Close Relationships Between Asian American and European American College Students

• Published in: The Journal of social psychology 2001-02, Vol.141 (1), p.85-100
• Main Authors: Chen, Chuansheng, Young, Brandy, Greenberger, Ellen, Edwards, Kari
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; African Americans; Asian American college students; Asian American people; Asian American Students; Asian Americans; Asian Americans - psychology; Asian people; Attitude; Attitudes; Biological and medical sciences; Black college students; Chinese Americans; Close friendships; close relationships; College Students; Comparative Analysis; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Cultural Diversity; Education; Elementary School Students; European American college students; European American people; European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology; Favoritism; Female; Filipino Americans; Friendship; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Group dynamics; Hierarchy, Social; Higher Education; Hispanic Americans; Humans; Immigration; Individualized Instruction; Interpersonal Relations; Interpersonal Relationship; Japanese Americans; Korean Americans; Male; Minority & ethnic groups; Noncitizens; Personal relationships; Population; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Racial differences; Racial Relations; Social exchange theory; Social interactions. Communication. Group processes; Social psychology; Student Attitudes; Student Behavior; Students - psychology; Undergraduate students; United States of America; USA; White people; Whites
• ISSN: 0022-4545; 1940-1183
• DOI: 10.1080/00224540109600525

The authors examined attitudes and behaviors regarding close relationships between European and Asian Americans, with a particular emphasis on 5 major subgroups of Asian Americans (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipino Americans). Participants were 218 Asian American college students and 171 European American college students attending a culturally diverse university. The European Americans did not differentiate among the various subgroups of Asian Americans. Their attitudes regarding close relationships were less positive toward Asian Americans than toward Mexican and African Americans, a finding contrary to the prediction of social exchange theory (H. Tajfel, 1975). In contrast to the European Americans' view of homogeneity among Asian Americans, the 5 major subgroups of Asian Americans expressed a distinctive hierarchy of social preference among themselves. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for future research on interethnic relations involving Asian Americans.