Asian American Journal of Psychology © 2010 American Psychological Association 2010, Vol. 1, No. 1, 67–79 1948-1985/10/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0018961 Acculturation, Enculturation, Parental Adherence to Asian Cultural Values, Parenting Styles, and Family Conflict Among Asian American College Students

Yong S. Park Bryan S. K. Kim University of California, Santa Barbara University of Hawaii at Hilo

Justine Chiang and Charlene M. Ju University of California, Santa Barbara

The present study examined the relations between perceived parenting styles and family conflict with data from 149 Asian American college students. Ratings of parenting styles were highest for authoritarian style, followed by authoritative and permissive styles. Tests of mediation revealed that authoritarian parenting significantly explained why parents’ adherence to Asian cultural values was associated with in- creased family conflict. Tests of moderation showed that as permissive parenting increased, more acculturated participants reported lower family conflict, although the reverse was true for their less acculturated counterparts. When authoritarian parenting increased, integrated, separated, and assimilated participants reported increased family conflict, whereas the marginalized group reported lower family conflict. Finally, assimilated participants reported less family conflicts at higher levels of authoritative parenting in comparison to the integrated, separated, and marginalized groups.

Keywords: acculturation, enculturation, Asian cultural values, parenting style, family conflicts

Studies examining Asian American college with their children’s level of acculturation and students have shown that parental orientation to enculturation. For example, traditional Asian traditional Asian culture and Asian values gap parents may reinforce the value of filial piety (i.e., difference between parents’ and children’s (e.g., unquestioning obedience to parents) and adherence to traditional Asian cultural values) expect their children to prioritize family obliga- are associated with increased family conflict tions over personal interests. However, for ac- (Ahn, Kim, & Park, 2008; Lee, Choe, Kim, & culturated children, these parental behaviors Ngo, 2000; Park, Vo, & Tsong, 2008), espe- may conflict with their need for autonomy, a cially in the areas of academic and career, dat- developmental goal which is strongly empha- ing and marriage, and family expectations (Ahn sized in the dominant European American cul- et al., 2008). To explain these findings, one ture in the United States (e.g., Erikson, 1959). could hypothesize that Asian American parents The purpose of the present study was to gain a who adhere to traditional Asian values may better understanding of family conflict among utilize parenting behaviors that are incongruent Asian American colleges students by examining the relationships between perceived-parents’ adherence to Asian values, children’s accultur- Yong S. Park, University of California, Santa Barbara; ation and enculturation, and perceived-parent- Bryan S. K. Kim, University of Hawaii at Hilo; and Justine ing styles. Chiang and Charlene M. Ju, University of California, Santa Barbara. For this purpose, we gathered data from col- This research was supported in part by the Asian Amer- lege students, as opposed to younger children, ican, Center on Disparities Research (National Institute of based on the perspective that a certain level of Mental Health grant: 1P50MH073511-01A2. emotional and relational maturity is necessary Correspondence concerning this article should be ad- dressed to Bryan S. K. Kim, Department of Psychology, for individuals to reflect on and gain insight University of Hawaii at Hilo, 200 W. Kawili Street, Hilo, HI toward their family dynamics. This level of 96720-4091. E-mail: [email protected] maturity may not be achieved until late adoles-

