Document Type
Honors Thesis
Abstract
The Balancing Act takes an in-depth look at the challenges faced by Asian-Americans regarding differences in dueling cultures, and the many factors and facets that connect to identity formation and self-expression within society. This will include all Asian-Americans that
were born in America, as well as Asian immigrants that have assimilated into the Western world. Within this analysis, the imbalance between individualistic and collectivistic cultures for Asian- Americans in all aspects of their lives, from family relations, will be discussed, along with the impact this negotiation of identities has created between oneself, family, and friends. This mediation between independence and individuality versus interdependence serves as the premise for the cultural conflict at hand. It can also be traced back to the immigrant experience, historical assimilation, and how values being imposed on Asian-Americans lack alignment between parents and children, leading to upheaval within family and within oneself. The theory of cognitive flexibility is used as another lens that can create the needed change and reform for both Asian-Americans and their families to create compromise. Moreover, food, has continuously been a link between the varying dissimilarities among individuals. Thus, this brings into question its relation to the pivotal role food plays in identity, the human experience, and the power of unity it possesses to unify us despite our differences leading to a possible solution to the long- battled struggle of dueling cultural identities for Asian-Americans.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Repository Citation
Eng, Jessica, "The Balancing Act: Tipping the Scales of Interdependence, Happiness, and Identity through Food in Dueling Cultural Identities within the Asian-American Experience" (2020). Honors Theses - Providence Campus. 43.
https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/student_scholarship/43