Being More Okinawan in Hawai'i: Socio-Psychological Processes of Okinawan Identity Development among Okinawan International University and College Students in Hawai'i

The study aims to investigate Okinawan identity development among individuals who grew up in Okinawa and came to Hawai'i to study at a university or community college. The grounded theory approach was used for the qualitative inquiry. Nineteen participants were interviewed about their self-descriptions, spaces where their Okinawan consciousness was provoked and influences of activities and learning regarding Okinawa and Hawai'i on their Okinawan identities. The results pointed to three dimensions of socio-psychological processes of Okinawan identity development in Hawai'i, namely: (1) self-identification as Okinawan in Hawai'i; (2) Okinawan consciousness and identity salience; and (3) a strengthened sense of Okinawan identity. The results were used to construct and discuss the core category of "being more Okinawan in Hawai'i", subsuming all the concepts regarding self-identification, consciousness and identity as Okinawan. The study demonstrated the probability that the more frequently Okinawan international university and college students self-identified as Okinawan and the more intense their Okinawan consciousness and identity salience became, the more likely it was that their Okinawan identities became stronger. The study elucidated the socio-psychological processes of Okinawan identity development in Hawai'i by examining the history and society in Hawai'i to contextualize the empirical results.