67 68 PARK, KIM, CHIANG, AND JU cence or young adulthood, the typical develop- piety and authoritarian parenting were higher mental periods of most college students. Fur- for Chinese mothers than European American thermore, in comparison to younger children, mothers. college students may be better able to objec- Despite Asian Americans’ tendency for uti- tively identify patterns in their parent relation- lizing authoritarian parenting, Baumrind (1971) ship because of greater physical and emotional asserted that this style is harmful to children’s separation from parental controls and expecta- self-esteem and favored instead the use of au- tions (e.g., moving away from home). Younger thoritative style, which Baumrind contended children, on the other hand, may have a more would lead children to become autonomous, difficult time because they may be immersed in achievement-oriented, and self-controlled (cf. family dynamics that make them emotionally Buri, Louiselle, Misukanis, & Mueller, 1988). reactive to their parents. However, Darling and Steinberg (1993) argued that the beneficial aspects of authoritative style Parenting Styles may be culture-bound and apply primarily to European Americans from middle-class fami- Literature on parenting behaviors has been lies. Consistent with Darling and Steinberg, an largely influenced by Baumrind’s (1971) con- examination of the 1990 and 1992 National ceptualization of the authoritarian, permissive, Educational Longitudinal Study—which in- and authoritative parenting styles, which en- cluded a data from 873 Asian Americans, 1449 compass various characteristics, such as matu- Latino/as, 1176 African Americans, and 8292 rity demands, communication styles, nurtur- European American eight grade students— ance, warmth, and involvement (Darling & suggested that the associations between higher Steinberg, 1993). In regards to authoritarian academic achievement and higher authoritative parenting style, children are expected to acqui- and lower authoritarian styles were found only esce to parental demands, while parents are for European Americans (Park & Bauer, 2002). expected to be strict, highly directive, and emo- When considering an Asian cultural perspec- tionally detached from their children. On the tive, authoritarian parenting may have desirable other hand, permissive parenting style involves characteristics despite Baumrind’s (1971) asser- parents who place few restrictions, rules, or tions. According to Chao (2000), an important limits on their children, with the expectation socialization goal among Asian parents is to that their children will regulate their own activ- “train” their children to be hardworking, self- ities. In terms of authoritative parenting, this disciplined, and obedient. Compared to the style emphasizes clear and firm direction to other parenting styles, authoritarian emphasis children, while moderating discipline with on strictness and conformity to parental expec- warmth, reason, and flexibility. tations may be more conducive to these social- Among the different parenting styles, studies ization goals. On the other hand, an important indicate that Asian American parents tend to socialization goal in Western culture appears to utilize the authoritarian style to a greater extent be the emphasis on positive self-esteem and than European American parents (Chao, 1994; independence from parents (Heine, Lehman, Kawamura, Frost, & Marmatz, 2002; Pong, Markus, & Kitayama, 1999). From a Western Hao, & Gardner, 2005). This difference in par- cultural perspective, it appears that authoritative enting styles may be explained by Darling and parenting may be desirable as Baumrind (1971) Steinberg’s (1993) integrative parenting model, originally indicated. Taken together, the impact which suggests that the parents’ cultural value of parenting styles appear to vary based on orientation and socialization goals influence cultural factors. which parenting style they use. In support of For Asian American families, there appears this explanation, Xu, Farver, Zhang, Zeng, Yu, to be mixed findings with respect to the out- and Cai (2005) found that adherence to Asian comes associated with parenting styles. The values of collectivism, conformity to norms, findings from several studies that examined emotional self-control, and humility were asso- Asians and Asian Americans are consistent with ciated with higher use of authoritarian parenting Baumrind’s (1971) claim that favors authorita- among Chinese mothers. In addition, Chao tive style and discourages authoritarian style (2000) found that the association between filial (Herz & Gullone, 1999; Lau & Cheung, 1987; ASIAN AMERICAN FAMILY CONFLICT 69

Lau, Hau, Cheung, Lew, & Berndt, 1990; Xu et have little affinity to both their heritage and host al., 2005). However, findings from other studies cultures (Berry, 1989; Kim, 2008). (e.g., Leung, Lau, & Lam, 1998) suggest that authoritarian style is associated with beneficial Hypotheses outcomes for Asian American families, partic- ularly in regards to higher academic achieve- The present study aimed to examine possible ment. Furthermore, Steinberg, Lamborn, Dar- influences of culture-related variables, namely ling, Mounts, & Dornbusch (1994) found that parents’ adherence to Asian cultural values and there was an association for higher grade point children’s acculturation and enculturation lev- average and academic self-concept with author- els, on the relation between parenting styles and itarian parenting for Asian American, but not family conflicts. Based on the above literature, for European American adolescents. More re- the present study examined three hypotheses cently, Ang and Goh (2006) conducted a cluster with Asian American college students. First, we analysis of data from Singaporean adolescents hypothesized that the use of authoritarian par- reared by authoritarian parents and they were enting style would be rated higher than the other able to identify clusters of both well-adjusted two parenting styles. and maladjusted adolescents, suggesting that Second, we hypothesized that each of the authoritarian parenting does not necessarily re- parenting styles (authoritarian, permissive, and sult in negative outcomes, and that parenting authoritative) will mediate the relation between style outcomes may depend on other variables. parents’ adherence to Asian values and family conflicts. This hypothesis is based on the notion that family conflicts may occur when parents’ Acculturation and Enculturation Asian values are expressed in terms of behav- iors and expectations (i.e., parenting styles) that Because Asian Americans traverse through are incongruent with the children’s expecta- multiple and often conflicting cultural realities tions. An underlying assumption of this hypoth- (e.g., Asian vs. European American culture), the esis is that parental adherence to traditional impact of parenting styles on family relations Asian values indirectly affects family conflicts may depend on children’s level of acculturation through its influence on parenting styles, which and enculturation. Acculturation refers to the in turn is hypothesized to have a direct effect on process of adapting to the attitudes, values, and family conflicts. behaviors of the dominant culture of the host Third, we hypothesized that children’s accul- country (Berry, Trimble, & Olmedo, 1986); turation and enculturation levels will moderate while, enculturation refers to the degree to the relations between each of the parenting which individuals adhere to their heritage cul- styles and family conflict. This hypothesis as- tures (Kim, 2008). Based on a combination of sumes that family conflicts will decrease as the either high or low levels of acculturation and congruence between parenting styles and chil- enculturation, individuals can be characterized dren’s expectations increases. For Asian Amer- as having one of the following attitudes: inte- ican children, their expectations may be largely gration, assimilation, separation, and marginal- influenced by levels of acculturation and encul- ization. Integration (i.e., high acculturation, turation because of their exposure to both West- high enculturation) refers to individuals who are ern and Asian cultures, respectively. For exam- able to competently function in both the domi- ple, expectations of highly enculturated Asian nant and heritage cultures. Assimilation (i.e., American children may be more congruent with high acculturation, low enculturation) refers to authoritarian parenting style because of their individuals who effectively function within the affinity toward the cultural value of filial piety. adopted dominant culture, but has difficulty Thus, these enculturated children may experi- with their heritage culture. In contrast, separa- ence lower levels of family conflicts even tion (i.e., low acculturation, high enculturation) though their parents are authoritarian. On the refers to individuals who have a difficulty nav- other hand, acculturated Asian American chil- igating the norms outside their heritage culture. dren may perceive authoritarian parenting as Lastly, marginalization (i.e., low acculturation, overly restrictive and nonaffectionate, which in low enculturation) refers to individuals who turn may contribute to parent–child conflicts. 70 PARK, KIM, CHIANG, AND JU

