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Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology
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DOI: 10.1177/0022022118763111
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Article
“I Have Two Names, Xian and
Alex”: Psychological Correlates
of Adopting Anglo Names
Xian Zhao1,2 and Monica Biernat2
Abstract
The practice of adopting Anglo names among ethnic minorities and foreign individuals may be
intended to smooth interactions with majority group members, but it may also have negative
implications for minorities themselves. Two studies investigated the associations among
adoption of Anglo names, self-esteem, and other psychological outcomes. Chinese college
students studying in the United States completed a battery of questions regarding adoption of
Anglo names, self-esteem, mental and physical health, and well-being. In Study 1, path analyses
indicated that adoption of Anglo names was negatively associated with self-esteem, and self-
esteem mediated the relationships between adopting Anglo names and other psychological
outcomes. In Study 2, path analyses replicated the results of Study 1. However, contrary to
predictions, perceived discrimination did not predict adoption of Anglo names in the path model.
These findings point to negative consequences associated with adopting Anglo names. These
results contribute to the literature on the importance of names and shed light on interventions
to improve intergroup relations and curriculum development in language teaching.
Keywords
adoption of Anglo names, self-esteem, psychological outcomes, Chinese students
Names are important; they represent who we are and signify individual and group identities
(Quaglia, Longobardi, Mendola, & Prino, 2016). Names may convey the wishes and desires of
parents, and people may internalize the meaning of their names as part of their self-concepts
(Zittoun, 2004). Names are also vital tools for communication, as conversations often begin with
an exchange of names. Despite this importance of names, people also change their names for
various reasons. In the present research, we focus on name changes as an acculturation phenom-
enon, whereby, for example, international or ethnic minority members in the United States adopt
Anglicized names. Majority group members’ lack of knowledge about nonmajority group mem-
bers’ names (including inability to pronounce and remember those names) can produce difficul-
ties in communication, embarrassment, and even discrimination (Khosravi, 2012), all of which
may intentionally or unintentionally disfavor minority individuals (Sue, Bucceri, Lin, Nadal, &
1Beijing Normal University, China
2University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA
Corresponding Author:
Xian Zhao, Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 426, Lawrence,
KS 66045-7556, USA.
Email: zhaoxianpsych@ku.edu
763111JCCXXX10.1177/0022022118763111Journal of Cross-Cultural PsychologyZhao and Biernat
research-article2018
2 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 00(0)
Torino, 2007). As one proactive response to this problem, some international and ethnic minority
members may adopt names of the majority group.
From the perspective of the ethnic majority group, one recent set of studies has examined how
Anglicization affects discrimination toward Chinese students in the United States (Zhao &
Biernat, 2017). But to our knowledge, there is a lack of empirical research on the psychological
outcomes associated with Anglicizing names from the perspective of ethnic minorities and for-
eign individuals. In the present research, we recruited Chinese college students in the United
States, as an example, to examine the psychological outcomes that are associated with adoption
of Anglo names. Chinese students may adopt Anglo names for many reasons, including conve-
nience, intent to assimilate, social influence, or avoidance of the discrimination sometimes faced
by those with nonmainstream (Anglo) names (see Kang, DeCelles, Tilcsik, & Jun, 2016). We
were particularly interested in the role self-esteem played in this process. We will first discuss
possible predictors of adoption of Anglo names, and then describe how self-esteem, well-being,
and health may be associated with the adoption of Anglo names.
Predictors of Adopting Anglo Names
We hypothesized that two classes of variables may be associated with adoption of Anglo names:
pronounceability and memorability of Chinese names, and perceived discrimination. First, ethnic
names vary in the degree to which they are difficult for majority group members to pronounce
and remember. Names that are difficult to pronounce and remember may produce a cognitive
disfluency, a difficulty of processing target-related information (for a review, see Alter, 2013).
This feeling of disfluency may hinder communication (Bortfeld, Leon, Bloom, Schober, &
Brennan, 2001). To smooth communications, those with such names may be more likely to adopt
Anglo names. We hypothesized that Chinese students who perceived that Americans could not
pronounce and remember their Chinese names would be more likely to adopt Anglo names.
