Ethnically Chinese and culturally American: Exploring bicultural identity negotiation and co-cultural communication of Chinese-American female adoptees

ABSTRACT

While many studies on international/interracial adoptees were conducted quantitatively with adoptees, or by various research methods from the perspective of adoptive parents, this study seeks to gain an in-depth understanding of how Chinese born, American adopted individuals perceive, make sense of, and negotiate their bicultural identities as they transition into adulthood by exploring the narratives of 10 such women. Grounded in the interpretive paradigm and framed by co-cultural communication theory, our findings not only illustrate the diversity of communication strategies used by these women to negotiate their multifaceted identities while navigating through various situational contexts and life stages, but also unveil the perceived role of adoptive parents in shaping their identity (re)construction. The numerous instances of contradiction throughout each woman’s retrospective sense-making reveals the ambivalences, vulnerabilities, nuanced complexities, and ongoing negotiations that they must engage in as a uniquely positioned co-cultural group.

KEYWORDS:

• Bicultural identities
• adoption
• co-cultural communication
• identity negotiation
• parent-child communication

Notes on contributors

Maya Blair received her B.A. from George Washington University, where she majored in Communication with a minor in Psychology.

Meina Liu (Ph.D., Purdue University, 2006) is an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Organizational Sciences and Communication at George Washington University where she specializes in Intercultural Communication and Organizational Communication.