Instead, the acculturated child may prefer par- Demographic sheet. The demographic ents who are more authoritative or permissive. sheet contained items regarding the partici- pant’s gender, age, ethnicity, generational sta- Method tus, and birth order. In addition, the partici- pants were asked about the following charac- Participants teristics about their parents and family: family income, each parent’s generational A total of 149 Asian American students from status, parents’ marital status, each parent’s a large West Coast University participated in English fluency, and family member compo- the present study; of whom, 85 were female sition in the household. (57.0%) and 60 were male (40.3%) with four PAQ. Buri (1991) designed the PAQ to who did not report sex. The average age of the measure three different types of parenting Asian American participants was 19.58 years styles: permissive, authoritarian, and author- (SD ϭ 1.26), with a range of 17 to 25 years. The itative as defined by Baumrind (1971). The largest Asian ethnic group was Chinese scale consists of 30 items asking the respon- (n ϭ 39, 26.4%), followed by Korean (n ϭ 21, dents to rate their perceptions of their moth- 14.2%), Filipino (n ϭ 20, 13.5%), Vietnamese er’s and father’s parenting behavior on a scale (n ϭ 16, 10.7%), Japanese (n ϭ 10, 6.8%) and of1(strongly disagree)to5(strongly agree), the remaining 43 (28.4%) were from other with 10 items for each subscale (i.e., permis- Asian groups. Most Asian American partici- sive, authoritarian, authoritative). Higher pants were either first generation (n ϭ 34, scores for each subscale represented higher 22.8%) or second generation (n ϭ 93, 62.4%) endorsement of the measured parenting style. while the rest were third generation (n ϭ 4, Sample questions for each subscale are as 2.6%), fourth generation (n ϭ 11, 7.4%), and follows: “As I was growing up my mother fifth generation (n ϭ 2, 1.3%), with five who seldom gave me expectations and guidelines did not report their generation status. Most of for my behavior” for permissive; “My mother the fathers (83.3%) and mothers (86.8%) were has always felt that more force should be used reported to be first generation. The generational by parents in order to get their children to distributions suggest that most parents in the behave the way they are supposed to” for sample were first generation, while their chil- authoritarian; “As the children in my family dren were mostly first or second generation. The were growing up my mother consistently gave average income was at the higher end of the us direction and guidance in rational and ob- $45,000 to $60,000 range. In regards to birth jective ways” for authoritative. The present order, there were 57 (38.3%) first-born, 52 data yielded coefficient alphas of .74, .84, and (34.9%) second-born, 17 (11.4%) third-born, 11 .80 for the permissive, authoritarian, and au- (7.4%) fourth-born, 3 (2.0%) fifth-born, and thoritative subscales, respectively. two seventh- and one eighth-born (6 missing AVS-R. We asked participants to report data). The majority of the Asian American par- their perceptions of their parents’ adherence to ticipants reported having married parents Asian cultural values based on the items from (82.2%), while about 9.6% reported divorced the AVS-R. Previous studies have used this parents, and the rest were widowed, remarried, method to measure perceived parent’s adher- or separated. ence to Asian values (Ahn et al., 2008; Park et al., 2008). Kim, Atkinson, and Yang (1999) Measures originally constructed the Asian Values Scale in order to measure one’s adherence to Asian The questionnaire consisted of a demo- cultural values. Kim and Hong (2004) used graphic sheet and four scales: Parental Author- the Rasch model to modify the original AVS ity Questionnaire (PAQ; Buri, 1991), Asian to improve its psychometric properties, which Values Scale—Revised (AVS-R; Kim & Hong, resulted in 25 total items for the AVS-R. 2004), Asian American Multidimensional Ac- Respondents rate each item on a 4-point scale culturation Scale (AAMAS; Chung, Kim, & (1 ϭ strongly disagree to 4 ϭ strongly agree) Abreu, 2004), and Asian American Family with higher scores representing higher adher- Conflicts Scale (AAFCS; Lee et al., 2000). ence to Asian values. Sample items are “One ASIAN AMERICAN FAMILY CONFLICT 71 should not deviate from familial and social Procedure norms,” “One’s achievements should be viewed as family’s achievements,” and “The Upon receiving approval from the host univer- worst thing one can do is to bring disgrace to sity, participants were recruited from an Asian one’s family reputation.” The present data American studies course at a large West Coast yielded a coefficient alpha of .87. university and were offered extra credit as an AAMAS. The AAMAS is a 15-item mea- incentive for participation. Participants were in- sure of Asian Americans’ engagement in the formed that their participation was voluntary and behavioral norms of one’s Asian culture-of- that their responses would be anonymous. Once origin, other Asian American cultures, and participants provided informed consent, they com- the European American culture. The AAMAS pleted the paper-and-pencil questionnaire. contains three subscales: Culture of Origin (AAMAS-CO), Other Asian American Cul- Results tures (AAMAS-AA), and European American Culture (AAMAS-EA). The AAMAS-CO and Preliminary Analysis the AAMAS-EA was used in the present study to measure enculturation and accultur- Diagnostics. Prior to each analysis, diag- ation, respectively. For each item, respon- nostics were conducted to examine the assump- dents were asked to answer on a 6 point scale tions for each analysis. The Shapiro-Wilk’s test ranging from 1 (not very much)to6(very indicated that all of the study’s variables had much). The items measure four reliable do- approximately normal distributions. Tests of mains of acculturation: cultural identity, linearity, independence of observations, and ho- language, cultural knowledge, and food con- moscedasticity indicated that assumptions for sumption. Sample items in the AAMAS in- the multiple regression analyses were met. An clude, “How well do you speak the language alpha of .05 was used to assess for significance of _____,” “How often do you actually eat the of all statistical tests. See Table 1 for the means, standard deviations of the study variables. food of _____,” “How knowledgeable are you Related demographic variables. We ex- about the history of _____,” and “How much amined the possible relations between the demo- would you like to interact and associate with graphic variables (i.e., gender, age, family income, people from _____.” The present data yielded generational status, parent’s generational status, the following coefficient alphas: .87 for parents’ marital status, and birth order) and family AAMAS-CO and .78 for the AAMAS-EA. conflict. The results showed that family income AAFCS. Lee et al. (2000) designed the (r ϭϪ.24, p ϭ .007), participants’ generational AAFCS to measure parent–child conflicts status (r ϭϪ.23, p ϭ .007), and parent’s gener- among Asian American families. The AAFCS ational status (r ϭϪ.21, p ϭ .014) were signifi- consists of 10 items which represent typical cantly related to family conflict at the .05 alpha cultural specific conflicts that are measured by level. Hence, these variables were controlled for in likelihood and seriousness of the family con- the regression analyses. flict. The items are worded to show disagree- Mean differences. The results of t tests ment between the children and parents (e.g., showed that Asian American participants’ author- “Your parents tell you what to do with your life, itarian parenting style score (M ϭ 3.30, but you want to make your own decisions”). SD ϭ 0.64) was significantly higher than permis- The likelihood scale ranges from 1 (almost sive parenting style score (M ϭ 2.61, SD ϭ 0.53), never)to5(almost always) and the seriousness t(148) ϭϪ8.33, p Ͻ .001, d ϭ .68, but not scale ranges from 1 (not at all)to5(extremely). significantly higher than authoritative parenting Higher scores reflect higher family conflict. In style score (M ϭ 3.21, SD ϭ 0.56), t(148) ϭ 1.12, the present study, the likelihood and seriousness p ϭ .264, d ϭ .09. In addition, Authoritative scores were combined to generate an overall parenting score was significantly higher than per- intensity score, as suggested by Lee et al. For missive parenting score, t(148) ϭϪ11.49, p Ͻ the present study, a coefficient alpha of .89 was .001, d ϭ .94. These results provide partial sup- found. port for the first hypothesis. 72 PARK, KIM, CHIANG, AND JU

