Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gender Roles and Cultural Continuity in the Asian Indian Immigrant Community in the U.S.

  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ethnic identity is a part of positive self-concept that consciously anchors an individual to a particular ethnic group. Central to this identity is a sense of belonging, as well as a commitment to the group's values, beliefs, behaviors, conventions, and customs. This study focuses on the Asian Indian community in the U.S. to investigate their concerns with the continuity of ethnic identity via maintenance of traditional culture. Intergenerational synchrony in two specific values, attitudes toward women and dating, were examined as indicators of successful transmission of culture and identity. Forty-sixeducated, middle class Indian immigrant families, the majority of whom were foreign born and Hindus,participated in this study by responding to three questionnaires: Attitude Toward Women Scale, Dating Scale, and IPAT Anxiety Scale. Although the results show a strong similarity between parents and children on target attitudes, distinct intergenerational and gender asymmetries emerged. The conscious attempt to preserve certain critical attitudes, values, and behaviors characteristic of the group was labeled “judicious biculturalism,” an expression of active involvement on the immigrants' part to control the course of their own acculturation. The study has implications for women's status within the Asian Indian community.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Agarwal, P. (1991). Passage from India: Post 1965 Indian immigrants and their children; conflicts, concerns, and solutions. Palos Verdes, CA: Yuvati Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bardis, P. D. (1962). A dating scale. Social Science, 37, 44–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46, 5–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry, J. W., & Annis, R. C. (1974). Acculturative stress. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 5, 382–406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharjee, A. (1992). The habit of ex-nomination: Nation, woman, and the Indian immigrant bourgeoisie. Public Culture, 5, 19–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchignani, N. (1983). Determinants of Fijian Indian social organization in Canada. In G. Kurian & R. P. Srivastava (Eds.) Overseas Indians—A study in adaptation. New Delhi, India: Vikas Publ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cattell, R. B., & Scheier, I. H. (1961). The meaning and measurement of neuroticism and anxiety. New York: Ronald Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Das, A., Dasgupta, S. D., & Siegel, H. I. (1997, April 10–13). Motherhood across oceans: Attitude toward gender and motherhood among Asian Indians. Presented at the Conference of Eastern Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

  • Dasgupta, S. D. (1986). Marching to a different drummer? Sex roles of Asian Indian women in the United States. Women and Therapy (Special Issue: The Dynamic of Feminist Therapy), 5(2/3), 297–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, S. D., & DasGupta, S. (1996). Women in exile: Gender relations in the Asian Indian community in the U.S. In S. Maira & R. Srikanth (Eds.), Contours of the heart: South Asians map North America. New York: Asian American Writers' Workshop.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dasgupta, S. D., & Jain, S. (1997, October 16–19). “Ahimsa” and the contextual realities of woman abuse in the Jain community. Presented at the 26th South Asia Conference, Madison, WI.

  • De Santis, L., & Ugarriza, D. N. (1995). Potential for intergenerational conflict in Cuban and Haitian immigrant families. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 9, 354–364.

    Google Scholar 

  • Domadia, P. M. (1988). Attitude towards dating. Proceedings: Conference on Family and Youth, July 2–3, Cleveland, Ohio, Silver Spring, MD: National Federation of Asian Indian Organizations in America, 67–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan, O. D. (1961). A socioeconomic index for all occupations. In A. J. Reiss, Jr. (Ed). Occupations and social status, New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenbruch, M. (1984). Cross-cultural aspects of bereavement. II: Ethnic and cultural variations in the development of bereavement practices. Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, 8, 315–347.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan, C. C. (1996). Asian women in Hawai'i: Migration, family, work, and identity. NWSA Journal, 8, 70–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helweg, A. W., & Helweg, U. M. (1990). An immigrant success story: East Indians in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hundal, P. S., Singh, A., & Singh, M. (1970). Factor analytical study of tests and anxiety. Psychological Reports, 26, 875–878.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hundal, P. S., Sudhakar, Y., & Sidhu, K. (1972). Factor analytical study of measures of anxiety, intelligence and academic achievement. Journal of Psychological Researches, 16, 28–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutnik, N. (1986). Patterns of ethnic minority identification and modes of social adaptation. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 9, 150–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • India Abroad. (1992, May 22). We don't have to date. Letters to the Editor, p. 3.

  • India Abroad. (1992, June 5). Steering a middle course. Letters to the Editor, p. 3.

  • Jensen, J. M. (1988). Passage from India: Asian Indian immigrants in North America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kar, S. B., Cambell, K., Jimenez, A., & Gupta, S. R. (1995/1996). Invisible Americans: Indo-American quality of life. Amerasia Journal, 21, 25–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaul, M. L. (1983). Adaptation of recently arrived professional immigrants from India in four selected communities in Ohio. The Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 7, 131–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kibria, N. (1987). New images of immigrant women: A study of women's social groups among Vietnamese refugees. Working Paper No. 173, Wellesley, MA: Wellesley College, Center for Research on Women.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kibria, N. (1993). Family tightrope: The changing lives of Vietnamese Americans. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krishnan, A., & Berry, J. W. (1992). Acculturative stress and acculturation attitudes among Indian immigrants to the United States. Psychology and Developing Societies, 4, 187–212.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurian, G. (1986). Intergenerational integration with special reference to Indian families. Indian Journal of Social Work, 47, 39–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurian, G. (1989, August 27–29). Changing attitude towards Asian immigration with special reference to Canada. Paper presented at the First Global Convention of People of Indian Origin, New York.

  • Kurian, G., & Ghosh, R. (1983). Child-rearing in transition in Indian immigrant families in Canada. In G. Kurian & R. P. Srivastava (Eds.), Overseas Indians—A study in adaptation. New Delhi, India: Vikas Publ.

