The Happiness of Chinese Immigration in the United States: Past, Present, and Future

Giselle Chen, Verrazzano Class of 2024, completed major in Psychology & Philosophy

As a child of immigrant parents, I often find myself wondering if my parents are satisfied and content with their lives. My father immigrated to the United States of America long before I was born. He had to temporarily say goodbye to my mother and older sister who were living back home in a small village called Taishan of Guangdong, China. Eventually, my mother and older sister joined my father in the U.S., and then I was born. When I was born, my family had to take me back to China so my uncle and aunt could take care of me while my family worked hard to be financially stable.

Growing up, we lived in a cramped basement. I was often ashamed of the living conditions and envied my classmates that lived in single-family private homes. In order to make a bit more money, my mom and I would collect cans and recycle them for five cents each. I always found myself embarrassed to be seen in public by my classmates. I would be embarrassed to bring dumplings to elementary school because my classmates found it stinky. While my older sister had to learn English at 11-years-old, I was trying to retain my parents’ native language, Taishanese.

Now at 22 years old, I understand that my parents were doing their best to always ensure that my siblings and I had a roof over our heads, full stomachs, clothes to wear, and resilience—even if it meant detracting from their own happiness. At 22 years old, I still see Chinese elders rummaging through the trash cans of Chinatown to collect recycling cans.

Professor Stephen Morris’ senior seminar course on the nature of happiness inspired me to develop my capstone on the experience of Chinese immigrants in the U.S., and how immigration has impacted their happiness and life-satisfaction. It is established that a high level of life-satisfaction is positively correlated to education and income. Typically, on average, Asian Americans tend to have higher levels of education and income. Therefore, they should also have higher life-satisfaction and be happier. But this was not the case, and I was very interested and determined to investigate why this was the case.

During my research, a consistent finding in over 33 studies was that Asian Americans significantly score lower on life-satisfaction when compared to European Americans, but did not significantly differ to Asian populations. This was due to a combination of both cultural values and a myriad of factors due to immigration. These factors included income, education, discrimination, acculturation stress, collectivism, and acculturation gaps between different generations.

Moving forward, immigration itself (no matter the nationality or ethnicity) is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, with a long and rich history. Regardless of one’s political or personal beliefs, it is important to remember that immigrants too are human beings. To understand and to heal is to see beyond what we have experienced and what we have known throughout our lives.