Table 1 Alpha Coefficients, Means, Standard Deviations, and Zero-Order Correlations of the Study’s Variables Variables MSD 123456 1. PAQ-Permissive 2.59 0.53 — — ءءءPAQ-Authoritarian 3.34 0.63 Ϫ.47 .2 — ءءϪ.24 ءءءPAQ-Authoritative 3.28 0.54 .33 .3 — ءϪ.20 ءParents’ AVS-R 2.83 0.29 Ϫ.17 .21 .4 — ءءAAMAS-CO 4.20 0.76 .15 .01 Ϫ.03 .24 .5 — Ϫ.08 Ϫ.08 11. ءAAMAS-EA 4.74 0.57 Ϫ.09 Ϫ.17 .6 Ϫ.11 08. ءء26. ءءءϪ.41 ءءء39. ءAAFCS 2.53 0.87 Ϫ.16 .7 Note. PAQ ϭ Parental Authority Questionnaire; Parent’s AVS-R ϭ Participant-perceived parents’ score on the Asian Values Scale-Revised; AAMAS-CO ϭ Asian American Multidimensional Acculturation Scale-Culture of Origin; AAMAS- EA ϭ Asian American Multidimensional Acculturation Scale-European Americans; AAFCS ϭ Asian American Family Conflict Scale. .p Ͻ .001 ءءء .p Ͻ .01 ءء .p Ͻ .05 ء

