TY - JOUR
T1 - Personalizing Immigrant Sacrifices
T2 - Internalization of Sense of Indebtedness Toward Parents Among Korean American Young Adults
AU - Kang, Hyeyoung
AU - Raffaelli, Marcela
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, © The Author(s) 2015.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - This research explored Korean American (KA) young adults’ experiences related to their sense of indebtedness toward their parents and perceptions of how indebtedness affected their behavior toward parents. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 KA young adults from immigrant families. Most respondents narrated their sense of indebtedness to parents, verbally acknowledging appreciation for parents’ hardship and sacrifice; however, they differed in how much they internalized indebtedness, varying in level of personalization and perception of salience of indebtedness. Similarly, youth did not differ in how they described the role of their felt indebtedness in shaping their behavior toward parents (including filial responsibility, desire for success, and promoting positive interactions) but their motivations and interpretations of these behaviors differed depending on the degree of internalization of sense of indebtedness. Taken as a whole, findings suggest within-group variations in how KA young adults deal with collective cultural norms regarding intergenerational obligations and relationships.
AB - This research explored Korean American (KA) young adults’ experiences related to their sense of indebtedness toward their parents and perceptions of how indebtedness affected their behavior toward parents. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 KA young adults from immigrant families. Most respondents narrated their sense of indebtedness to parents, verbally acknowledging appreciation for parents’ hardship and sacrifice; however, they differed in how much they internalized indebtedness, varying in level of personalization and perception of salience of indebtedness. Similarly, youth did not differ in how they described the role of their felt indebtedness in shaping their behavior toward parents (including filial responsibility, desire for success, and promoting positive interactions) but their motivations and interpretations of these behaviors differed depending on the degree of internalization of sense of indebtedness. Taken as a whole, findings suggest within-group variations in how KA young adults deal with collective cultural norms regarding intergenerational obligations and relationships.
KW - Asian American immigrant families
KW - Korean American young adults
KW - cultural internalization
KW - intergenerational relations
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U2 - 10.1177/0192513X14567955
DO - 10.1177/0192513X14567955
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84971469654
SN - 0192-513X
VL - 37
SP - 1331
EP - 1354
JO - Journal of Family Issues
JF - Journal of Family Issues
IS - 10
ER -