Despite difficulties faced by immigrants or trans-nationals in their adaptation to North American society, a significant number of those in Chinese communities in the States have overcome stress related to discrimination (or the existence of a glass ceiling) with an ingenious paradigm for identity construction. This particular identity (Chinese Christian Confucian Identity or CCCI) provides participants with a  paradigm for an identity construction which is family oriented and which often seems to show convergence between Christian and Confucian notions such as the following: Xiao (filial piety), Tian (heaven) and Ren or Ren-ai (love and respect). This convergence has allowed members of Chinese American Christian churches to build a framework for self-actualization. The nucleus or socio-motivational center for this identity is in fact the Ren or Ren-ai. The ren-ai is embedded in the construction of the identity and uncovered through IMIS (Multistad Investigator of Social Identity) analysis. The identities analyzed did not show signs of distress. 26 of the 34 analyzed showed contiguity between the different spheres of the identity. This seems to indicate that they are harmonious or sound identities.