Comparing the Ethnic Identity and Well-Being of Adopted Korean Americans With Immigrant/U.S.-Born Korean Americans and Korean International Students

Abstract

This study compared the ethnic identity and well-being of Korean Americans who were adopted internationally with immigrant/U.S.-born Korean Americans and Korean international students, as well as the relationship between ethnic identity and well-being for each group. One-hundred and seven college students completed measures of ethnic identity and subjective well-being. Immigrant/U.S.-born Korean Americans had higher ethnic identity scores than the other two groups. Immigrant/U.S.-born Korean Americans also had higher positive affect scores than international students. Ethnic identity was positively correlated with positive affect for all three groups (r’s = .27 – .34), but was negatively correlated with negative affect for international students (r = −.44). Overall, the results suggest that ethnic identity, although slightly lower than non-adopted peers, is relevant to the well-being of adopted Korean American college students.