of collected data analysis. In this report, the author presents Korean American college students’ survey data from the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA) and discusses the issues of Korean American (or Asian American) students’ multicultural identity formation in college.
Method
The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale (SL-ASIA) was used to assess acculturation and identity. The scale, modeled after the Acculturation Scale for Mexican Americans developed by Cuellar, Harris, and Jasso (1980), has 21 multiple-choice questions. The 21 questions cover the five areas of language, identity, friendship choice, attitude, and generational or geographic history. These items are scored on a 5-point scale: 1 = very Asian to 5 = very anglicized.
Results show the relationships between Korean American College students’ acculturation, gender, length of residence in U.S.A. and identity formation stage. Young adult students’ sense of identity is strongly influenced by environmental factors such as peer culture, language, value, religion, and political or socio-economic situation.
Subjects were selected from a College Fellowship Group in Korean American Presbyterian churches in northwest suburban Chicago (N = 42, 20 female and 22 male). In part 1, the subjects were asked to provide the following demographic information: gender, age, marital status, education, length of residence in the U.S.A., and citizenship status (born in U.S.A. or Korea.
The subjects regularly attend College Fellowship Group on Sunday. The surveys were conducted during January of 1998 after Sunday fellowship meeting. Brief instruction about the survey form was given, and the surveys were written in English. All of the subjects were Korean American and attended metropolitan Chicago area colleges including: Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Chicago, Loyola University, Depaul University.
Results
Each subject’s average score for the 21 questions was recorded. The subjects were divided into three subgroups: group 1 A (n = 10; the length of residence less than 16 years, first generation); group 1 B (n = 15; the length of residence more than 16 years, first generation); group 2 (n = 17; born in U.S.A., second generation). Group 1 — A and group 1- B are differentiated because they represent clearly different distributions of the acculturation scale. Each subgroup’s average scores across all questions, question 3 ("How do you identify yourself?"), and of question 20 ("How would you rate yourself?") were treated as dependent variables.
The author used GLM in SAS for ANOVA analysis, and to summarize main outcomes. There was no interaction effect in the 2-way interaction effect models (p=0.3024, p=0.2067, p=0.1053). For the main factor model, gender was not significant (p=0.5196, p=0.3497, p=0.1970). Group effects were significant for the average scores of all questions and question 20 (see Table 3). For the overall average, the three groups differed at p.<.05. For question 20, (Groups 1-A and 2) and (1-A & 1-B) were different with LSD; (1-A & 2) were different with bonferroni method in simultaneous comparison (see Table 4). For the comparison between the 1st and the 2nd generation group, there are significant differences for question 20 but not for question 3.
There were significant differences among the three groups in average score of the 21 questions surveyed (Group 1 — A, M = 2.52857; Group 1 — B, M = 2.95873; Group 2nd, M = 3.39496) (see Table 1). For validation in this research project, one criterion of generational difference was first examined. An analysis of variance was calculated and found to be significant. The results of Bonferroni (Dunn) t test for differences in scores was examined: all three groups were significantly different by indicating the sufficient gap between simultaneous lower confidence limit and simultaneous upper confidence limit (see Figure 2).
For question 20, simple t-tests (LSD) for the difference between group 1-A and Group 1-B and group 2 were administered, and comparisons were significant at 0.05. However, as Figure 4 shows, Group 1-B and Group 2 were not significantly different because the upper confidence limit of Group 1-B and the lower confidence limit of Group 2 were overlapping (also see Figure 1). In terms of developmental stages of acculturation the subjects of Group 1-B came to America when there were very young (at ages less than 5 to 6 years). They were assimilated into to America in almost the same level as Group 2 subjects. However, the subjects of Group 1-A came to America when they were at least 6 to 10 years. They knew some of Korean culture, language and attitude before they immigrated into the U.S.A. Regarding question 20, in Bonferroni method simultaneous comparisons among all of the three groups, only Group 1-A and Group 2 were significantly different while the comparison between Group 2 and 1-B, and the comparison between Group 1-A and 1-B were not significantly different (see Table 4).