Second, names are useful cues to categorize individuals into ethnic groups, and for majority
group members, foreign sounding names make an ingroup/outgroup distinction salient (Turner,
1985). In one recent study, Chinese students who adopted Anglo names were perceived as partial
ingroup members (similar to Americans) by White Americans, and in another study, were more
likely to be treated favorably in an academic context than students using their original Chinese
names (Zhao & Biernat, 2017). This suggests the possibility that foreign individuals may adopt
Anglo names to avoid discrimination. This speculation was partially supported by an interview
study of Asian university students, who reported intentionally using Anglo first names on resumes
when applying for jobs, with the goal of increasing the likelihood of callbacks (Kang et al.,
2016). We predicted that the more Chinese students perceived they faced discrimination, the
more likely they would be to adopt Anglo names.
Names, Acculturation, and Self-Esteem
As names are strongly associated with who we are, attitudes toward our names reflect our self-
esteem (Blaine & Crocker, 1993; Rosenberg, 1965). Researchers have used the name letter test,
which assesses the extent to which people like the letters of their own name, to measure self-
esteem (for a review, see Hoorens, 2014), and a simple question about how much people like
their names is correlated with self-esteem (Gebauer, Riketta, Broemer, & Maio, 2008). Given this
association between names and self-esteem, it seems important to consider the relationship
between name changes, such as adopting an Anglo name, and self-esteem. Because of the impor-
tance of names to the self-concept, adopting the majority group’s names may be experienced as
a loss of identity. Therefore, we predicted that adoption of Anglo names among Chinese students
studying in the United States would be negatively associated with self-esteem.
Zhao and Biernat 3
This prediction that Anglo-name adoption will be negatively correlated with self-esteem is
also consistent with the acculturation model proposed by Berry and colleagues (Berry & Kim,
1988). Adopting an Anglo name may reflect an attempt to assimilate to the dominant culture, but
the acculturation model suggests that assimilation to the host culture may not be the best strategy
for acculturation as compared with integration, the strategy that maintains the heritage culture at
the same time (Berry & Kim, 1988). Several studies have found that endorsement of assimilation
is negatively correlated with self-esteem among ethnic minorities (Dong, Lin, Li, Dou, & Zhou,
2015; Phinney, Chavira, & Williamson, 1992). Therefore, to the extent that name change reflects
assimilationist intent, one might expect a negative correlation with self-esteem.
Self-Esteem, Acculturative Well-Being, and Health
The research literature has also documented strong associations between self-esteem and psycho-
logical outcomes. In this research, we focused on the outcomes of well-being and health, as these
have been highlighted as important outcomes of self-esteem in the literature (Baumeister,
Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2003; Crocker, Luhtanen, Blaine, & Broadnax, 1994). To better test
our theoretical model (see below), we grounded our predicted relationships in existing concep-
tual and empirical evidence (Colquitt & Zapata-Phelan, 2007). Practically, concerns about the
well-being and health of international students, including concerns about suicide, have appeared
in the popular media (e.g., Tugend, 2017) and elsewhere on the Internet (e.g., Barcomb-Peterson,
2016; Repard, 2017). Yet few studies have examined how practices related to assimilation—such
as adopting an Anglo name—are associated with international students’ well-being and health.
Well-being refers to the overall evaluation of and positive feelings about one’s life (Diener,
Oishi, & Lucas, 2003)—long-term levels of pleasant affect and life satisfaction (Diener, 1994).
Specifically, in this study, we were interested in well-being related to acculturation in the host
country—acculturative well-being. Given the conceptual overlap between self-esteem (evalua-
tion of one’s self) and well-being (evaluation of one’s life), it is not surprising that self-esteem
has been found to be a strong predictor of well-being (Lucas, Diener, & Suh, 1996; among
Chinese participants, Kong, Zhao, & You, 2012). A longitudinal study with Chinese students also
suggested a causal effect from self-esteem to well-being, but not vice versa (Ye, Yu, & Li, 2012).
To our knowledge, no studies on the relationship between self-esteem and acculturative well-
being have been conducted on Chinese international students in the United States. We expected
a positive relationship between self-esteem and acculturative well-being, similar to the self-
esteem and general well-being relationship documented in other work.
One of the functions of self-esteem is to operate as a buffer against threats, such as anxiety,
stress, and trauma (Greenberg, Solomon, & Pyszczynski, 1997). Self-esteem is positively associ-
ated with mental and physical health (for a review, see Baumeister et al., 2003; Sedikides, Rudich,
Gregg, Kumashiro, & Rusbult, 2004), and negatively associated with anxiety (e.g., Harmon-
Jones et al., 1997) and depression (e.g., Cassidy, O’Connor, Howe, & Warden, 2004). A longitu-
dinal study and a meta-analysis also indicated that low self-esteem was more likely to serve as a
cause, rather than a consequence, of depression (Sowislo & Orth, 2013). The positive relation-
ship between self-esteem and mental health has also been replicated among Chinese participants
(e.g., Routledge et al., 2010). Not surprisingly, self-esteem predicts physical health as well (e.g.,
Mäkikangas, Kinnunen, & Feldt, 2004).
