Young Yun Kim

From Ethnic to Interethnic The Case for Identity Adaptation and Transformation

The academic literature for the past several decades suggests an increased tendency to conceive “ethnic identity” as an a priori and morally inviolable human condition exclusively attributed to a social group identified by birth or ascription. Paralleling this trend is a gradual shift toward a more pluralistic ideology of interethnic relations and toward a greater emphasis on political activism in social research. In this historical context, the article identifies two interrelated problematics in the prevailing pluralistic conceptions of ethnic identity: positivity bias and oversimplification. These problematic aspects are examined against the well-documented individual and situational variations in ethnic identity. As a way to counterbalance and complement the pluralistic conceptions, a theoretical account for the process of identity transformation is offered. This dynamic theory highlights the experiences of many individuals who, through their communication activities of crisscrossing ethnic boundaries, have moved beyond the perimeters of a single ethnic category in their identity orientations.

Unum and pluribus: ideological underpinnings of interethnic communication in the United States

Abstract The present analysis examines everyday public discourse on issues of interethnic relations to demonstrate how the ideals of the founding ideology, “classical liberalism”, play out in contemporary American society. Guiding this analysis is a systemic conception in which an individual’s interethnic communication behavior is reciprocally linked to the ideological milieu. The analysis utilizes Billig’s ( Billig, M. (1991) Ideology and opinions: studies in rhetorical psychology. London: Sage; Billig, M., Condor, S., Edwards, D., Gane, M., Middleton, D., & Radley, A. (1988) Ideological dilemmas: a social psychology of everyday thinking. London: Sage.) articulation of the inherently dilemmatic nature of the Western ideology to describe the underlying ideological themes captured in various publicly communicated messages addressing issues of interethnic relations. A qualitative-interpretive method is employed to examine a wide range of messages voiced in recent years by politicians, community and civic leaders, intellectuals, and ordinary citizens. Results reveal four types of messages: (1) messages of assimilationism reflecting the traditional liberal themes of “individual identity” and “procedural equality”; (2) messages of pluralism emphasizing the counter-themes of “group identity” and “status equality”; (3) messages of reconciliation that seek to accommodate and balance both liberal themes and counter-themes; and (4) messages of extremism that take “group identity” beyond realms that most Americans deem “unreasonable”.

Interethnic Communication: The Context and the Behavior

Issues of ethnicity and interethnic interaction have been extensively investigated across social science disciplines for several decades. This essay presents an overview of some of the concepts that are prominent in the literature and proposes a conceptual framework in which many of the existing concepts can be integrated from a communication viewpoint. The current description of interethnic communication is grounded in some of the metatheoretical assumptions of pragmatism and systems theory, which emphasize the inseparability and interdependence of the context and the behavior of communication in any given interethnic encounter. Based on this perspective, interethnic communication is conceptualized in the form of a transactional matrix that consists of the behavior (encoding and decoding) and three layers of the context: the communicator, the situation, and the environment.

Mapping the Domain of Intercultural Communication: An Overview

This essay takes a close look at the domain of intercultural communication and its subdomains, cultural and cross-cultural communication, and distinguishes intercultural communication from related areas such as international communication and cultural studies. Recent theoretical and research developments in the area are examined in terms of neopositivist, systems, interpretive, and critical methodological underpinnings. Five main themes of studies in intercultural communication are identified: intrapersonal processes in intercultural communication, intercultural communication competence, adaptation to a new culture, cultural identity in intercultural contexts, and power inequality in intercultural relations. In addition, studies of cultural and cross-cultural communication are examined in two categories: emic studies of cultural communication and etic studies of cross-cultural communication. The essay ends with a summary of key recent theoretical and research advancements in the aiea and a discussion of some of the challenges that lie ahead.

Cross-cultural adaptation of Hispanic youth: A study of communication patterns, functional fitness, and psychological health

This study examined the role of communication in the adaptation of Hispanic youth to the dominant cultural values and practices embodied in US American public schools. Seven hypotheses predicted positive interrelationships among four theoretical constructs identified in Y. Y. Kims integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation: host communication competence, host interpersonal communication, psychological health, and functional fitness. Structured, closed-ended questions were administered in face-to-face interviews with 112 Hispanic adolescents in the upper Midwestern United States. Structural equation modeling results supported all seven hypotheses, indicating Hispanic youth with greater host communication competence were more actively engaged in host interpersonal communication and enjoyed greater psychological health and functional fitness with respect to US public schools and the larger US society.

Unum vs. Pluribus: Ideology and Differing Academic Conceptions of Ethnic Identity

This essay addresses the blurring boundaries in the American academe between scientific inquiry on the one hand, and politics and other forms of practice on the other. It examines the politicization of interethnic and intercultural research across social science disciplines, with a special focus on various ways ethnic identity is conceived. Differing identity conceptions are examined in relation to the founding ideology of classical liberalism embodied in the traditional perspective on ethnic identity, “assimilationism,” as well as to its more recent varieties, “pluralism,” “integrationism,” and “separatism.” The analysis shows how, in varying degrees, each of these four ideological positions is implied or explicitly communicated in academic conceptions of ethnic identity. The analysis further reveals a trend in social research paralleling the societal trend toward pluralism, a trend that has significantly been intensified and pushed toward separatism by the advocacy of “critical” researchers who are dedicated to “emancipatory” goals for interethnic and intercultural relations. The essay ends with a call for rigorous self-reflection and cross-examination of the long-term implications of ideological messages flowing from the differing knowledge claims on the nature of ethnic identity and its place within and between societies.This essay addresses the blurring boundaries in the American academe between scientific inquiry on the one hand, and politics and other forms of practice on the other. It examines the politicization of interethnic and intercultural research across social science disciplines, with a special focus on various ways ethnic identity is conceived. Differing identity conceptions are examined in relation to the founding ideology of classical liberalism embodied in the traditional perspective on ethnic identity, “assimilationism,” as well as to its more recent varieties, “pluralism,” “integrationism,” and “separatism.” The analysis shows how, in varying degrees, each of these four ideological positions is implied or explicitly communicated in academic conceptions of ethnic identity. The analysis further reveals a trend in social research paralleling the societal trend toward pluralism, a trend that has significantly been intensified and pushed toward separatism by the advocacy of “critical” researchers who are dedi...

Synchrony and Intercultural Communication

The concept of synchrony presented at the conference is elaborated here as a foundation of effective intercultural communication. Synchrony refers to a state of congruence and harmony in verbal and nonverbal communication patterns of two or more interactants. Synchronic communication naturally occurs when the interactants share common cultural norms and whose psychological orientation toward each other is one of harmony and cooperation. Because synchronic communication, by and large, follows cultural scripts shared by the interactants, creating synchrony across cultures requires a special awareness and effort by at least one party. A three-person role-play that is designed to enhance an awareness of synchronic communication is presented at the end of this paper.

Intercultural Communication: Taking Stock of the Domain

I began studying intercultural communication in the 1970s as a graduate student from Korea, just about the time when intercultural communication was formally instituted as a subdiscipline of commun...