Regarding the overall correlation analysis, each group’s overall average score and question 20 average score awere significantly correlated: Group 1- A (score 20: rho = 0.65089 / p = 0.0415); Group 1 — B (score 20: rho = 0.70423 / p = 0.0034); Group 3 (score 20: rho = 0.75481 / p = 0.0005) (see Table 2). The significant correlations between each group’s overall score and question 20, ("How would you rate yourself?" from very Asian to very anglicized), demonstrates that the group member who is more acculturated considers himself or herself as more anglicized in the U.S.A. Question 20 shows a high level of internal consistency among the questions.
It is interesting to interpret the results of question 3 ("How do you identify yourself?"). There were no significantly different in-group comparisons by Bonferroni (Dunn) t tests (see Table 4 & Figure 3). The author that the subjects might not have fully understood the meaning of question 3, and the specific differences between oriental and Asian or Asian American and Korean American. Were the subjects instructed about the questions’ meanings and the specific differences, the outcomes might have been different.
Gender effects were not significant in ANOVA analysis. F — Value of Type III shows no significance (overall score, p = 0.30240; score 3, p = 0.2067; score 20, p = 0.1053) (see Table 3).The number of the subjects in this research were not sufficient to generalize the outcomes. Further investigation with larger samples are recommended for exploring the gender effect.
Discussion
First of all, length of residence in the U.S.A. has been one influential factor for acculturation. Twenty five subjects were considered as 1.5 generation residents. They came to the U.S.A. when they were young. In this research the author differentiated Group1-A (n=10; the length of residence less then 16 years) from Group1-B (n=15; the length of residence more than 16 years). The two groups showed clearly different distributions of acculturation in group comparison analysis (Table 4). 1.5 generation college students have been defined as having the common characteristics that they understand both English and Korean languages, lifestyles, cultures, and values. On the other hand, some of the 1.5 generation Korean Americans do not speak Korean well, do not understand either set of cultural values, and show ambivalent feelings about their identity formation in a multicultural environment. This research demonstrates that 1.5 generationers should be understood differently depending on the developmental stage when they came to the U.S.A. For example, the students (Group1-B), who came to this country when there were less than 6 years old, showed higher acculturation than those students (Group 1-A), who attended elementary school at least up to 4th grade in Korea. Group 1-A students are able to speak and write Korean language in a fluent manner, and they understand Korean values and culture better than Group 1-B students do.
While gender effects were not significant in ANOVA analysis, the sample size might not have been sufficient for an adequate test. There has been a generally accepted assumption that females more easily adjust to another culture. In case of 1.5 and 2nd generation Korean American college students, there was no gender difference regarding acculturation and identity formation. Suinn et al. (1987) didn’t report gender effects in level of acculturation (28 were male and 54 were female); in their research it would not be easy to evaluate gender effects by using mixed groups of Chinese, Japanese and Korean college students. Among Asian American students there are multiple dimensions of acculturation and identify formation in a similar way that among Hispanic groups it is necessary to understand cultural differences and origins of specific national groups such as Mexicans and Cubans. When we consider both gender and cultural heritage, the issues of Korean American college students’ acculturation and identity formation are quite complicated.
American feminist scholars’ discussion of the image of young adulthood is quite relevant to understanding second generation Korean American college girls. Brown & Gilligan’s (1992) and Josselson’s (1987) works report narrative constructions of women’s developmental journeys, and illustrate that women’s identity is formed in the relational, caring, interdependent context. Based on traditional images of feminine adulthood, Korean parents in America still try to educate their daughters to be typical Korean women, whose images are gentle, patient, caring, relational or serving. Given these similarities between the traditional images of korean women and the feminist scholars’ view of feminine identity formation, we need to be aware of psychosocial, educational and cultural contexts which provide gender stereotypical expectations or pressure upon women vulnerable to socioeconomic, social and political changes in a multicultural society.