Self-Esteem Mediates the Relationship Between Name Change and Psychological
Outcomes
Sociometer theory proposes that self-esteem serves as a gauge that monitors others’ evaluations
of oneself in one’s social environments (Leary, 2005; Leary & Baumeister, 2000). When social
4 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 00(0)
environments are not inclusive and welcoming, this psychological gauge signals social rejection
and exclusion; one consequence of receiving such alerts is lower self-esteem and negative affec-
tive reactions (Buckley, Winkel, & Leary, 2004), which contribute to lower well-being and poor
health (Kong et al., 2012). We suggested earlier that international students may adopt Anglo
names as a response to the perception that their original names cannot be pronounced or remem-
bered, or to avoid discrimination. Such experiences can be conceptualized as signaling rejection
and exclusion from the social environment. According to sociometer theory, self-esteem should
suffer as a result. In the present research, we focused on self-esteem as an important mechanism
in the relationship between adoption of Anglo names and other psychological outcomes, predict-
ing that self-esteem would mediate the relationship between adoption of Anglo names and accul-
turative well-being and health outcomes.
Current Research
Figure 1 shows the theoretical model we tested in the two studies reported below. We predicted
that low perceived memorability and pronounceability of one’s Chinese name would be posi-
tively correlated with adoption of an Anglo name (tested in both studies), and that perceived
discrimination would be positively correlated with adoption of an Anglo name (tested in Study 2
only). We also predicted that adoption of Anglo names would be negatively associated with self-
esteem, which would further be associated with acculturative well-being, as well as mental and
physical health (test in both studies). The figure depicts a hypothesized mediating role of self-
esteem in the relationship between name-related experiences/perceived discrimination and other
psychological outcomes.
We report two cross-sectional studies designed to examine the correlates of adopting Anglo
names in samples of Chinese international students in the United States. In 2014, 200,000 Chinese
students studied in the United States compared with just 16,000 in 2003 (“Foreign Students:
Coming and Going,” 2014); that number jumped to 328,000 in the 2015-2016 academic year
(John, 2016). Chinese students form the largest international student group in the country
(Institute of International Education, 2016), and some evidence suggests that adopting an Anglo
name is a popular acculturation practice (Hsu, 2009; Musick, 2012). To our knowledge, our
Figure 1. The theoretical model depicting relationships between adoption of Anglo names and
psychological outcomes.
Note. Only Study 2 includes measures of perceived discrimination, so the full model can only be tested in that study.
Zhao and Biernat 5
studies are the first to test path models outlining predictors and correlates of adopting Anglo
names. Specifically, Study 1 tested our hypotheses in a sample of predominately graduate stu-
dents. Study 2 served two goals. First, it aimed to replicate the results of Study 1 by using a larger
and a more diverse sample, including more undergraduate students. The difference in age and
educational levels between two studies’ samples offers an important test of the model’s generaliz-
ability. Second, Study 2 extended Study 1 by also examining the role of perceived discrimination
in predicting adoption of Anglo names.
Study 1
Method
Participants. In all, 109 Chinese participants (53 females) who were studying in the United States
were recruited through the first author’s (who is a graduate student) connections to Chinese stu-
dent groups and through subsequent personal referral (“snowball” procedures). Therefore, more
graduate students than undergraduate students were recruited in the sample. Among all partici-
pants, 53.2% were PhD students, 17.4% were master’s students, and 18.4% were undergraduate
students.1 The average age was 26.4 (SD = 5.10) with a range from 18 to 56 years old. On aver-
age, they had been living in the United States for 3.87 years (SD = 3.89, range = 0.33-34). Partici-
pants were predominately foreign citizens (84.4%) with a few U.S. citizens (2.8%) and permanent
residents (3.7%). The rest (9.2%) did not report their residential status. Participants who were
naturalized or became permanent residents were included in data analyses because they still
experienced the acculturation process. One participant who reported being born in the United
States was excluded.
Materials and procedure. Participants were asked to fill out a battery of questionnaires in English,
in the order indicated below. Unless otherwise indicated, participants responded to questions
using a scale ranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (completely agree). To avoid the possible
adjacent influence of answering name-related questions prior to outcome questions (Schwarz,
1999), we measured name-related questions at the end of the survey.
