Date of Award

Fall 12-2023

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Author's Department

Sociology

Degree Name

Master of Arts (AM/MA)

Degree Type

Thesis

Abstract

The identity formation of Filipino Americans has captured scholarly interest due to their unique characteristics and identity attachments. Studies of children of Filipino immigrants are largely focused on individuals from diverse areas and do not explore whether different social environments influence a diversity of identity perspectives. Using data from interviews with 40 children of Filipino immigrants from across the U.S., I examine whether and how their understandings of their identities are shaped by setting. I find that participants’ local contexts, particularly local racial/ethnic demographics during childhood, shape their perceptions of their identities relative to other groups and prevailing categorization schemes. In environments with limited coethnic/copanethnic representation, participants sought shared or accepted identity through bonds with “similar” groups, internalization of peers’ racial/ethnic appraisals, and comparisons of self to local majority groups. In childhood local contexts that provided coethnic exposure, participants were able to foreground their ethnic identities while maintaining a sense of connectedness and belonging among peers. These findings highlight how those grouped under the same label can hold vastly different perspectives on identity, shaped significantly by local settings during formative years. They also reflect how views on identity can shift within a single individual as they move between different environments.

Language

English (en)

Chair and Committee

Cynthia Feliciano

Committee Members

Caitlyn Collins, Patrick Ishizuka

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