Chinese in New Zealand:Senses of Belonging for Aotearoa/New Zealand

Assoc Prof. James H. Liu

Centre for Applied Cross Cultural Research

School of Psychology

Victoria University of Wellington

A Psychology of Social Identity• Identity is Self-concept. “Who am I?”• Social identity is that aspect of identity that

pertains to membership in groups.• Social identities are plural, because we all belong

to many groups or categories, each supplying information about who we are, and how we should act (e.g., in a socially sanctioned way).

• According to Self-Categorization Theory (Turner et al., 1987) identity does not “belong” to an individual, but is produced out of an interaction between the person & situation. Different aspects of identity become “salient” in different situations, adapting behaviour to situations and other people.

Identity Salience • For example, in a conference on feminism, gender

becomes salient, and behaviour will conform to norms for gender appropriate behaviour. At meetings of the United Nations security council, nationality guides behaviour, not gender.

• Behaviour can be qualitatively different across situations, conforming to different norms for behaviour depending on identity salience.

• Identity is constructed out of social comparison with relevant others.

• Most people strive for a positive sense of identity.

Identity is Fluid not Fixed, but part of Society and Social Life

• Think of identity as a story we tell ourselves that can give us strength and meaning even though our behavioural priorities change across situations.

• Identity emerges at the confluence of who you think you are, and who others around you think you are.

• Culture and history provide the shared materials from which individuals draw on to construct or narrate their stories of identity.

Acculturation and Identity • Minority ethnic group members have to

manage their ethnic identities in relation to both the in-group (e.g., family, ethnic in-group) and out-group (e.g. the majority).

• According to John Berry, how they do this depends on their answer to 2 questions: (1) Is it important for me to maintain cultural identity and characteristics? and (2) Is it important to maintain positive relations with the majority group (or host society)?

Berry Acculturation Model for Minorities

+ Maintenance of Culture and Identity -

INTEGRATION ASSIMILATION

Relations

With

Majority

- SEPARATION MARGINALIZATION

Berry Acculturation Model for Majority

+ Maintenance of Minority Culture & Id -

MULTICULTURALISM MELTING

Relations POT

With

Minority

SEGREGATION EXCLUSION

-

ASSIMILATION

• From the 1840s to 1980s, Westerners controlled every world resource, and most non-Western nations were either colonized or backwards. In this environment, assimilation was the most desired outcome for Chinese immigrants, often ejected from China via push factors and rejected from Western host societies by discrimination.

• Heritage language lost in 3 generations typically.• Full acceptance desired but not always attained.

Do you like what you see?

Dating Preferences at UCLA (Liu, Campbell & Condie, 1995)

Most Important Qualities for a “True Nzer” (Uni students, Sibley & Liu, in press)

1. Feeling like a New Zealander

2. Respecting NZ laws

3. Being able to recognize the NZ flag

4. Treating all people of all races equally

5. Being tolerant of other cultures

6. Respect other cultures and other ethnic groups

Least Important:

Believing in God and Being a Christian

Maori and Pakeha are BOTH part of the NZ national identity in terms of implicit

associations, but less so Asians

MARGINALIZATION• The incomplete quest for assimilation may

result in marginalization, loss of heritage culture without full or even substantial acceptance in the mainstream.

• A number of Chinese youngsters are here in NZ because they were struggling with school in their home countries, but also find it difficult here

• En-yi (Judy) Lin’s PhD thesis on identity conflict among Chinese adolescents.

Identity Conflict as Adaptation Outcome among Chinese Aged 16-26 in NZ (Lin, 2006)

SEPARATION• As Asian migration became a major component of

NZ demographics from the 1980s, visibly separate Chinese communities could be seen, especially in Auckland. As Ip (2005) notes, these new migrants could be confident in asserting their identity.

• As multiculturalism is now a viable ideology for the mainstream, and transnational patterns as the “astronaut family” and return migration common, separation became more desirable as a strategy.

• This creates tension for the more long-term Chinese settlers, who may see themselves as kiwi but are not recognized as such by others.

K.S. Yang (2004) Chinese Indigenous Psychology 本土心理學

• Rehabilitating traditional Chinese ideas as part of decolonization (Ip– the China factor).