Mental health. A five-item version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5; Berwick et al.,
1991) was used to measure participants’ mental health. This measure has been widely used in
health and social psychology research (e.g., Campos, Ullman, Aguilera, & Schetter, 2014) and
validated against other existing mental health measures, such as the PHQ-2 (Patient Health
Questionnaire–2, r = .70; Kroenke, Spitzer, & Williams, 2003). In Chinese samples, it has also
shown good reliability (Cronbach’s α = .90) and strong correlations with other existing well-
being-related measures (e.g., r = .58 with well-being; Chong, Zhang, Mak, & Pang, 2015).
Participants responded on a scale from 1 (none of the time) to 7 (all of the time). Cronbach’s α
was .86. Items (e.g., “How much of the time, during the last month, have you been a happy
person?”) were averaged after reverse coding three items, with higher numbers representing
better mental health.
Physical health. Five items from the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Short-Form Health Survey
(Ware & Sherbourne, 1992) were used to measure participants’ general perception of physical
health. The scale has been widely used in psychological research (e.g., Sullivan-Singh, Stanton,
& Low, 2015). Participants were asked to answer (a) “In general, would you say your health is”
on a 1 (poor) to 7 (excellent) scale; (b) “Do you have any chronic diseases or conditions?” (yes
coded as 1/no coded as 0); (c) “How much bodily pain have you had over the last 4 weeks?” (1
= none to 7 = very severe); (d) “Over the last 4 weeks, has your physical health made doing work
6 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 00(0)
(either at your job or at your house) more difficult” (yes, coded as 1/no coded as 0); and (e) “On
average, how frequently do you do some form of exercise (i.e., walking, running, biking, swim-
ming, etc.)?” options from never (coded as 1) to almost every day (coded as 6). Items 2, 3, and 4
were reverse coded and greater scores represent better physical health. An exploratory factor
analysis (EFA) was conducted in Mplus with all five items. Results indicated only one factor with
each item’s loading as .67, .79, .32, .67, and .26. EFA’s model fits were also acceptable, compara-
tive fit index (CFI) = .962, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = .925, root mean square error approxima-
tion (RMSEA) = .060, confidence interval (CI) = [.000, .159]. Therefore, all five items were
standardized (scores minus the mean, divided by standard deviations; Cronbach’s α = .562) and
averaged to create an index of physical health.
Acculturative well-being. We adapted Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin’s (1985) five-item Sat-
isfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) to measure acculturative well-being related to living in the
United States. The original SWLS has shown a convergence with other measures of well-being,
such as the Life Satisfaction Index–A (LSI-a; Pavot, Diener, Colvin, & Sandvik, 1991; r = .81).
In a Chinese sample, it showed good reliability (Cronbach’s α = .75) and was correlated with
self-esteem (r = .32; Chen, Cheung, Bond, & Leung, 2006). In the present research, we were
particularly interested in participants’ well-being in the United States. Therefore, we adapted
each item to specify the U.S. context. One sample item is “In most ways my life in the U.S. is
close to my ideal.” Cronbach’s α was .82. We computed the mean of items to create an index of
acculturative well-being.
Self-esteem. Rosenberg’s (1965) 10-item self-esteem measure served as our indicator of self-
esteem. This measure has been widely used in psychological research (e.g., Schmitt & Allik,
2005). This scale has also shown good reliability (Cronbach’s α = .84) and power in predicting
well-being in Chinese samples (r = .30; Yik, Bond, & Paulhus, 1998). One sample item is “I feel
that I have a number of good qualities.” Cronbach’s α was .86. After reverse coding five items,
we computed the mean of all items to create an index of self-esteem.
Name-related questions. Participants responded to three items about their own names: (a) (Angli-
cization of name) “Do you use an English name in the U.S.?” (yes, coded as 1/no, coded as 0);
(b) (Pronouncing Chinese name) “How well can American people pronounce your Chinese
name?” (1 = not at all to 7 = very well); (c) (Remembering Chinese name) “To what extent do
American people remember your Chinese name?” (1 = not at all to 7 = very well). We computed
the mean of the latter two questions after reverse coding them (r = .69, p < .001) to create an
index of “difficulties with Chinese name.”
Results and Discussion
Means, standard deviations, and simple correlations among variables are displayed in Table 1.
Roughly half the sample (48.0%) reported adopting an Anglo name. We were particularly inter-
ested in the relationships among difficulties with Chinese name, self-esteem, and other psycho-
logical outcomes. First, consistent with our hypothesis, adopting an Anglo name was correlated
with the perception that Americans had difficulties with one’s Chinese name (r = .41, p < .001).
