Religious and Gender Effects on Psychosocial Adaptation Among Japanese Immigrants

Abstract

This exploratory study examined the effects of religious identification and gender on psychosocial adaptation among a nonrandom sample of 440 Japanese immigrants who lived in Texas. The study revealed that a religious effect became salient in terms of the cross-cultural adaptation and life outcomes of first-generation immigrants. Christian immigrants were significantly better adjusted than were their Buddhist or atheist counterparts. Although there was little or no gender effect, female immigrants enjoyed higher emotional well-being than did their male counterparts. The findings have implications for social work in terms of client religion and, possibly, gender as well as services to enhance psychosocial adaptation of first-generation immigrants in the United States.

KEYWORDS:

• Japanese immigrants
• religious identification
• psychosocial adaptation