| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
Significance of Present Study to the Psychological Literature
The present work makes a number of important contributions to the psychological literature. First, given the fact that no measures to date have attempted to examine racial and ethnic-specific identity as distinct types of identity, the present work adds to the literature in this regard through the development of measurement instruments that assess both racial and ethnic-specific identity across a variety of Asian ethnic-specific groups (i.e., the measurement inventories are appropriate for use in all Asian ethnic-specific groups). This broader measurement of both types of identity (racial and ethnic-specific) can contribute to our understanding of the complexity of identity. Specifically, this measurement helps to explicate if and how a racial label might be more meaningful to some ethnic group members (due to immigration patterns, historical events, etc.), whereas for others identifying with one’s ethnic-specific group may be much more salient and meaningful.
Second, this type of study can expand our knowledge about the diversity that exists within the Asian American population, as well as the ways in which members of this population perceive and respond to a changing multicultural society. Historically, race relations in the United States have posed Black and White as the prototypical ingroup-outgroup distinction (Allport, 1954; Dovidio & Esses, 2001). As the diversification of the United States continues, it is important that psychologists place special attention on addressing the unique experiences of newcomers to this society (Deaux, 2000) as American culture is being reshaped by this diversity. As suggested by Kuhn (1962), in his writing on scientific revolutions, the scientific paradigm in psychology must shift to accommodate changing societies. An important way in which the paradigm must shift involves a move outside of the Black/White paradigm of studying social groups in recognition of the broader society that has now reshaped the American landscape (Philip et al., 2007).