Second, adoption of Anglo names was correlated with lower self-esteem (r = −.20, p = .046), but
Anglicization was not associated with other psychological outcomes.
Next, we fit a path model to holistically test the relationships among name-related variables,
self-esteem, and other psychological outcomes. Figure 2 shows the coefficients of each path. We
used the CFI (Bentler, 1990), TLI (Tucker & Lewis, 1973), and the RMSEA (Steiger & Lind,
1980) as our primary indicators to evaluate the fit between our hypothetical model and the data.
Zhao and Biernat 7
For the model we fit, χ2 = 3.93, df = 7, p = .788, CFI = 1.00, TLI = 1.05, RMSEA = .00, 90%
CI = [.000, .078], which indicated good model fit (Browne & Cudeck, 1989; Hu & Bentler,
1999).3 The indirect effect of Anglicization of Chinese names on acculturative well-being was
significantly mediated by self-esteem, B = −.25, Z = −1.96, p = .050, as was the indirect effect of
Anglicization of Chinese names on mental health, B = −.30, Z = −1.99, p = .047. The indirect
effect of Anglicization of Chinese names on physical health via self-esteem was not significant,
B = −.06, Z = −1.58, p = .114. We also approached the mediational tests using SPSS PROCESS
macros (MODEL 4; Hayes, 2018), separately for each outcome measure. These analyses indi-
cated significant mediational roles of self-esteem in the effect of Anglicization of Chinese names
on acculturative well-being, B = −.27, 95% CI = [−.57, −.03], mental health, B = −.30, 95% CI =
[−.63, −.02], and physical health, B = −.06, 95% CI = [−.18, −.002]. The discrepancy between the
results of two analyses might be due to the number of variables in the model (with vs. without
multiple outcome variables) and the estimation methods (maximum likelihood vs. ordinary least
squares regression).
The Study 1 results were mostly consistent with our hypotheses, but Study 1 also has limi-
tations. The sample size was small, which plausibly generated the discrepant result vis-à-vis
the mediation of physical health, and participants were mostly graduate students, which may
not appropriately represent the population of Chinese students in the United States. To over-
come these limitations, in Study 2, we recruited a larger sample, including more undergradu-
ate students, and added a measure of perceived discrimination to fully test the model outlined
in Figure 1.
Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations, and Simple Correlations Among Variables in Study 1 (N = 108).
1 2 3 4 5 6
Mean or percentage 48.0% 3.54 5.42 4.47 4.94 −0.003
SD 1.72 0.96 1.15 1.14 0.060
Range 1.00-7.00 2.80-7.00 1.80-7.00 2.20-7.00 −1.68-1.00
1. Anglicization of names 1
2. Difficulties with Chinese name .41** 1
3. Self-esteem −.20* −.19†1
4. Well-being −.04 −.14 .56** 1
5. Mental health −.11 −.15 .66** .44** 1
6. Physical health −.01 −.14 .24* .26** .32** 1
†p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
Figure 2. Results of path analysis in Study 1.
8 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 00(0)
Study 2
The goal of Study 2 was to replicate and extend the Study 1 findings using a larger sample
(including more undergraduate students) and considering the role of perceived discrimination as
outlined in Figure 1.
Method
Participants. In total, 231 Chinese participants were recruited from two Midwestern college cam-
puses. Participants who appeared to be Chinese international students were approached at vari-
ous locations on campus by research assistants. If participants agreed to participate, they were
presented with a questionnaire. The average age of participants was 23.0 (SD = 4.58) with a range
from 16 to 44 years. Roughly half of the participants (48.5%) were males and 50.2% were
females; 67.1% were undergraduate students, 24.3% were graduate students, with the remainder
being postdoctoral researchers, faculty members, and visiting scholars. Participants were pre-
dominately foreign citizens (82.3%) with a few U.S. citizens (7.8%) and permanent residents
(5.2%). The remaining participants either could not be categorized by the other categories (3.5%)
or did not report their residential status (1.3%). On average, participants had been living in the
United States for 3.68 years (SD = 5.20, range = 0.08-43.00). Six participants who reported being
born in the United States were excluded.
Materials and procedure. Participants were asked to fill out a battery of questionnaires in English.
In addition to the questions we asked in Study 1, all participants in Study 2 were asked to fill out
measures of perceived discrimination. The Cronbach’s α of the mental health measure was .74.
