The Triple Package

The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America is a 2014 book (release date February 4, 2014) by Amy Chua (famous as the author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability) and her husband Jed Rubenfeld listing "three unlikely traits" that they think explain why people of some cultural backgrounds are more successful in the United States than people of other cultural backgrounds.[1]

Thesis

The three unlikely traits listed by Chua and Rubenfeld as predictive of why some cultural groups perform better in the United States than others are:[2]

  1. A superiority complex
  2. Insecurity
  3. Impulse control

The eight cultural groups that the book lists as examples of successful performers are the Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Iranian, Lebanese, Nigerians, Cuban exiles and Mormons.[2]

Reception

Interviews of the authors

Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article based on an interview of the authors about the book.[3] An audio interview of the authors was published by Slate Magazine.[4] Amy Chua was also interviewed in The Irish Times in an article where she emphasized that the book is "about the rise and fall of cultural groups." The article notes that in spite of the success of Asian-American students, they have the lowest reported self-esteem. Chua stresses that the thesis of the book is "intended to be a nuanced idea, not some superficial celebration. It can be very painful to be driven." The article also mentions that Chua was invited to speak about the book and how it relates to women at The Gloss "Look the Business," an event for 600 female executives in Dublin on the October 22, 2014. [5]

Book reviews

The book has received very polarized reviews from critics. Some admire it for "meticulously document[ing]" how some groups are more high-achieving, [6] but others have argued that it is an exercise in pop sociology. A review in the Financial Times hailed it as "the best universal theory of success I’ve seen,"[7] while a review for Slate Magazine claimed that the book's argument "doesn't hold water" for myriad reasons, including avoidance of "the pesky issue of race", not adequately acknowledging "first-wave advantage", and noting that the authors "are forced now to slice and dice the argument" in order to explain away exceptions.[8] In the general, positive reviews praise the book for tackling a controversial and complicated socioeconomic and cultural question with research and wit and for creating a unified theory of success in America, while negative reviews criticize it for ignoring intergenerational wealth transmission as well as selection effects in terms of the subset of people from different regions who are able to migrate.

Positive reviews

Publishers Weekly reviewed the book, concluding: "This comprehensive, lucid sociological study balances its findings with a probing look at the downsides of the triple package—the burden of carrying a family’s expectations, and deep insecurities that come at a psychological price."[9]

The Guardian commended the book for “draw[ing] on eye-opening studies of the influence of stereotypes and expectations on various ethnic and cultural groups ... The authors’ willingness to pursue an intellectual inquiry that others wouldn’t is bracing.” [10]

The National Review Online described the book as “sometimes funny, sometimes academic, and always interesting study of the cultural traits that make some groups outperform others in America. . . . [The Triple Package] asks a very important question: why are some of us doing so much better (or worse) than others? . . . I’m not sure that Chua and Rubenfeld have all the right answers. But I do know that by focusing on people—and the cultures that support and affect them—they’re asking the right questions. That’s more than I can say for most of the social policy experts occupying the airwaves today.”[11]

The Kirkus Reviews review of the book concluded: "On a highly touchy subject, the authors tread carefully, backing their assertions with copious notes. Though coolly and cogently argued, this book is bound to be the spark for many potentially heated discussions."[12]

Allison Pearson reviewed the book favorably for The Telegraph, calling it “Powerful, passionate and very entertaining."[13]

Negative reviews

Colin Woodard wrote a critical review of the book for the Washington Post, saying that the thesis of the book was constructed on "methodological quicksand" that was revealed by the case of the people of Appalachia.[14]

Jennifer Lee, a sociologist whose work had been quoted in The Triple Package, penned a criticism of the book for Zócalo Public Square. Lee noted that after controlling for parental accomplishment and education levels, people of Mexican origin are more successful in the United States than people of Chinese origin.[15][16]

Khanh Ho was highly critical of the book in an article for Huffington Post, concluding: "I do have this question: If you arrive in the United States as part of the 1 percent that drained off all the resources from a latter-day colony is it any surprise that you were able to leverage your fortune into a career at a top-notch university? If you inherited your status, wealth, privilege, connections and all it got you was a well-paying job does it at all reflect your innate superiority? Or is your so-called success simply the logical conclusion to the fact that you simply started off better?"[17]

John Crace wrote a satirical review-cum-summary of the book for The Guardian.[18]

The book was also negatively reviewed in Boston Globe.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Chua, Amy; Rubenfeld, Jed. The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America. Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1594205460.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nye, James (January 6, 2014). "Tiger Mom accused of being a 'full-blown racist' as her new book names the eight 'superior' races and religions that make better parents". Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  3. ↑ Green, David B. (February 20, 2014). "When an American 'tiger dad' roars: Author of 'The Triple Package' stands his ground: Jed Rubenfeld and his wife, 'Tiger Mom' Amy Chua, speak to Haaretz about their book on about why certain parts of American society are more successful than others.". Haaretz. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  4. ↑ Bowers, Andy (February 26, 2014). "The Triple Package: Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld discuss their new book at Politics & Prose.". Slate Magazine. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  5. ↑ Sheridan, Kathy. "Amy Chua: Mother superior". www.irishtimes.com. The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Dickinson, Ben. "The Tiger Mom is Back". Elle.com. Elle. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  7. ↑ Kellaway, Lucy. "Lessons in success from Eton and the Tiger Mother". FT.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Roithmayr, Daria (February 12, 2014). "The Flaw at the Heart of The Triple Package: Why Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld’s argument about success and ethnic groups doesn’t hold water.". Slate Magazine. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  9. ↑ "The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America (book review)". Publishers Weekly. December 16, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  10. ↑ Brockes, Emily. "The Triple Package: What Really Determines Success – review". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Vance, J.D. "Understanding the Triple Package". nationalreview.com. National Review Online. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "THE TRIPLE PACKAGE: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America (book review)". Kirkus Reviews. December 8, 2013. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  13. ↑ Pearson, Allison (February 16, 2014). "The Triple Package, by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld, review: Tiger Mother Amy Chua teams up with her husband to deliver this passionate and powerful account of what makes immigrants successful". The Telegraph. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  14. ↑ Woodard, Colin (February 7, 2014). "‘The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America’ by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld". Washington Post. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  15. ↑ Lee, Jennifer (February 24, 2014). "Are Mexicans the Most Successful Immigrant Group in the U.S.? The American Dream Doesn’t Just Belong to Those With the Most Money and the Fanciest Degrees. It Also Belongs to the Strivers Who Achieve More Than the Generation Before Them.". Zócalo Public Square. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  16. ↑ Hing, Julianne (February 25, 2014). "An Actual Sociologist Highlights Flaws in Faux Sociology of “The Triple Package”". ColorLines. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  17. ↑ Ho, Khanh (February 14, 2014). "What Amy Chua Didn't Tell You: Why 'The Triple Package' Is Dead Wrong". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  18. ↑ Crace, John (February 16, 2014). "The Triple Package by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld – digested read: John Crace reduces the so-called Tiger Mother's tough-love analysis of what makes cultures successful to a more manageable 600 words". The Guardian. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  19. ↑ Singal, Jesse (February 13, 2014). "‘The Triple Package’ by Amy Chua, Jed Rubenfeld". Boston Globe. Retrieved February 26, 2014.