Asian American families and socialization.

The category “Asian American” includes people from a wide variety of national backgrounds, including Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Hmong, Vietnamese, and various Asian Indian Americans. Generalizations about such a diverse category are likely not to apply to many Asian American groups or individuals. Still, there are some common family traits among the major Asian American groups that can affect socialization. Families in many of the major Asian American groups are usually characterized as authoritarian, other-centered, close-knit, long-lasting, and stable. The authoritarian character of these families means that parents, especially fathers, are seen as authority figures who are to be obeyed with few, if any, questions. Researchers and theorists describe Asian American families as other-centered because family members are expected to put the needs and wishes of others in the family ahead of their own needs and wishes. These families are said to be close-knit because the cultural values of many Asian groups encourage a high degree of emotional intimacy among family members. They are long-lasting because offspring retain these intimate ties to parents and siblings throughout life. They are described as stable both because of the long-lasting nature of family ties and because most Asian groups show divorce rates substantially lower than those of other Americans. Family and socialization;Asian Americans