The Cronbach’s α of the acculturative well-being measure was .81. The Cronbach’s α of the self-
esteem measure was .79. For the five physical health items, another EFA supported a one factor.
Items’ loadings were .54, .80, .59, .71, and .35, and model fit was satisfactory, CFI = .1.00,
TLI = .1.09, RMSEA = .000, 90% CI = [.190, .260]. Therefore, all five items were standardized
(Cronbach’s α = .67) and averaged to create an index of physical health.
Perceived discrimination. Twelve items from the Daily Life Experience Scale (Harrell, 1997) were
used to assess the frequency with which participants experience discrimination in their everyday
lives because of their ethnicity. We chose a measure of perceived personal discrimination (rather
than a measure of group-based perceived discrimination) because it may resonate more with
participants’ personal choice of adopting Anglo names. The scale had good internal consistency,
with a Cronbach’s α of .89 in the literature (Scott & House, 2005). Participants were asked to
indicate how often 12 experiences occurred to them “because you were Chinese” (1 = never, 7 =
extremely often). Sample items included, “Your ideas or opinions being minimized, ignored or
devalued,” and “Being mistaken for some else of your same race.” Cronbach’s α in this sample
was .94. The average rating across 12 behaviors served as our index of perceived
discrimination.
In addition, we also asked participants to report the length of time that they had been using
Anglo names and the length of time they had been in the United States.
Results and Discussion
Descriptive and correlational results. Means, standard deviations, and simple correlations among
variables are displayed in Table 2. As in Study 1, roughly half the sample (53.9%) reported
adopting Anglo names. Also as in Study 1, Anglicization of names was positively associated
with the perception that Americans had difficulties with Chinese names (r = .32, p < .001), and
Anglicization of names was negatively correlated with self-esteem (r = −.15, p = .025).
Zhao and Biernat 9
New to this study was the inclusion of the perceived discrimination index. As can be seen in
Table 2, and inconsistent with our hypothesis, perceived discrimination was not related to adopt-
ing an Anglo name. However, perceived discrimination was correlated with the perception that
Americans had difficulties with one’s Chinese name (r = .14, p = .047), self-esteem (r = −.32,
p < .001), acculturative well-being (r = −.16, p = .024), mental health (r = −.32, p < .001), and
physical health (r = −.17, p = .029).
Path analysis. We fit our path model in Figure 1 using the R Lavaan package. The model did not
provide a good fit to the data, χ2 = 34.42, df = 11, p < .001, CFI = .862, TLI = .749, RMSEA =
.097, 90% CI = [.062, .135]. Therefore, compared with the model in Study 1, adding perceived
discrimination as a predictor of Anglicization of Chinese name was not supported by these data.
We suspect that this is because many participants adopted Anglo names soon after they came to
the United States, but might have become aware of discrimination later. Among participants who
adopted Anglo names, the length of time that they had been using Anglo names was highly cor-
related with the length of time they had been in the United States, r = .77, p < .001, and perceived
discrimination was positively associated with time in the United States (r = .30, p = .002). Based
on these results, perceived discrimination may not be a factor contributing to the initial adoption
of Anglo names. However, past research does suggest that perceived (or anticipated) discrimina-
tion may be related to strategic use of Anglo names in evaluative situations, such as applying for
jobs and interviewing (Kang et al., 2016).
We also considered an alternative way in which perceptions of discrimination may be related
to the phenomenon of name changing. Hearing one’s name pronounced correctly may smooth
social interactions and create more positive intergroup contact experiences. These, in turn, may
reduce perceptions of discrimination and improve intergroup attitudes (Pettigrew, 1998).
Extending this logic, we revised the model to include a link from difficulty with Chinese name to
perceived discrimination, which in turn contributes to low self-esteem (see Bourguignon, Seron,
Yzerbyt, & Herman, 2006). As depicted in Figure 3, this model suggests that the effect of diffi-
culty with Chinese name on self-esteem will be mediated by perceived discrimination. The
revised model provided a good fit to the data, χ2 = 11.07, df = 11, p = .438, CFI = 1.000, TLI = .999,
RMSEA = .005, 90% CI = [.000, .070]. The previously described paths were again supported,
though at marginal levels of statistical signicance (the indirect effect of Anglicization of Chinese
Table 2. Means, Standard Deviations, and Simple Correlations Among Variables in Study 2 (N = 225).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mean or
percentage
53.9% 3.60 2.84 5.04 4.29 4.65 0.04
SD 1.76 1.23 0.90 1.08 1.06 0.65
Range 1.00-7.00 1.00-6.25 2.70-7.00 1.00-7.00 2.00-7.00 −2.57-0.89
1. Anglicization of
names
1
2. Difficulties with
Chinese name
.32** 1
3. Perceived
discrimination
.04 .14* 1 1
4. Self-esteem −.15* −.08 −.32** 1
5. Well-being .04 −.002 −.16* .31** 1
6. Mental health −.05 −.04 −.32** .54** .25** 1
7. Physical health .02 .03 −.17* .31** .31** .32** 1
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.
