Saliency of one's heritage culture: Asian cultural values and its interconnections with collective self-esteem and acculturation/enculturation as predictor of psychological well-being of people of Chinese descent

The purpose of this emic study was to enhance the understanding of one specific Asian ethnic group, the people of Chinese descent, by exploring the saliency of Asian heritage culture to their well-being. Adherence to Asian cultural values as a predictor of psychological well-being was examined. Psychological well-being was operationalized using a composite index extracted from the combination of three indices: life satisfaction, quality of life, and symptoms of depression. Past empirical evidences that suggest one's identification with one's heritage culture would have positive influences on one's life. What are less known empirically are the interconnections between value adherence, collective self-esteem and processes of acculturation/enculturation. The potential moderating effects of collective self-esteem, acculturation, and enculturation were examined.; A total of 167 individuals of Chinese descent took part in the study. Participants were recruited from an undergraduate course in Introductory Psychology and Asian student organizations on three college campuses within the same Midwest region. A web-based survey service was used for the data collection of this study. Principal components statistical analysis was used to extract the composite index for psychological well-being. Simple linear regression analysis was used on the predictor Asian cultural value adherence on the criterion variable of psychological well-being. Hierarchical regression analyses were used to explore potential moderating effects of collective self-esteem and the bidimensional construct of acculturation on the relationship between the predictor and the criterion.; As predicted, Asian cultural value adherence was found to be a significant predictor of psychological well-being. Participants who had higher adherences to Asian cultural values exhibited higher sense of positive psychological well-being than those with lower value adherences. This supported the notion that identification with one's heritage culture can be a positive resource for one's wellness (Cross, 2003). Collective self-esteem and enculturation were not found to be significant moderators while acculturation demonstrated significant moderating effects. The data indicated a negative effect of this moderator. The less one acculturated to the mainstream American culture, the more predictive their adherence to Asian cultural values was of their psychological well-being.; Results are discussed in light of the insights they provided regarding saliency of heritage culture for people of Chinese descent. Implications of the results for mental health service providers are presented. Limitations of the present study are discussed and various directions for future research are also proposed.