Correlation and regression. We com- that regressed AAFCS on parents’ AVS-R and puted zero-order correlations to examine the each of the parenting style scores (mediator possible bivariate relationships between the pre- variable) need to be examined. If the significant dictor variables and the dependent variable, relation between parents’ AVS-R and AAFCS family conflict (See Table 1). The results became nonsignificant or reduced, it indicates showed that permissive (r ϭϪ.16) and author- that the parenting style variable is a significant itative (r ϭϪ.41) parenting were inversely mediator. After each regression analysis, we related to family conflict, while parents’ AVS-R conducted a Sobel (1982) tests for assessing the (r ϭ .26) and authoritarian parenting (r ϭ .39) level of significance of the mediation model. were positively related to family conflict. Be- For each of the multiple regressions, family cause each of the perceived parenting styles was income, participants’ generational status, and significantly correlated with one another, we parents’ generational status were controlled for conducted a simultaneous regression analysis to in the first step of the regression. See Table 2 for examine the impact of each parenting style on results of the tests of mediation models for the family conflict while controlling for the other three parenting styles. parenting styles. This regression model (R2 ϭ Permissive style. Parent’s AVS-R score .27, p Ͻ .001) indicated that authoritarian (␤ϭ significantly predicted 5% of the variance in .37, p Ͻ .001) and authoritative parenting (␤ϭ family conflict, F(5, 127) ϭ 6.87, p ϭ .010 and Ϫ.36, p Ͻ .001) were significant predictors, 8% of the variance in permissive parenting, F(5, while permissive parenting (␤ϭ.12, p ϭ .141) 127) ϭ 10.70, p ϭ .001. Contrary to the hy- was not. pothesis, when both variables were included in the model that predicted family conflict, par- Tests of Mediation Effects ent’s AVS-R remained significant ( p ϭ .018) while permissive parenting was nonsignificant To address the second hypothesis regarding ( p ϭ .677). The Sobel’s test for indirect effects whether the parenting styles mediated the rela- was not significant, z ϭ 0.41, p ϭ .343. Hence, tion between parents’ adherence to Asian values permissive parenting style did not mediate the and family conflict, Baron and Kenny’s (1986) relation between parent’s adherence to Asian procedure for mediation test was implemented values and family conflict and second hypothe- for each of the three parenting style scores. The sis was not supported for this parenting style first requirement of this procedure is that there variable. is a significant relation between parents’ AVS-R Authoritarian style. Parent’s AVS-R and AAFCS. The second requirement is that score significantly predicted 5% of the variance there is a significant relation between parents’ in authoritarian parenting, F(5, 127) ϭ 7.63, AVS-R and the parenting style score. For the p ϭ .007. Consistent with the hypothesis, the third requirement, a multiple regression model parent’s AVS-R score became nonsignificant ASIAN AMERICAN FAMILY CONFLICT 73

Table 2 Multiple Regression Models for the Tests of Mediation Effects Variables (n ϭ 133) BSEr srt R2 Fp Mediator: PAQ-Permissive 1. DV: AAFCS .05 6.87 .010 Parents’ AVS-R 0.66 .25 .31 .21 2.62 .010 2. DV: Permissive .08 10.70 .001 Parents’ AVS-R Ϫ0.54 .17 Ϫ.23 Ϫ.28 Ϫ3.27 .001 3. DV: AAFCS .05 3.50 .033 Parents’ AVS-R 0.63 .26 .31 .20 2.39 .018 Permissive Ϫ0.06 .14 Ϫ.07 Ϫ.04 Ϫ0.42 .677 Mediator: PAQ-Authoritarian DV: AAFCS .05 6.87 .010 Parents’ AVS-R 0.66 .25 .31 .21 2.62 .010 DV: Authoritarian .05 7.63 .007 Parents’ AVS 0.53 .19 .27 .23 2.76 .007 DV: AAFCS .14 11.73 Ͻ.001 Parents’ AVS 0.43 .24 .31 .13 1.74 .084 Authoritarian 0.44 .11 .37 .31 3.97 Ͻ.001 Mediator: PAQ-Authoritative DV: AAFCS .05 6.87 .010 Parents’ AVS 0.66 .25 .31 .21 2.62 .010 DV: Authoritative .02 3.35 .069 Parent’s AVS Ϫ0.29 .16 Ϫ.24 Ϫ.15 Ϫ1.83 .069 DV: AAFCS .11 8.91 Ͻ.001 Parents’ AVS 0.55 .24 .32 .18 2.27 .025 Authoritative Ϫ0.41 .13 Ϫ.36 Ϫ.25 Ϫ3.15 .002 Note. Three mediating tests are portrayed for each type of parenting style, with each step of the mediating test. Parent’s generational status, family income, and students’ generational status was entered into the first step of each regression analyses to control for their effects. PAQ ϭ Parental Authority Questionnaire; AAFCS ϭ Asian American Family Conflict Scale; Parent’s AVS-R ϭ Participant-perceived parent’s score on the Asian Values Scale-Revised.