10 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 00(0)
name on mental health via self-esteem, B = −.14, Z = −1.86, p = .063, the indirect effect on physical
health, B = −.05, Z = −1.73, p = .084, and the indirect effect on well-being, B = −.09, Z = −1.77,
p = .076). In addition, the effect of difficulty with Chinese name on self-esteem was also margin-
ally significantly mediated by perceived discrimination, B = .02, Z = 1.93, p = .053.
As in Study 1, the same mediational tests were also examined individually, using SPSS
PROCESS macros (Hayes, 2018). The effect of Anglicization of Chinese names on acculturative
well-being was significantly mediated by self-esteem, B = −.12, 95% CI = [−.25, −.03], as was
the effect of Anglicization of Chinese names on mental health, B = −.18, 95% CI = [−.35, −.03],
and the effect of Anglicization of Chinese name on physical health, B = −.06, 95% CI = [−.15,
−.01]. The additional effect of difficulty with Chinese name on self-esteem was also mediated by
perceived discrimination, B = −.03, 95% CI = [−.06, −.01]. In short, tests of the individual media-
tional paths reached conventional levels of significance whereas the simultaneous tests in the
structural equation modeling (SEM) were marginally significant, plausibly because of their lower
statistical power.
Study 2 replicated the Study 1 findings that Anglicization of name was tied to perceived
poor pronounceability and memorability of Chinese name, that Anglicization predicted lower
self-esteem, and that self-esteem mediated the effect of Anglicizing Chinese name on well-
being and health. Although we did not find that perceived discrimination predicted name
Anglicization, it was the case that the effect of the perception that majority group members
could not pronounce and remember one’s Chinese name on self-esteem was mediated by per-
ceived discrimination. However, the fact that testing of the simultaneous paths produced only
marginally significant results is a limitation of this research. Combined with the ad hoc changes
to the model, replication of these findings is needed.
General Discussion
In the current studies, we investigated the relationship between adoption of Anglo names and
self-esteem, as well as other psychological outcomes such as health and acculturative well-being,
among Chinese students in the United States. Across two cross-sectional studies, we found a
consistent pattern that adoption of an Anglo name was associated with lower levels of self-
esteem, which further predicted lower levels of health and well-being. These findings resonate
with Berry’s acculturation model that assimilation is generally associated with lower well-being
than an integrationist or biculturalism approach (Berry & Kim, 1998), and echoes other research-
ers’ findings that cultural adaptation is associated with lower self-esteem (Furnham & Bochner,
Figure 3. Results of path analysis, Study 2.
Zhao and Biernat 11
1986; Liebkind, 1996). However, this result is not congruent with research pointing to positive
aspects of assimilation (LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993; Porter & Washington, 1993),
such as the finding that speaking English was associated with higher self-esteem in a sample of
Chinese immigrants (Schnittker, 2002). We suspect that the discrepancy may be due to different
acculturative domains. Speaking English may be an essential acculturative skill for living in the
United States, and may provide direct benefits to immigrants and foreign visitors. Future studies
should compare the relationships between self-esteem and assimilative behaviors that vary in
their centrality to adaptation in American life.
The mediation models also resonate with sociometer theory which proposes that self-esteem
reflects the status of social relationships, and that self-esteem is associated with well-being-
related outcomes (Buckley et al., 2004; Leary, 2005; Leary & Baumeister, 2000). To more
directly test the causal role of social context, future researchers might directly manipulate the
perceived favorability of the social environment and examine its effect on ethnic minorities and
foreign individuals’ intention to adopt an Anglo name.
We also examined possible antecedents of adopting an Anglo name. Chinese students’
perceptions that Americans could not pronounce and remember their Chinese names pre-
dicted adoption of an Anglo name, but perceived discrimination did not. This may be because
Chinese students decide whether or not to adopt Anglo names soon after arriving in the
United States based on pragmatic concerns. Personal experiences of discrimination may
come later, but then are linked to the perception that Americans have low facility with
Chinese names. Longitudinal research will be needed to test this account, by tracking the
pronounceability and memorability of ethnic names before international students go abroad,
and measuring perceived discrimination and self-esteem-related outcomes across different
time points.
