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Coming to America: the Impact of Acculturation and Cultural

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Coming to America: the Impact of Acculturation and Cultural COMING TO AMERICA: THE IMPACT OF ACCULTURATION AND CULTURAL IDENTITY ON THE PREFERENCE FOR ARRANGED VERSUS LOVE MARRIAGE AMONG INDIAN HINDUS RESIDING IN THE UNITED STATES A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‟I AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN PSYCHOLOGY MAY 2012 By Aparajita Jeedigunta Dissertation Committee: Elaine Hatfield, Chairperson Ashley Maynard Dan Landis David Frederick Dharm Bhawuk Richard Rapson Keywords: Marriage, Hindus, Indian-Americans, Acculturation, Cultural Identity Abstract While marriage is a social institution that has been well-established and well- studied by scholars from various fields over the course of human history, the customs, traditions, rituals and even styles of marriage change within cultural groups over time due to various factors like time, socio-cultural differences, population migration and overall changes in societal norms. The Hindu culture within the United States is one such cultural group that seems to be undergoing tremendous changes in its marriage style, as more immigrants are opting not to get involved in arranged marriages. The goal of this study was to examine how various changes that happen due to migration impact individuals‟ decisions between an arranged marriage and a love marriage in the United States. Participants were 247 Hindu immigrants living in the United States recruited via social networking sites, and e-mail advertisements to various Indian-American organizations throughout the United States. They completed various measures of acculturation, cultural identity, attitudes towards arranged marriage and love marriage and various demographic variables. Results revealed that individuals‟ acculturation strategies did in fact have an impact on whether they preferred arranged marriage or love marriage. Cultural identity did not have an influence on the type of marriage individuals preferred. These findings suggest that psychological and socio-cultural changes that occur due to events such as migration have a long-term impact on individuals‟ personal decisions such as mate selection. Further research in this area seems to be essential both in terms of theory development and in terms of practical applications of these findings to various domains in life. ii Acknowledgements This entire journey would not have been possible without the help of a number of people over the past few years. I am deeply indebted to my committee members – Dr. Ashley Maynard, Dr. Dharm Bhawuk, Dr. Dan Landis, and Dr. Richard Rapson. I would especially like to thank my statistician – Dr. David Frederick. I would not have been able to complete this project without your unwavering statistical support and overall guidance. In 2005, I got the incredible opportunity to work with a lady whom I consider to be one of the most brilliant researchers of our time – Dr. Elaine Hatfield. She has been my Chairperson, my academic mentor, my inspiration and my motivation to continue my work even during the most difficult moments. Thank you, Dr. Hatfield for helping me grow into the woman and the researcher that I am today. Thank you to Dr. Srinivas Channapragada and Lakshmi Channapragada for assisting me with recruitment on the East Coast, and to Theja Channapragada, and all the other student leaders from all over the United States for distributing participant recruitment flyers to Indian student organizations. This work would be incomplete without mentioning my appreciation for my extended family and friends from all over the world, who tirelessly campaigned on several social media sites to help disseminate recruitment information on my behalf. I especially want to mention my research assistants over the years – Heather Nakahara, Jessica Yeh, Marifer Sandiego and Jovianna Guiterrez – for their diligence and persistence in tracking down research articles and their patience in effortlessly adapting to the almost constant changes that occurred at the beginning of the project. Lastly, and most importantly, I would also like to thank my parents – Ratnam and Surya Jeedigunta – for their immense help in participant recruitment and for the countless number of hours they spent distributing posters and flyers in Hindu temples and gatherings all over the Midwest. Mom and Dad, none of this would have been possible if it weren‟t for your constant encouragement and love. iii Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iii List of Tables................................................................................................................. vii List of Figures .............................................................................................................. viii Introduction .....................................................................................................................1 Purpose of Study ..........................................................................................................4 Mate Selection .................................................................................................................6 History of Hindu Marriage .............................................................................................11 The Hindu Caste System ............................................................................................11 Hindu Marriage ..........................................................................................................13 The Hindu Marriage Process ......................................................................................15 Differences in Kinship Systems Between North India and South India .......................19 Gender in Hinduism ...................................................................................................21 History of Marriage in the United States ........................................................................24 Historical Trends – The American North ....................................................................24 Historical Trends – The American South ....................................................................28 Civil War and Post Civil-War Developments .............................................................30 The Face of Marriage: Early 20th Century – Present Day ...........................................32 Gender Issues in the United States..............................................................................38 Inter-Racial and Inter-Cultural Marriage Trends .........................................................42 History of Indian Emigration to the United States ..........................................................45 First and Second Waves of Immigrants ......................................................................45 The Immigration Act of 1965 and Its Impact on Indian Emigration ............................47 Gender and Caste Issues Among Hindus in the United States .....................................49 Current Statistics and Trends ......................................................................................50 Acculturation .................................................................................................................51 What is Acculturation? ...............................................................................................51 Psychological Acculturation .......................................................................................53 Models of Acculturation .............................................................................................54 iv Berry‟s Acculturation Strategies .................................................................................56 Literature Review on Acculturation and Acculturation Strategies ...............................57 Cultural Identity ............................................................................................................64 What Is Cultural Identity? ..........................................................................................64 Differences Between Acculturation and Cultural Identity ...........................................65 Cultural Identity - Theoretical Background ................................................................66 Components of Cultural Identity ................................................................................70 Factors that influence Cultural Identity .......................................................................73 Literature Review of Cultural Identity ........................................................................74 Restatement of Purpose of Study ...................................................................................79 Restatement of Hypotheses and Research Questions ......................................................80 Method ..........................................................................................................................84 Procedure ...................................................................................................................84 Participants – Demographic Information ....................................................................85 The Acculturation Scale for Vietnamese Adolescents - revised (ASVA-revised) (modified) ..................................................................................................................86
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