SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF CHINESE AMERICAN ETHNIC IDENTITY: DATING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS AMONG SECOND-GENERATION CHINESE AMERICAN YOUTHS

This thesis explores and identifies patterns of dating attitudes and behaviors among second-generation Chinese Americans. Grounded theory is applied to analyze data from in-depth interviews with 20 second-generation Chinese Americans in metro-Atlanta area. By using a social constructionist model of ethnicity, I uncovered a subtle process by which the second-generation Chinese youths constructed their dating values and identities through both differentiating and integrating their parents ’ and white peers’ dating cultures and gender norms. Second-generation Chinese American youths constructed and reconstructed their own dating values, gender norms, and further ethnic identities through various processes of picking and choosing from both cultures. I argue that straight-line assimilation theories, which assume adaptation into mainstream American culture, do not explain the complexity of the dating culture created by the second-generation Chinese American youths. In conclusion, the findings of this study revealed a new dimension of the social construction of ethnic identity: the agenti