The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America is a book published in 2014 by two professors at Yale Law School, Amy Chua and her husband, Jed Rubenfeld. Amy Chua is also the author of the 2011 international bestseller, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. According to the preface, the authors find that "certain groups do much better in America than others—as measured by various socioeconomic indicators such as income, occupational status, job prestige, test scores, and so on— [which] is difficult to talk about. In large part this is because the topic feels racially charged." Nevertheless, the book attempts to debunk racial stereotypes by focusing on three "cultural traits" that attribute to success in the United States.
Background Following Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in 2011, Chua wrote this book with her husband Jed Rubenfeld after observing a more prevalent trend of students from specific ethnic groups achieving better academic results than other ethnic groups. For example, a striking demographic pattern that more Mormon students in Yale are emerging than a couple years ago. According to an interview conducted by Harry Kreisler from the Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley, the authors explained that such phenomena prompted them to "look further into how those groups perform outside of school, and come to a conclusion that for some reasons, those groups have a tendency to experience more upward social mobility than others." Before its publication, The Triple Package drew attention for its highly controversial assertion that though with tough economy, shrinking opportunity, and rising economic inequality, certain communities are outperforming the national average, experiencing upward mobility and educational attainment at dramatically high rates, and that this success has to do with certain inherent characteristics belonging to these cultural groups. This led critics to note the book was "sure to garner just as much (if not more) controversy as her first book did."
Thesis The central argument of the book is that various ethnic groups that are "starkly outperforming" the rest in America possess three distinct traits. These virtues are the presence of a superiority complex, the simultaneous existence of a sense of insecurity, and a marked capacity for impulse control.
Superiority complex By definition, superiority is "a deeply internalized belief in your group's specialness, exceptionality, or superiority." The authors claim that this element is derived from various sources. First, from a religious perspective, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, referred to by some as “Mormons” are introduced to their people's magnificent history and civilization. Second, from a social viewpoint, Nigerian immigrants belonging to the prestige entrepreneurial Igbo people. Third, a mixture of both: for example, Jews as "chosen people", and "a moral people, a people of law and intellect, a people of survivors."
Insecurity The authors define insecurity as a species of discontent – an anxious uncertainty about your worth or place in society, a feeling or worry that you or what you've done or what you have is in some fundamental way not good enough." Immigrants for example are prone to insecurity because of social and financial anxiety, resulting in the sense of being discriminated against; a perception of danger; feelings of inadequacy and angst of losing their established social standing and possession.
Impulse control The authors refer to impulse control as "the ability to resist temptation, especially the temptation to give up in the face of hardship or quit instead of persevering at a difficult task." For instance, the culture amongst members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints celebrates strict self-discipline with their temperance, two-year mission, and abstinence from sexual relations before marriage. Chua compares that with the Marshmallow Experiment, where a child can either enjoy a piece of marshmallow instantly or wait and have twice as much of the treat later. She concludes that delayed gratification is one of the most important elements in the Triple Package. The authors add that a superiority complex and insecurity are not mutually exclusive. The coexistence of both qualities "lies at the heart of every Triple Package culture", producing a need to be recognized and an "I'll show them" mentality because the superiority a person has is not acknowledged by the society. Namely, immigrants suffer status collapse though moving up the economic ladder. Thus, this circumstance results in anxiety but also "a drive and jaw-dropping accomplishment."
Methodology The book categorizes the cultural groups regarding their religion, national origin, and ethnic group. By cultural groups, they refer that as members of the group that tend to be united or pass on a certain sense of outlooks and cultural values to their next generations. During an interview with Harry Kreisler, the authors explained how they collected the data by going through months of Census data, all available economic data, and from personal experience; and at last narrowed down to the eight cultural groups listed as the successful groups in the United States: Chinese, Jewish, Indian, Iranian, Lebanese, Nigerians, Cuban exiles and Mormons. As both authors belong to one of the above groups and coming from an immigrant family, namely Chua being Chinese and Rubenfeld being Jewish, Chua further claims that "Chinese Americans are three generations behind the Jews" as both Jewish Americans and Chinese Americans share many similar behaviors like being instructed to learn how to play a musical instrument when they were little and encouraged to become a doctor, teacher or a lawyer.
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