Our two studies provide good evidence that Anglicization of one’s name is linked to the percep-
tion of majority group members’ difficulty with one’s Chinese name, and that Anglicization pre-
dicts a variety of psychological outcomes via its impact on self-esteem. Of course, these data are
correlational in nature, and we cannot definitively speak to the question of what is a cause versus
consequence of adopting Anglo names. For example, those with higher self-esteem may be more
reluctant to change their names, and high self-esteem may function to protect the self from threats,
such as stigmatization (Greenberg et al., 1997). Future studies will require experimental proce-
dures—including manipulating self-esteem and/or manipulating name change—to fully examine
the causal relationships. Our mediational patterns, when tested simultaneously, were sometimes
only marginally significant, and this is cause for some skepticism regarding our findings. But the
path models as a whole provided good fits to the data, and each mediational path reached conven-
tional levels of significance when tested independently. Future research should pursue higher sta-
tistical power by increasing sample sizes and using more robust measures. For example, our index
of difficulty with Chinese name could be measured using additional items (such as perceived
accuracy of spelling, tone, etc.) beyond memorability and pronounceability as in these studies.
Additional limitations include the fact that we did not consider other variables that may be linked
to the adoption of an Anglo name, such as assimilation intentions. We also relied on convenience
samples and cannot speak to the generalizability of our findings beyond the current contexts (e.g.,
urban settings, and/or settings with greater cultural diversity may reveal different patterns).
Additional research using in-depth interview techniques could be used to investigate Chinese
international students’ perspectives on adopting Anglo names. For example, do Chinese students
who keep their original names perceive those who adopt Anglo names as betraying their ingroup?
What are the self-perceived motivations for adopting Anglo names? The tendency for Chinese
students to adopt Anglo names may also be driven by the perceived acculturation strategies (Navas
et al., 2005) of the dominant group, or the perceived value placed on diversity in a national or local
context. Future studies should incorporate this factor in predicting adopting Anglo names.
12 Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 00(0)
The phenomenon of name change is not unique to Chinese students in the United States. One
study found that American students living in Denmark who abbreviated their forenames during
the visit also had lower self-esteem (Drury & McCarthy, 1980). Different types of name changes
may emerge in other cultural contexts, such as translating American names into Mandarin pho-
netics in China (e.g., David to Da Wei). A future parallel study could test the relationships among
American students’ adoption of Chinese names, self-esteem, and acculturative well-being.
This research contributes to the literature on names. Previous studies have mainly focused on
how the evaluation of one’s name is associated with self-esteem (e.g., Kitayama & Rarasawa,
1997), or how names signal status and preference (Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004; King, Madera,
Hebl, Knight, & Mendoza, 2006). But the phenomenon of name change has been largely ignored.
One exception is research on women’s name changes after marriage (e.g., Twenge, 1997), but an
integrated model about the contributors to and consequences of name change has not been estab-
lished. Our results also highlight the importance of majority group members’ learning to pro-
nounce international students’ and other ethnic minority group members’ names. In addition to
offering foreign language courses, schools should also offer instruction in the phonetics of differ-
ent languages, especially languages of ethnic minorities (e.g., in the United States, Spanish,
Mandarin, and Arabic; in China, Tibetan, Uyghur, and Mongolian). Experimental and interven-
tion studies can also be conducted to test if teaching majority members to pronounce “foreign”
names can be an effective approach to improving intergroup relations.
Acknowledgment
We thank Po-yi Chen and Jian Zheng for assistance with data analysis. We thank Hunter Tate, Yee Ming
Khaw, and Xiaochan Wang for assistance with data collection.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or
publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publi-
cation of this article: The work reported here was supported by Jack W. Brehm Research Fund that received
by the first author.
Notes
1. One postdoctoral researcher and one faculty member were also recruited. Excluding them did not
affect the patterns of results, so they were included in the following analyses.
2. Although this Cronbach’s α is relatively low, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) supports the unidimen-
sionality of the physical health items.
3. Comparative fit index (CFI) can be 1.00 and root mean square error approximation (RMSEA) can be
0.00, even with measurement error. Both CFI and RMSEA compare the degree of departure between
the researcher’s model and the independence (null) model. For models where chi-square ≤ df, CFI =
1.0 and RMSEA = 0.00. This suggests that model-data discrepancy fails to exceed the limit of close fit,
not that fit is perfect (Kline, 2015).
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