ABSTRACT
This chapter includes the explicit accounts of four women who have endured breaking cultural and family traditions, negative self-esteem, and denied access to schooling because of being born female. From social psychology, chapter argues that two processes forming the self-concept or self-judgment are reflective appraisal and social comparison. In the case of individuals ethnically diverse from the European American mainstream, reflective appraisal and social comparison often results in construction of self as object. Carol viewed America as a positive escape from the negative shame and lack of self-esteem she experienced in China. The struggle, the degree, and the intensity of experiences create varying attitudes of ethnic pride, historical continuity, self-worth and self-esteem, and perceptions of self as a potential scholar. Ethnic identity eludes Debra, who searches for her "Asian self" lost in adoption by Anglo-American parents, while Donna's adoption, by African American parents, appears not to affect her sense of positive self-esteem.