• Don’t: (1) uncritically adopt Western psychological concepts, (2) overlook Westerners’ life experiences in developing their indigenous psychologies, (3) reject useful indigenous concepts developed by Chinese, (4) adopt research strategies with Western imposed universals, (5) ponder problems in English

• Do: (1) tolerate vagueness in developing indigenous ideas, (2) be a typical Chinese when functioning as a researcher, (3) take social, cultural, and historical context into account, (4) give priority to studying culturally unique phenomena, (5) base research on Chinese intellectual traditions, (6) study not only contemporary but ancient Chinese psychological functioning

Asian Association of Social Psychology (AASP, est. 1995)

• promote the development of social psychological research and its application in the Asia-Pacific.

• provide opportunities for students to pursue education and careers in social psychology

• serve as an academic forum for social psychologists in the Asia-Pacific.

Perceived Problems for Asian and Western International Students

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0-6 days 7-99 days 100+days

Asians

Westerners

Positive & Negative Feelings for Asian and Western Internationals

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

0-6 days 7-99 days 100+days

Asian-Good

Asian-Bad

West-Good

West-Bad

Social integration difficult for Asian Internationals over time

0

0.20.4

0.60.8

11.2

1.41.6

1.8

Time 1 Time 2

Home-EmoHome-InstConatsIntlLocalsVUW-EmoVUW-Inst

Social integration easier for Western internationals

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

Time 1 Time 2

Home-EmoHome-InstConatsIntlLocalsVUW-EmoVUW-Inst

Integration- The Ideal Strategy?

• Accumulated research following the Berry model suggests that integration is not only the preferred strategy, but it is also provides the best outcomes.

• Compartmentalized integration maintains two separate identities within one person, each supported by a different social environment

• Hybridized integration is putting ideas and values from the two cultural traditions together to create something new (e.g., “socialism with chinese characteristics” ala Deng Xiaoping).

Conversational Experiences with Older Familyfor NZ Europeans and NZ Chinese

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Comparing Non-Accomodati

on

Disapproval Accomodation

Honouring GivingAutonomy

Empathy HelpfulLessons

NZ Europeans

NZ Chinese

Wanted to Obliged to1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Wanted to Obliged to

Take Part in Conversation because...

NZ Europeans

NZ Chinese

Ob

lig

atio

ns

to P

aren

ts

Ob

l to

Gra

nd

par

ents

Exp

ecta

tio

ns

fro

mP

aren

ts

Exp

fro

m G

ran

dp

aren

ts

NZ Europeans

NZ Chinese1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Filial Piety Obligations and Expectations...

NZ Europeans

NZ Chinese

Intergenerational communication with elderly family for NZ Europeans (Liu & Ng, 2004)

Conv Freq

Conv Length

Wanted to

Obliged to

YOU feel Happy

THEY feel Happy

Comparing -.07 -.18* -.22* .28** -.10 -.13 Non-Accommodation

-.17* -.12 -.32** .39** -.28** -.22**

Disapproval -.04 -.16* -.27** .31** -.25** -.19** Accommodation .13 .15* .34** -.25** .47** .34** Honouring .17* .08 .34** -.15* .47** .38** Autonomy .19** .10 .41** -.34** .43** .32** Empathy .26** .16* .31** -.22** .44** .30** Helpful Lessons

.11 .07 .20* -.05 .24** .12

Intergenerational communication with elderly family for NZ Chinese

Conv Freq

Conv Length

Wanted to

Obliged to

YOU feel Happy

THEY feel Happy

Comparing .06 .10 -.01 .07 -.01 -.05 Non-Accommodation

.06 .09 -.04 .09 -.08 -.04

Disapproval .11 -.05 -.08 .19** -.10 -.17* Accommodation .12 .09 .33** -.11 .42** .33** Honouring .10 .07 .34** -.08 .45** .39** Autonomy .20** .05 .28** -.19** .34** .27** Empathy .06 .09 .20** -.21** .38** .24** Helpful Lessons

.20** .12 .13 -.10 .21** .11

Filial Piety and Acculturation (Liu, Ng, Weatherall & Loong, 2000)

3

3.5

4

4.5

Mar

gin

aliz

atio

n

Ass

imila

tio

n

Sep

arat

ion

Inte

gra

tio

n

ACCULTURATION CATEGORY

FIL

IAL

PIE

TY

SC

OR

ES

Obligations

Expectations

Committing to Core Social Relations in an impersonal, industrialized society has

HUGE ADVANTAGES!

