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The Triple Package: Can 3 personality traits explain the rise & fall of cultural groups in America?

The authors of the controversial book, The Triple Package argue some ethnic and religious groups succeed better than others because of insecurity, a superiority complex and impulse control.
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Amy Chua & Jed Rubenfeld argue that eight "cultural groups" in America have risen to the top because of three traits: a superiority complex, insecurity and impulse control. (Courtesy of Fadil Berisha, Gianluca Battista)

The authors of The Triple Package say they've identified three elements that propel eight specific American ethnic, religious and cultural groups to the top of the heap in the quest for success. Ivy League Law professors Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld identify a combination of traits that makes whole communities upwardly mobile while leaving others far behind.
 

What's interesting about a lot of these groups is their sense of exceptionalism. In the Asian case it's an exceptionality based on we're better at working hard.- AmyChua, co-author of The Triple Package


If you follow the logic of The Triple Package, elementary school teachers might be able to predict with some accuracy which of their students will flourish -- just by knowing their cultural backgrounds. Mormon kids, Jewish kids, Asian kids, Nigerian kids -for example- may seem almost predestined for economic success.

Obviously, this is controversial, and it's provoked many readers. To explain their theory, we were joined by the authors of The Triple Package. The book looks at how -- and theorizes why -- certain cultural groups in America rise to the top.

Amy Chua is a law professor at Yale. Her previous book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother also provoked many people-- but it still sold a lot of copies. It described how she raised her daughters in a strict, traditional and so-called "Chinese" way.

• What Drives Success? By Amy Chua & Jed Rubenfeld

Amy Chua's co-author this time around is her husband, also a law professor at Yale, Jed Rubenfeld. They were both in Seattle.

Philip Kasinitz is not so sure about the Triple Package. He is Professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center and Hunter College of the City University of New York and the co-author of Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age. He's read The Triple Package and has been listening in from New York City.


What are your thoughts on this discussion?

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This segment was produced by The Current's Kristin Nelson.

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