The author did not analyze the 21 multiple choice questions in terms of language, friendship choice, behaviors, attitude, etc. Rather, the author intends to highlight: (1) group comparisons, (2) gender effects, and (3) identity questions in this research. The questions -- "How do you identify yourself?" and "How would you rate yourself?"--have been considered as dependent variables that indicate correlation and internal consistency among the three groups. The length of residence in the United States may be reflecting higher acculturation (more Americanized) as well as strong awareness of being "Korean American." It is curious that even most of the second generation college students considered themselves as "Korean American" rather than "Korean" or "American."
The author attempted to investigate the critical issue of identity by interviewing 5 Korean American college students who have been involved in Northwest Counseling & Education Institute as part-time teaching or research staff. It was the author’s general observation that Korean American college students of both 1.5 and 2nd generation are deeply aware of their ethnic origin and cultural heritage as part of their multicultural identity formation during college life. The multicultural college environment, comprising a variety of values, lifestyles, behaviors and sexual orientations, makes them critically aware of their differences-in-similarity among college peer groups on campus. It also has been observed that some students have seriously struggled over their sense of identity during the period of college.
Korean American college students negotiate with the multicultural peer cultures and societies surrounding them as they seriously reconstruct their "project of self," which means their understandings of who they are and their life goals and plans (Giddens, 1991). They cultivate a sense of multicultural identity rather than monocultural or bicultural identity. Multicultural identity formation emerges from a positive internalization and socialization of ethnic marginality, and ultimate idealization process as Korean American college students actively engage in multicultural peer interactions, relationships, cognitive and emotional leanings exposures to alien or strange parts of society in general. However, when they couldn’t process marginal or ethnic identity formation developmentally, psychologically or socially, they might experience a sense of identity diffusion or disintegration. Such identity diffusion may lead to a serious delay of healthy identity development. Unhealthy developmental issues relating to identity diffusion may include inferiority complexes, anxiety disorder, social isolation or depression, identity ambivalence, and meaninglessness. Clinicians dealing with Korean American college students need to understand the unique backgrounds of each student: family origin, the length of residence in U.S.A., socio-economic status, parental expectation, siblings, peer relationship, psychosocial and developmental stage, self-esteem, career choice, religious and spiritual orientation, sexuality issues, etc.
Recently, the author, as a counseling psychologist and family therapist, has interviewed and observed clinical symptoms regarding identity diffusion or disintegration. The client has struggled over the issue of sexuality; whether he is heterosexual or homosexual. It was discovered that the client had not had any feelings of attraction to the opposite sex when clinically interviewed about the client’s daydreaming, fantasy, cognitive or emotional attachment, and dating experience. The author has observed that the client had repressed or delayed the sexual part of identity formation partially because he had been strongly oriented toward academic achievement and professional career pursuit. Also, the client had strong parental pressure to be "a high achiever" in an academic or professional field. There are some scholarly reports about Korean American students’ experiences of academic failure in contrast to stereotypical emphasis on academic success (Yan & Gaier, 1994). Korean American college students’ academic failures may result in part from identity diffusion or inner struggle over identity formation.
Finally, the author wants to discuss the role of the religious or spiritual dimension in the process of multicultural identity formation in a multicultural society. Because the author surveyed subjects from one of Korean American Presbyterian churches, the outcomes may be directly or indirectly influenced by a certain religious orientation or ideology. Korean American churches have provided ethnic identity fellowship and religious rituals to Korean immigrant families and their children. Religious rituals or practices have played a vital role in forming sociocultural, psychological, cognitive and emotional orientations. Every religion provides its believers with some traditional system of meanings, which serve as a comprehensive cultural function in individuals, families, societies or communities. In a multicultural society such as the U.S.A., any particular religious value or orientation is interacting and negotiating with other religions. Any exposure to other religions may provide some different aspects of religious value, behavior, culture or habit. Understanding different religious aspects would be a necessary process of daily life in a multicultural and postmodern society such as the U.S.A. Appreciating these religious aspects can be considered as an aesthetic part of human life. Personally, the author believes that college students need to intellectually engage pluralistic or multicultural understandings about world religions. Such intellectual engagement may help cultivate better leadership skill in a multicultural, global and religiously pluralistic society. Additional research is needed to explore the role of multiple dimensions, including sexuality, religion, cultural heritage, peer relation and family origin, in forming multicultural identity.
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