( p ϭ .084) when authoritarian parenting was Tests of Moderation Effects controlled. The Sobel’s test suggested a signif- icant mediation effect, z ϭ 2.24, p ϭ .012. The For the third hypothesis, we conducted a hi- semipartial correlation between parent’s erarchical multiple regression analysis that re- AVS-R and family conflict decreased from .21 gressed family conflict to examine three-way to .13 when authoritarian parenting was taken interactions between acculturation, encultura- accounted for in the regression model, suggest- tion, and each of the three parenting styles; ing that 38% of parent’s AVS-R’s effect on family hence, a total of three regressions were tested. conflict was indirectly explained by authoritarian For each multiple regression, family income, parenting. Hence, authoritarian parenting style students’ generational status and parent’s gen- mediated the relation between parent’s adherence erational status were controlled for in the first to Asian values and family conflict and second step. The second step included the standardized hypothesis was partially supported for this parent- acculturation, enculturation, and a parenting ing style variable. style score. The third step included the multipli- Authoritative style. Contrary to the hypoth- cative product of the standardized acculturation esis, Parent’s AVS-R score did not significantly and parenting style variables, enculturation and predict authoritative parenting, F(5, 127) ϭ 3.35, parenting style variables, and acculturation and p ϭ .069. The Sobel’s test was not significant, enculturation variables. The fourth step included z ϭ 1.52, p ϭ .065. Hence, authoritative parenting the three-way interaction variable: multiplicative style did not mediate the relation between parent’s product of the standardized acculturation, encul- adherence to Asian values and family conflict and turation, and parental style variables. For the second hypothesis was not supported for this par- three-way interactions, a combination of high- enting style variable. acculturation and high-enculturation individuals 74 PARK, KIM, CHIANG, AND JU were referred to as integrated, high-accultura- tion (AAMAS-EA). As illustrated in Figure 1A, tion and low-enculturation individuals were re- as permissive parenting style increased, the low ferred to as assimilated, low acculturation and acculturation group reported more family con- high enculturation individuals were referred flict, while there was a decrease of family con- to as separated, and low acculturation and low flict for the high acculturation group. enculturation individuals were referred to as Authoritarian style. The authoritarian par- marginalized. See Table 3 for the results of enting style’s interaction model significantly the moderation tests for the permissive, au- predicted 33% of the variance on family con- thoritarian, and authoritative parenting styles, flict, F(12, 121) ϭ 4.84, p Ͻ .001, ƒ2 ϭ .49 (See respectively. Table 3). Authoritarian parenting style had a Permissive style. The permissive parenting significant positive relation with family conflict. style’s interaction model significantly predicted There was a significant three-way interaction 21% of the variance on family conflict, F(12, between authoritarian parenting style, encul- 121) ϭ 2.65, p ϭ .003, ƒ2 ϭ .27 (See Table 3). turation, and acculturation on family conflict. A significant two-way interaction was found be- As illustrated in Figure 1B, as authoritarian tween permissive parenting style and accultura- parenting style increased, the integrated, sepa-

Table 3 Hierarchical Multiple Regression Examining the Interaction of Parenting Styles, Acculturation, and Enculturation on Family Conflict Variables BSEsrtR2/⌬R2 F/⌬Fp ƒ2 Moderator: Permissive style Overall model .21 2.65 .003 .27 Step 4 .00 0.24 .622 .00 Enculturation (A) Ϫ0.05 .08 Ϫ.05 Ϫ0.65 .516 Acculturation (B) 0.04 .08 .04 0.54 .589 Permissive (C) Ϫ0.10 .07 Ϫ.11 Ϫ1.38 .171 A ϫ B Ϫ0.05 .07 Ϫ.05 Ϫ0.64 .527 A ϫ C Ϫ0.09 .08 Ϫ.10 Ϫ1.22 .224 B ϫ C Ϫ0.15 .06 Ϫ.21 Ϫ2.53 .013 A ϫ B ϫ C Ϫ0.03 .05 Ϫ.04 Ϫ0.49 .622 Moderator: Authoritarian style Overall model .33 4.84 Ͻ.001 .49 Step 4 .05 9.19 .003 .07 Enculturation (A) Ϫ0.15 .08 Ϫ.14 Ϫ1.93 .055 Acculturation (B) 0.11 .07 .11 1.48 .141 Authoritarian (C) 0.28 .07 .30 4.00 Ͻ.001 A ϫ B Ϫ0.09 .06 Ϫ.11 Ϫ1.53 .129 A ϫ C 0.14 .07 .16 2.08 .039 B ϫ C 0.08 .08 .07 0.90 .369 A ϫ B ϫ C Ϫ0.21 .07 Ϫ.23 Ϫ3.03 .003 Moderator: Authoritative style Total model .26 3.60 Ͻ.001 .35 Step 4 .03 4.82 .030 .04 Enculturation (A) Ϫ0.07 .08 Ϫ.07 Ϫ0.88 .379 Acculturation (B) 0.08 .08 .08 0.98 .330 Authoritative (C) Ϫ0.20 .08 Ϫ.18 Ϫ2.46 .015 A ϫ B Ϫ0.13 .07 Ϫ.15 Ϫ1.89 .061 A ϫ C 0.12 .07 .13 1.65 .103 B ϫ C Ϫ0.22 .10 Ϫ.17 Ϫ2.19 .031 A ϫ B ϫ C 0.17 .08 .17 2.19 .030 Note. DV ϭ Family Conflict. Only step 4 results are included in this table. Step 1 included control variables: family income, students’ generational status, and parent’s generational status. Step 2 included control variables and predictor variables. Step 3 included control, predictor, and two-way interaction terms. Step 4 included all variables and three-way interaction term. ASIAN AMERICAN FAMILY CONFLICT 75

