immigrant mentality

[SunWuKong]

i personally think that people who moved to the US when they were adults have a certain drive to succeed, and i think that this is especially true if they were relatively poor when they came.  for lack of better words, i like to call it the "immigrant mentality".  and studies have shown that amongst Asian Americans, 1st and 2nd generation Americans show a higher average level of success in career and education, which is slightly above that of the white average, than 3rd and 4th generation - where during that time, their success level tapers off to about the white average.  so the "immigrant mentality" can also be inherited. 

do you think the immigrant mentality exists?  and if so, how is it possible that it can be passed on to children of immigrants?  one would think that you'd need to have experienced immigration personally to have the immigrant mentality.

[ism]

<!--QuoteBegin-SunWuKung+Aug 23 2003, 04:49 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (SunWuKung @ Aug 23 2003, 04:49 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> do you think the immigrant mentality exists?&nbsp; and if so, how is it possible that it can be passed on to children of immigrants?&nbsp; one would think that you'd need to have experienced immigration personally to have the immigrant mentality. [/b][/quote]
I think it exists. I don't think it gets passed on; it morphs into 2nd gen mentality.&nbsp; Immigrant parents tend to put immigration into their ethos, seeing giving up their homeland as a sacrifice.&nbsp; Children, seeing this and perhaps being reminded constantly, would likely feel indebted to make sure the sacrifice was not in vain.&nbsp; As the sacrifice was not made by them personally, they would generally not feel as driven (so perhaps 1.5 genners would be more likely to succeed?).&nbsp; There's also the assimilation factor, where learning essential skills to fit in, such as English, happens to have an academic value attached to it.

[ChinaLama]

I agree, but for a different reason that ism. I think that the people who can naturally make it out of their countries will in general have stronger personalities than people who can't or don't want to adopt to other cultures. This is also why I think illegal immigrants should be trained as much as possible rather than just left to flounder. I mean it really takes a strong will to cross rivers, deserts or even oceans just to work in a sweatshop or on a farm. And I think that sort of strong will should be cultivated and channeled.

I wouldn't so much call it an "immigrant mentality" but I would say it's a general characteristic, that self-selected immigrants will have stronger personalities than a random native-born pool.

[AngryABCGirl]

I actually did a statistics study at my high school full of every type of Asian immigrant types which was blocked into four categories, American Born 2nd Generation AAs, 1.5 Gen-ers who immigranted more than 6 years ago, and Whites/Other category.&nbsp; I only surveyed upperclassmen with an even number of Junior and Seniors, males and females.

I found that 1.5 gen-ers had the biggest courseloads in terms of Honors/AP/Accelerated courses, but in percieved levels of pressure on academics from parents were reported highest from 2nd Generation AAs, but were 2nd in courseload behind the 1.5 gen-ers.&nbsp; AA who came to the US within the last six years reported they felt the least pressure to do well academically, even less so than the White/Other category but sitll took more accelerated classes than White/Other.

[ChinaLama]

<!--QuoteBegin-AzNBuffGrL+Aug 23 2003, 09:50 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AzNBuffGrL @ Aug 23 2003, 09:50 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I found that 1.5 gen-ers had the biggest courseloads in terms of Honors/AP/Accelerated courses, but in percieved levels of pressure on academics from parents were reported highest from 2nd Generation AAs, but were 2nd in courseload behind the 1.5 gen-ers. [/b][/quote]
key word: "perceived" pressure. in other words, ABA's are whiners while we 1.5'ers were born in a less whiny environment. :)

[SunWuKong]

<!--QuoteBegin-AzNBuffGrL+Aug 23 2003, 05:50 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (AzNBuffGrL @ Aug 23 2003, 05:50 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I actually did a statistics study at my high school full of every type of Asian immigrant types which was blocked into four categories, American Born 2nd Generation AAs, 1.5 Gen-ers who immigranted more than 6 years ago, and Whites/Other category. I only surveyed upperclassmen with an even number of Junior and Seniors, males and females.

I found that 1.5 gen-ers had the biggest courseloads in terms of Honors/AP/Accelerated courses, but in percieved levels of pressure on academics from parents were reported highest from 2nd Generation AAs, but were 2nd in courseload behind the 1.5 gen-ers. AA who came to the US within the last six years reported they felt the least pressure to do well academically, even less so than the White/Other category but sitll took more accelerated classes than White/Other. [/b][/quote]
wow, maybe this explains why i was the person in my highschool class that took the biggest number of difficult courses, as well as do all this other shit like musicals, sports, band, stupid clubs/groups.&nbsp; i think i was the first person in the history of my school to be on both the football team and the math team.

but for some reason i didn't do shit for extracurriculars when i was in college.&nbsp;&nbsp; :P

[ChinaLama]

swk had the 1.5 burnout. :(

[SunWuKong]

swk had the 1.5 burnout. :(


i didn't even know there was such a thing as a 1.5 burnout.

[artsfartsyjanet]

As ism describes,"Children, seeing this and perhaps being reminded constantly, would likely feel indebted to make sure the sacrifice was not in vain." That's me in a nutshell.

[deez nuts]

i'm a fucking success.

holla.