| In Hawai'i, the high rate of intermarriage and ranking of Filipinos as the third largest ethnic group provide rationale for research on the relationship between Revised Family Communication Patterns (RFCP) and ethnic identity development of multiethnic Filipino Americans. A sample of 31 multiethnic Filipino-American youth from Hawaii were surveyed utilizing RFCP questionnaire instrument (Ritchie & Fitzpatrick, 1990) and Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure inventory (Phinney, 1992). Multiethnic Filipino Americans demonstrate a greater tendency towards a laissez-faire family type (low conversation and conformity orientations), moderately high sense of ethnic identity achievement. Follow-up personal interviews with 17 youth incorporated questions used by Fuji-Collins (2000), showed themes of identity-switching, competing social rewards, ingroup-outgroup interaction, location differences, and the adoption of "hapa" or "local" identities. These factors impact existing theories of biracial identity development (Poston, 1990; Fuji Collins, 2000), in acknowledging an alternate, positive, and encompassing identity, widely accepted by the people of Hawai'i. |
