Presenter: Ziqi Peng

Behind the Silence: A Proposed Study on East Asian Family and North America University Group Work Behavior

Type of Presentation: Oral Presentation

Abstract

This research proposal is based on my interest in traditional East Asian families. Recently, more and more art work, such as movies and books focus on this topic, demonstrating special family patterns and students' growing process. Researchers such as Wei et al. (2022) found that parental psychological controls are positively correlated to Chinese university students’ frustration of mental need and disorder of using social media, and Sung (2010) argued that East Asian values like family hierarchy and controlling parenting styles often makes it difficult for teenagers to develop their emotional skills. However, there is still a gap in understanding how it impacts students' performance in North America university. This leads to my research question: How does parental psychological control impact East Asian International students' specific social behaviors (e.g., conflict-avoidance, over-compliance) in North American university group work? To address this question, data will be collected from interviews with 10 East Asian students from University of British Columbia. This study may reveal that these behaviors are deeply connected to family background. However, a limitation is personal variables, such as individual personality traits, may also impact these outcomes.

Biography

Ziqi Peng is a first-year international student at the University of British Columbia’s Vantage One Arts program, focusing on Psychology and Sociology, driven by an interest in developmental and social psychology. Outside of classes, she is passionate about practicing hip-hop dance choreographies, studying new languages, and spending her free time outdoor photographing.