Ethnic identity among Japanese-Americans in Hawaii

Abstract

Abstract Ethnic identity is a complex phenomenon involving the interaction of cultural elements and contemporary social relationships. Hansen's third-generation hypothesis offers a monocausal explanation that has been tested in several U.S. sites with various ethnic groups. The mixed results from U.S. mainland studies and from the studies conducted in Hawaii with Japanese-Americans show the inadequacy of generational position as an explanation of ethnic identity. In the Hawaii study reported here, 30 Nisei (second generation) and 30 Sansei (third generation) male Japanese-Americans between the ages of 31 and 55 were given Meredith's Ethnic Identity Questionnaire. Results showing the Sansei significantly more assimilated than the Nisei require a rejection of Hansen's hypothesis. These findings are discussed in relation to other studies of Hansen's hypothesis and to theories of ethnicity that view ethnic identity as less a function of time and generationalposition than of social position in complex societies.