Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2000

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Child and Family Studies

Major Professor

Delores E. Smith

Committee Members

Connie Steele, Roger Nooe

Abstract

The premise of this study is based on Erikson's theory of identity development. According to Erikson (1963), the process of identity development is characterized by a series of developmental crises that is affected by environmental forces such as personal and family experiences. Therefore, the present study explored the relationship between selected ecological factors and Korean/Caucasian biracial adolescents' ethnic identity and self-esteem. The selected ecological factors are parental encouragement about ethnic label choice for their children, families' observation of and participation in Korean and American tradition, biracial adolescents' ability to speak both Korean and English, living in a racially diverse community, and church attendance on a regular basis. Participants were 36 Korean/Caucasian biracial adolescents who resided in a southern community of the United States. The self-questionnaire consisted of questions about the selected ecological factors, the participants' ethnic identity, and self-esteem. The results of the study showed that the majority of the respondents (94.4%) identified themselves as a Korean/Caucasian biracial individual and had a positive image of themselves. Regarding the relationship between the ecological factors and biracial adolescents' ethnic identity and self-esteem, uniformity occurred in participants' responses so that correlation analysis was not relevant. This may be explained by the following factors. First, there was very little variation in the responses. In such a case, it is difficult to test the correlation statistically because statistical tests require variation. Second, the sample size of the study is small. Even when variations in the participants' answers were found, some of the variations were not strong enough to be tested due to the small number of responses. However, it is believed that the present study inspires a possible opportunity to explore the deeper level of research in this field by recognizing the limitation.

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