Figure 1. Plots of interaction effects between parenting styles, acculturation, and encul- turation on family conflict. Note. AAFCS ϭ Asian American Family Conflict Scale.

rated, and assimilated groups reported higher tions among parenting styles, parents’ adher- family conflict, while the marginalized group ence to Asian values, acculturation, encultura- reported less family conflict. The magnitude of tion, and family conflict among Asian American the increased family conflict for the integrated college students. group was less than the separated and assimi- To address the second hypothesis, a series of lated groups. In addition, the assimilated group mediation tests were conducted to examine appeared to have higher family conflict with whether parenting style explained why parents’ high authoritarian parenting style than the other adherence to Asian values was related to family three groups. conflict. As hypothesized, authoritarian style Authoritative style. The authoritative par- was found to significantly mediate the relation enting style’s interaction model significantly between parents’ adherence to Asian cultural predicted 26% of the variance on family con- values and family conflict. In addition, the re- flict, F(12, 121) ϭ 3.60, p Ͻ .001, ƒ2 ϭ .35 (See sults showed that parents’ adherence to Asian Table 3). Higher levels of authoritative parent- values was positively related to authoritarian ing style were associated with decreased family parenting style. This finding is consistent with conflict. A three-way interaction was found be- Xu et al.’s (2005) study which found that Asian tween authoritative parenting style, accultura- cultural values of collectivism, conformity to tion, and enculturation on family conflict. As norms, emotional self-control, and humility illustrated in Figure 1C, the assimilated group were related to authoritarian parenting for Chi- reported higher family conflict than the other nese mothers. Overall, the present findings sug- three groups at the low authoritative level, while gest that parents who adhere strongly the Asian the reports of family conflict were lower than values tend to utilize authoritarian parenting the three groups at high levels of authoritative style, which in turn is associated with increased parenting. family conflict. Contrary to our hypotheses, permissive and Discussion authoritative parenting styles did not mediate the relation between parents’ Asian values and The present study showed that the rating of family conflict. Specific to permissive parenting authoritarian parenting style was higher than style, a significant relation between permissive permissive style, as hypothesized. The results style and family conflict was not found. Al- also showed that the rating of authoritative style though it is difficult to interpret this nonsignif- was higher than permissive style. This finding is icant finding, it may be the case that Asian consistent with past literature that suggests that American family conflict may have less to do Asian American parents have a tendency for with lenient parenting and more to do with the authoritarian parenting (Chao, 1994; Kawamura perception of Asian American parents as being et al., 2002; Pong et al., 2005). Also, the results overly restrictive and autocratic. In terms of showed partial support for hypothesized rela- authoritative parenting style, it was puzzling 76 PARK, KIM, CHIANG, AND JU that the relation between authoritative parenting parents because they did not feel culturally con- style and parents’ Asian values was not signif- nected with them. Because of the distance, there icant when the demographic variables were in- may not be as many situations for marginalized cluded in the regression model. In contrast, an individuals to have conflict with their parents. examination of the zero-order correlations sug- Another unexpected finding was that the sep- gests that there was a significant inverse relation arated individuals did not report lower family between these two variables. It appears that a conflict at higher levels of authoritarian parent- future study may be warranted to clarify these ing style. We had expected that separated Asian discrepant findings. Americans would be more receptive to author- To address the third hypothesis, a series of itarian parenting since they would also adhere to hierarchical multiple regression analyses were traditional Asian familial norms that emphasize conducted to assess whether acculturation and unquestioning obedience and respect to their enculturation moderated the relation between parents (Kim, Atkinson, & Umemoto, 2001). parenting style and family conflict. For permis- To explain this unexpected finding, we cite Lau sive parenting, the results indicated that partic- and Cheung (1987), who suggested that authori- ipants’ acculturation level was a significant tarianism may reflect two forms of parental moderator in that as permissive parenting in- control: 1) the restrictiveness parents place on creased, more acculturated Asian Americans re- their children, and 2) setting limits to help chil- ported lower family conflict, while less accul- dren organize their behaviors and learn the con- turated Asian Americans reported higher family sequences of their actions. Perhaps the sepa- conflict. This finding may suggest that more rated individuals in the present study responded acculturated Asian Americans may interpret to the restrictiveness aspect of authoritarianism their parents’ permissiveness as respect for their as opposed to the latter point. autonomy. These individuals may appreciate For authoritative parenting style, a three-way the freedom that they are given by their permis- interaction effect was found in which assimi- sive parents to make their own life choices. On lated Asian Americans reported lower family the other hand, less acculturated Asian Ameri- conflict at higher levels of authoritative parent- cans may perceive permissiveness as a sign that ing, when compared to the other three groups. parents are being neglectful, in that, parents are Based on Baumrind’s (1971) assertion that failing to fulfill their role of “training” them to authoritative style reinforces autonomy and work harder, and be more disciplined and obe- self-reliance, assimilated Asian Americans may dient (Chao, 1994). prefer authoritative parenting because these With regard to authoritarian parenting style, qualities are valued in European American cul- the results showed a three-way interaction ef- ture. However, unlike Baumrind’s valuation of fect: when authoritarian style increased, inte- authoritative