
Izzie C. 2025 | BASIS Independent Fremont
- Project Title: Is It Sparkle or Is It Trauma? The Evolution of Generational Trauma in Asian AmeriCans
- BASIS Independent Advisor: Ms. Apra
There's a running joke in the younger Asian community: if your parents didn't traumatize you as a kid, Are you really Asian? Specifically, Gen Z Asians make many videos and skits comparing and glorifying trauma, saying that the trauma is What gives them their "sparkle," or their humorous personality. On the other hand, their Gen X parents Are very tight lipped and never seem to talk about the past, especially the negative parts. This absence of communication from older generations leads us to our problem, that research on generational trauma lacks information about Asian Americans, which inhibits the application and healing of trauma. In hopes of filling this gap in research, this project looks into the differences in experiences of generational trauma between Bay Area Asians from Gen X and from Gen Z. I will be conducting face-to-face mixed interviews utilizing both qualitative and quantitative questions, with participants sharing personal accounts of historical trauma. At the end of the project, I aim to find a negative correlation between the understanding of trauma and the passing down of trauma—in other words, the more understanding there is about trauma, the less likely it is to be passed down. By opening the doors for open communication about our shAred trauma within the Asian community, I hope my project will unite us and help us break the cycle of generational trauma.