User:Vipul/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.

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:


 * 1) A superiority complex
 * 2) Insecurity
 * 3) Impulse control

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

Interviews of the authors
Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an article based on an interview of the authors about the book. An audio interview of the authors was published by Slate Magazine.

Book reviews
The book has received largely negative reviews from critics, who have argued that it is an exercise in pop sociology, and ignore intergenerational wealth transmission as well as selection effects in terms of the subset of people from different regions who are able to migrate. Dario Roithmayr reviewed the book for Slate Magazine, writing 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.

John Crace wrote a review-cum-summary of the book for The Guardian. 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. Allison Pearson reviewed the book favorably for The Telegraph. The book was also reviewed in Boston Globe.

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.

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?"

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."

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."