SOCIAL ECOLOGICAL INFLUENCES OF IMMIGRANT WOMENS LIVES

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Guided by the Selective Optimization with Compensation and life course conceptual frameworks, the overall aim of the proposed research is to examine, describe, and understand the effects of three social ecological factors on post WWII immigrant women's individual and relational experiences: (1) gender, ethnicity, and class (social structural position factors); (2) traditional and modified cultural beliefs and practices such as women's roles, social support, family structure, and meaning of food (cultural context factors); and (3) interpretation and assignment of meaning to events as they relate to social structural positions and traditional and modified cultural beliefs and practices. In addition, the influence of the timing of women's departure from their homeland will be examined. The following research questions will be examined in the proposed research: (1) What influence do social ecological factors have on the personal and relational experiences of immigrant Japanese women? (2) How are immigrant Japanese women's personal and relational experiences enhanced and challenged by social ecological influences? (3) What meanings do immigrant Japanese women assign to the social ecological influences on their personal and relational experiences? A sample of 30 immigrant Japanese women aged 40 years or older, who were reared in Japan, married U.S. citizens, and moved to the U.S. after WWII will comprise the sample. Three meetings totaling 7 hours will take place with each participant to examine the juxtaposition among the social ecological factors in the women's lives. The first meeting will consist of an Initial Contact Interview. Meeting two will encompass the Personal Information, Structured Life Events, and Life History Information Interviews. The third meeting will consist of the audio- taped In-Depth Semi-Structured Interview. A translator will be present at the interviews to assist as necessary. The data from the semi- structured interview will be transcribed and thematic analysis will be performed to identify women's attitudes, values, or sentiments about the effect of the social ecological and timing of event factors on their lives. A research journal will be kept after each semi-structured interview. All interview data will be related to each other, to documented historical processes, and to the research journal. One key proposed outcome is the submission of a future RO1 grant proposal that builds on the investigator's previous research on women within immigrant and ethnic minority contexts and the proposed study. The investigator's future RO1 grant proposal will investigate social ecological variables that predict older Asian women's personal and relational satisfaction and will employ quantitative and qualitative methods and analyses wherein qualitative data will be collected among a subset of participants to determine the reasons behind the participants' survey responses. A second outcome resulting from the study includes developing a conceptual framework for understanding life course influences on immigrant Japanese women's perceptions of self and interpersonal relations.