Korean American Adolescents and Their Mothers: Intergenerational Differences and Their Consequences

• Main Author: Chu, Hui
• Format: Others
• Published: UKnowledge 2014
• Subjects: Model Minority Stereotype; Acculturation; Psychological Distress; Intergenerational Gap; Cultural Conflict; Developmental Psychology; Multicultural Psychology; School Psychology
• Online Access: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/psychology_etds/42; http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=psychology_etds

The current study examined the links and mechanisms associated with intergenerational cultural conflict, psychological distress, and the intergenerational differences in acculturation and model minority stereotype (MMS) endorsement for South Korean immigrants. Specifically, Korean American adolescents’ (ages 12-19, M = 15.3, SD = 1.71) and their mothers’ (N = 209 dyads) acculturation difference and MMS endorsement difference were measured and analyzed as predictors of intergenerational cultural conflict and psychological distress for adolescents. Furthermore, the study analyzed intergenerational cultural conflict as a mediator in the acculturation gap-distress and the MMS endorsement-distress paths. Results indicated that when mothers and their adolescents differed in their acculturation, they also differed in their endorsement of the MMS. Next, as expected, the adolescents who had mothers who were not as acculturated to the American culture, experienced more cultural conflict with their parents and, in turn, felt more psychological distress. Furthermore, the adolescents who had mothers who endorsed the MMS to a greater degree, experienced more cultural conflict with their parents and, in turn, felt more psychological distress.