parenting, it appeared that no grated, separated and assimilated Asian Amer- changes in family conflict were observed at icans reported increased family conflict, higher levels of authoritative parenting for inte- whereas the marginalized group reported lower grated, separated, and marginalized individuals. family conflict. The inverse directionality be- This finding is consistent with Darling and tween authoritarian style and family conflict for Steinberg (1993) who emphasized the impor- the marginalized group was unexpected. Al- tance of considering the cultural context of fam- though it is difficult to explain this unexpected ily’s values and socialization goals when exam- finding, we speculated two rival hypotheses. ining parenting behaviors. First, because marginalized individuals may As in all studies, the present study has limi- feel disconnected to both the Asian American tations. First, a potential limitation is the study’s community and larger European American cul- reliance on perceived parents’ adherence to ture, they may rely on familial attachments to Asian cultural values and parenting styles; par- fulfill their need to belong. Therefore, margin- ticipants’ perceptions may differ from their par- alized individuals may be more tolerant of their ents’ own accounts of their values and parenting parents’ restrictiveness and demands for family styles. Despite this limitation, findings from obligation. Conversely, it may be the case that past studies suggest that perceptions of parental marginalized individuals may have created behaviors may be a relevant and important di- physical and/or emotional distance from their mension of family functioning for Asian Amer- ASIAN AMERICAN FAMILY CONFLICT 77 icans. For example, several studies utilized par- ine the study’s variables with the Asian Amer- ticipant-perceived variables, such as perceived ican children and adolescent populations. Based parental acculturation (Lee et al., 2000), per- on previous literature and the unexpected find- ceived parental traditionalism (Aldwin & ings regarding authoritarian parenting style, fu- Greenberger, 1987), and perceived parent–child ture studies might deconstruct this variable by Asian values gap (Ahn et al., 2008) and found examining aspects that are restrictive versus these variables to be significantly related to those that help organize children’s behavior mental health and family conflict variables. (e.g., Lau & Cheung, 1987). Lastly, we desig- Second, the scale (i.e., PAQ) utilized to mea- nated family conflict as the outcome variable in sure parenting style elicited childhood recollec- the present study because it is a common strug- tions of parenting behaviors. Although other gle faced by Asian American families. How- studies have used the PAQ with college stu- ever, it may be informative in future studies to dents, it is unclear how accurately recall data examine family conflict as a predictor variable captured actual parenting behaviors while they given that the relations between these variables were children. According to Gerlsma, Arrindell, are correlational as opposed to causal. For ex- and Emmelkamp (1991), recalled parenting ample, the level of family conflict may influ- styles may be influenced by current mood states ence children’s attitudes toward acculturation (i.e., depression), suggesting the presence of and enculturation. potentially intervening variables when examin- Notwithstanding the limitations in the study, ing recall data. the present results also have implications for A third limitation is that the study recruited clinical practice with Asian American families. participants from an Asian American Studies The results showed that the parents’ use of course. Although the majority of the enrolled authoritarian parenting style could be based on students reported that they were taking the their adherence to Asian cultural values. There- course to fulfill a general education require- fore, it might be beneficial for clinicians to ment, as opposed to majoring in Asian Ameri- validate the cultural basis for Asian Americans’ can Studies, these students may be particularly parenting styles, and help parents and children more interested in topics related to Asian Amer- become more aware and understanding of par- icans than those not enrolled in the course. In ents’ use of the authoritarian style. Furthermore, addition, although we did not reveal the study’s clinicians can help parents understand that their hypotheses to the participants, the materials children may value autonomy and self-reliance covered in the course might have biased their based on their acculturation to the dominant attitudes toward the study’s variables. Fourth, Western culture in the United States. Clinicians the participants were recruited from a university can help the parents become aware of how in the West Coast and Asian American college children might react to their authoritarian par- students from other regions of the United States enting, and how that this parenting style may may have different attitudes toward the study’s contribute to family conflict. Finally, the variables. Taken together, the recruitment strat- present results suggest that the effects of par- egy used in the present study limits the gener- enting style on students may vary according to alizability of the findings to the overall Asian their acculturation and enculturation levels. American college student population. Rather than inflexibly prescribing a particular The results of the present study have impli- parenting style for Asian American parents, cli- cations for future research. As a response to the nicians might make their recommendations limitation of the present study’s use of students’ based on an assessment of the children’s level perceptions of parents’ adherence to Asian val- of acculturation and enculturation. ues and parenting styles, future studies might examine actual parents’ scores on these vari- ables. In addition, the effects of parenting may References be more pertinent for Asian American children Ahn, A. J., Kim, B. S. K., & Park, Y. S. (2008). Asian and adolescents than college students, since col- cultural values gap, cognitive flexibility, coping lege students generally have less everyday con- strategies, and child-parent conflicts among Ko- tact with their parents because they tend to live rean Americans. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Mi- away from home. Future research might exam- nority Psychology, 14, 353–363. 78 PARK, KIM, CHIANG, AND JU

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