• Industrialization has brought not only unprecedented wealth, but also a breakdown in social relations, where everything is accorded a market value, and each individual is out for themselves.

• Chinese culture has a wealth of indigenous concepts that facilitate the maintenance of social relations in the face of not only adversity, but prosperity.

Core Issues in Biculturalism

• Egalitarianism

• Partnership (non-assimilable difference)• Equity (implementation issues; the best we can do

may be to improve procedural justice)• Inclusiveness (are Asians and Pacific islanders

more included under Biculturalism or under Liberalism?) In terms of cultural values, both are more collectivist than individualist, but Asians value work similarly to Protestants

Fairness as a core value for both biculturalism and multiculturalism?

• Bicultural issues grounded in historical relationship between Maori and Pakeha, and the legacy of both colonization and shared practices. A fight between family.

• Multicultural issues are a more recent product of change in immigration policies in 1987. Asians not as embedded in the collective consciousness of NZ, so they tend to couch their needs in terms of inclusion rather than entitlement

Visioning the Future

Liberalism Biculturalism

NZ Europeans “unmarked”

Maori

Asians

PIPakeha

Pak

eha

Mao

ri

Asians

Pacific Islanders

Do Chinese Nzers fit in better under

Liberal Democracy or Biculturalism? Both are enduring aspects of NZs social

fabric. We have the freedom to choose:• To attempt to succeed on our merits as

individuals• Or to acknowledge the importance of social

relations to our achievements in society• Or both, each in its own time and place• The time is now to articulate places where

we stand.

WHO scale, n items=12, WHO scale, n items=12, αα=0.85 (Gezentsvey, PhD)=0.85 (Gezentsvey, PhD) I do NOT know much about my family’s Chinese I do NOT know much about my family’s Chinese

background background (family)(family) I know about the experiences of the first Chinese I know about the experiences of the first Chinese

immigrants to this country immigrants to this country (local)(local) I remember the general history of Chinese people I remember the general history of Chinese people

(general)(general) WHAT scale, n items=12, WHAT scale, n items=12, αα=0.88=0.88

I remember the founding fathers and mothers of I remember the founding fathers and mothers of Jewish tradition Jewish tradition (integrity)(integrity)

I remember the injustices that have happened to I remember the injustices that have happened to Jews Jews (suffering)(suffering)

I celebrate the points in history when Jews fought to I celebrate the points in history when Jews fought to maintain our culture maintain our culture (survival)(survival)

HOW scale, n items=6, HOW scale, n items=6, αα=0.78=0.78 I can imagine being a part of the journeys my Maori I can imagine being a part of the journeys my Maori

ancestors made ancestors made (affective- vicarious experience)(affective- vicarious experience)

Cross-Cultural Comparisons of EC

5.09

4.61

5.36

6.03

5.57

4.11

5.67

4.19

5.38

11.52

2.53

3.54

4.55

5.56

6.57

Jews Maori Chinese

Ethnicity

Eth

no

his

tori

cal C

on

scio

usn

ess

Who

What

How

WHO: Maori>Chinese*

WHAT: Jews>Maori>Chinese***

HOW: Jews>Chinese***

Maori>Chinese***

Jews: What>How>Who***

Maori: No sig diff. How-What

Chinese: No sig diff. How-What

Conclusion• Young NZ Chinese know less about their

cultural heritage (as indexed by history), and relate less to the experiences of their ancestors than either NZ Maori or Jews.

• The strategy of assimilation is only one among a number of ways to adapt to a host culture. The times favour more integrative approaches that assert a place for oneself based on an ethnohistorical understanding of the fluid relationship between ingroups and relevent outgroups.

“ Endurance will depend as much on skillful navigation as on the direction of the tide or the

size of the canoe”

(Durie,2005, p.251)