Leisure Statisfaction and Acculturative Stress: The Case of Chinese-Canadian Immigrants (Report‪)‬

North America's sociodemographic composition is undergoing tremendous change. In the United States, 4% of the population was Asian or Pacific Islander in 2000, with this percentage expected to double by 2025 (Cheeseman Day, 2007). According to 2002 Census figures, Chinese was the largest Asian group (Barnes & Bennett, 2002) and greater China (i.e., Hong Kong, Taiwan, People's Republic of China) was the second largest region of birth of the United States foreign-born population (Malone, Baluja, Costanzo, & Davis, 2003). In Canada, the visible minority population was 16% in 2006 (Statistics Canada, 2010). Although this figure is triple the 5% reported in 1981 (Statistics Canada, 2005), it is only half that projected for 2031, when 31% of Canada's population will be visible minority group members (Statistics Canada, 2010). Chinese is now, and will remain, the second largest visible minority group (Statistics Canada, 2010). Currently 72% of Chinese in Canada are immigrants, largely (45%) from Mainland China (Lindsay, 2007). In spite of the magnitude of this change, a review of 3,369 articles in five major leisure journals found only 12 articles that dealt specifically with immigrants' leisure (Floyd, Bocarro, & Thompson, 2008). This finding led to a call for more research on leisure and immigration in general and on "the role of leisure in adjustment to [North] American society" (p. 4) in particular. Floyd's et al. appeal echoes that of Shinew and colleagues (2006), who stated that as immigrant groups' influence grew, the effect of immigration on leisure experiences and the role of leisure in adjustment to (North) American society would become crucial research areas. Similarly, Stodolska and Walker (2007) argued that immigration status brings a distinct set of challenges (and, possibly, opportunities) that researchers who study minority groups' leisure need to acknowledge. Based in part on these leisure scholars' pleas, the purpose of this study is to examine how Chinese-Canadian immigrants' leisure satisfaction affects their acculturative stress.