    Google Scholar 

  • LaBrack, B. (1988). Evolution of Sikh family form and values in rural California: Continuity and change 1904–1980. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 19, 287–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mani, L. (1992, Winter). Gender, class, and cultural conflict: Indu Krishnan's knowing her place. SAMAR, pp. 11–14.

  • Mehra, A. (1992). Hindu revival in an alien land. Little India, 2, 10–12, 14, 16–20, 22–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menon, R. (1989). Arranged marriages among South Asian immigrants. Sociology and Social Research, 73, 180–181.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moghaddam, F. M., & Taylor, D. M. (1987). The meaning of multiculturalism for visible minority immigrant women. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 19, 121–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naidoo, J. C. (1980). East Indian women in the Canadian context: A study in Social Psychology. In K. V. Ujimoto & G. Hirabayashi (Eds.), Visible minorities and multiculturalism: Asians in Canada. Toronto, Canada: Butterworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naidoo, J. C. (1985). Contemporary South Asian women in the Canadian mosaic. International Journal of Women's Studies, 8, 338–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naidoo, J. C. (1986). Value conflicts for South Asian women in multicultural Canada. In L. Ekstrand (Ed.), Ethnic minority and immigrant research, Lisse, The Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicassio, P. (1985). The psychosocial adjustment of the Southeast Asian refugee: An overview of empirical findings and theoretical models. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 16, 153–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phinney, J. S. (1990). Ethnic identity in adolescents and adults: Review of research. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 499–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phinney, J. S., & Rotheram, M. J. (1987). Children's ethnic socialization: Themes and implications. In J. S. Phinney & M. J. Rotheram (Eds.), Children's ethnic socialization: Pluralism and development. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ralston, H. (1988). Ethnicity, class and gender among South Asian women in metro Halifax: An exploratory study. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 20, 63–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal, D. A. (1987). Ethnic identity development in adolescents. In J. S. Phinney & M. J. Rotheram (Eds.), Children's ethnic socialization: Pluralism and development. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotheram, M. J., & Phinney, J. S. (1987). Introduction: Definitions and perspectives in the study of children's ethnic socialization. In J. S. Phinney & M. J. Rotheram (Eds.), Children's ethnic socialization: Pluralism and development. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saran, P. (1985). The Asian Indian experience in the United States. Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publ. Co., Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Segal, U. A. (1991). Cultural variables in Asian Indian families. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 72, 233–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharma, S. M. (1984). Assimilation of Indian immigrant adolescents in British society. The Journal of Psychology, 118, 79–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siddiqi, M. U., & Reeves, E. Y. (1986). A comparative study of mate selection criteria among Indians in India and the United States. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 27, 226–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siddique, C. M. (1977, Jan.–June). Structural separation and family change: An exploratory study of the immigrant Indian and Pakistani community in Saskatoon, Canada. International Review of Sociology, 7, 13–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sikri, A. (1989, October 13). Dating: A scary cultural gap. India Abroad, p. 19.

  • Smith, D. E. (1990). The conceptual practices of power: A feminist sociology of knowledge. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sodowsky, G. R., & Carey, J. C. (1987). Asian Indian immigrants in America: Factors related to adjustment. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development (Special Issue: Cross-Cultural Counseling: The International Context, Part 2), 15(3), 129–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sodowsky, G. R., & Carey, J. C. (1988). Relationships between acculturation-related demographics and cultural attitudes of an Asian-Indian immigrant group. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 16, 117–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, T., Helmreich, R., & Stapp, J. (1973). A short version of the attitudes toward women scale (AWS). Bulletin of Psychonometric Society, 2, 219–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer, M. B. (1987). Black children's ethnic identity formation: Risk and resilience of castelike minorities. In J. S. Phinney & M. J. Rotheram (Eds.), Children's ethnic socialization: Pluralism and development, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stopes-Roe, M., & Cochrane, R. (1987). The process of assimilation in Asians in Britain: A study of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh immigrants and their young adult children. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 28, 43–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sue, D. W., & Sue, D. (1990). Counseling the Culturally Different: Theory & Practice (2nd Ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sue, S., & Sue, D. W. (1971). Chinese American personality and mental health. Amerasia Journal, 1, 36–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tagore, R. (1987). Sea-maiden. In W. Radice (trans.), Rabindranath Tagore, Selected Poems. Middlesex, England: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tagore, R. (1974). The forerunner. In A. Bose (trans.), Later Poems of Rabindranath Tagore, New York: Minerva Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tagore, R. (1974). Newcomer. In A. Bose (trans.), Later Poems of Rabindranath Tagore, New York: Minerva Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamaskar, V. (1988). Attitudes towards dating in the 80's. In Proceedings: Conference on Family and Youth, July 2–3, Cleveland, Ohio. Silver Spring, MD: National Federation of Asian Indian Organizations in America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uba, L. (1994). Asian Americans: Personality patterns, identity, and mental health. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaidyanathan, P., & Naidoo, J. (1990). Asian Indians in western countries: Cultural identity and the arranged marriage. In N. Bleichrodt & P. J. D. Drenth (Eds.), Contemporary issues in cross-cultural psychology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wakil, S. P., Siddique, C. M., & Wakil, F. A. (1981). Between two cultures: A study in socialization of children of immigrants. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 43, 929–940.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Shamita Das Dasgupta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dasgupta, S.D. Gender Roles and Cultural Continuity in the Asian Indian Immigrant Community in the U.S.. Sex Roles 38, 953–974 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018822525427

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018822525427

Keywords

Search

Navigation