Perceived parental expectations among Chinese American college students: The role of perceived discrepancy and culture in psychological distress

This study was the first attempt to systematically examine the direct and indirect effects of perceived parental expectations, perceived discrepancy in parental expectations and students' performance, cultural context, and cultural values on psychological distress among Chinese American undergraduate students. The direct impact of perceived discrepancy on the relationship between parental expectations and psychological distress as well as the indirect impact of cultural context and cultural values on psychological distress via perceived expectations discrepancy were the foci of this study. The concept of cognitive appraisal (evaluation of a transaction between the person and the environment; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) was the basis for viewing perceived expectations discrepancy as cognitive appraisal, which determines the stressful nature of a series of transactions between the person and the environment.; The role of culture was critical in this study, as one's beliefs and values are thought to have an impact on the cognitive appraisal process (Lazarus & Folkman). Two models with and without cultural context and cultural values as indirect predictors of psychological distress via the perceived discrepancy were hypothesized.; Structural equation modeling was used to test models predicting psychological distress with a sample of 203 Chinese American undergraduate students. Due to the poor factor loadings of cultural context indicators onto the cultural context variable, the structural model that included the cultural context variable was not tested. However, bivariate correlations indicated that generational status predicts level of perceived discrepancy as well as parental expectations.; Results suggested that a structural model including perceived discrepancy, perceived parental expectations, and cultural values as predictors of psychological distress fit the data adequately. Whereas parental expectations was a significant predictor of psychological distress in bivariate correlations, such significance was reduced to none in the presence of perceived discrepancy in SEM analysis. Thus, the role of perceived discrepancy as a mediator between parental expectations and psychological distress was supported. Cultural values were found to have a significant indirect effect on psychological distress via perceived discrepancy. Given the importance of meeting familial expectations within Asian cultures in general, the results indicated the need for students' cultural values to be considered in predicting their level of perceived discrepancy as well as psychological distress. Limitations of this study and implications for research and practice are discussed.