The relationship between ethnic identity, colonial mentality and parenting style in Filipino-American adults

This study investigated the relationship between ethnic identity, colonial mentality and parenting style in Filipino-Americans who were also parents. Parenting style was determined by the Parental Authority Questionnaire - Revised (PAQ-R) and participants were categorized into one of three categories based on their mean scores on this measure: authoritarian, authoritative and permissive. Ethnic identity, which was defined as a person's level of exploration of and commitment to their culture, was measured using the Multi-Ethnic Identity Measure - Revised (MEIM-R). Colonial mentality, which was defined as a form of internalized oppression formed out of a country's history of colonization, was measured using the Colonial Mentality Scale (CMS).;The sample consisted of 95 Filipino-American adults who lived in the United States and had at least one child, ranging in age from 28-72 years old. Participants were recruited and measures were administered via the Internet. The relationship between parenting styles and ethnic identity was analyzed using independent samples t-tests. The relationship between colonial mentality and ethnic identity was also analyzed using an independent samples t-test. The effect of colonial mentality on the relationship between ethnic identity and parenting style was analyzed using a multiple regression. In addition, the demographic variable, generation level, was analyzed using non-parametric tests.;Contrary to the hypotheses of this study, there was only one significant relationship between the variables of interest. That is, there was a significant difference in level of ethnic identity among authoritative versus authoritarian parents; specifically authoritative parents demonstrated stronger ethnic identity than authoritarian parents. It was also hypothesized that authoritative parents would have stronger ethnic identity than permissive parents, however this hypothesis was unable to be tested, as the sample did not include any parents who were categorized as permissive, based on the PAQ-R. There was no significant relationship between colonial mentality and ethnic identity. Furthermore, statistical analysis found that colonial mentality did not have an effect on the relationship between parenting style and ethnic identity. No significant differences were found in parenting style based on generation level.