scholarly journals Do You Feel Important? A Comparison of White and Asian Americans’ Perception of Their Social Rank

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ally Lamb
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
White Sample ◽  
The Relationship

Asians are often viewed as the “model minority” group for assumptions about their high income and education level. Does this necessarily translate to higher self-esteem, social desirability, and self-perceived social rank for Asians? Building upon literature examining confidence, beauty, masculinity and the “model minority” stereotype, I use the General Social Survey (2016—2018) to study the relationships between attractiveness and perceived social rank for 124 Asian Americans and 3,038 White Americans. The attractiveness data was collected by the GSS rating respondents on their physical attractiveness. Social rank helps examine a general sense of perceived ranking in society that may not be explicitly expressed by socio-economic class. I propose that a high attractiveness rating positively affects the level of self-perceived ranking for Whites but not for Asians. I also control for sex, age, family income and education. The results of the regression support my hypothesis showing a statistically significant relationship between attractiveness and social rank for the White sample but not the Asian sample. However, the strongest predictor of self-perceived social rank was the level of family income. Therefore, the more money someone makes, the higher they self-reported their social rank for both Asians and Whites. Due to the limited sample size of Asians, further research including a larger group of Asian participants should be conducted to study the relationship between attractiveness and social rank.

Against the Odds

The Race Card ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 79-108
Author(s):  
Tara Fickle
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
Economic Mobility ◽  
Model Minority Myth ◽  
Games Of Chance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Narrative Function ◽  
The Way

This chapter uses games of chance to illustrate the overlooked kinship between the appeal that hardworking Asian Americans held for white sociologists and the appeal that gambling held for Asian Americans. In other words, the chapter emphasizes again the formal symmetry between the way both parties were using gambling to try to rationalize larger paradoxes in cultural theories of race and economic mobility by reframing immigration and social mobility as a risk-taking opportunity. Gambling served an ideational narrative function that is made clear through its representations in both literary and journalistic fictions of the model minority. The model minority myth was, from that perspective, essentially a racialized version of the gambling narrative, wherein Asian Americans modeled a new way of representing and explaining the relationship between past and future, merit and heredity.

Yellowface Performance: Historical and Contemporary Contexts

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josephine Lee
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Interracial Interactions ◽  
Racial Categories ◽  
American Theater ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Political Radicalism ◽  
East West

In European and North American theater and film, the centuries-old practice of “yellowface”—white actors playing Asian-identified characters—has dominated the ways that Asians and Asian Americans have been presented. Since the 19th century, yellowface representations in American theater portrayed these characters as villainous despots, exotic curiosities, or comic fools. These roles in turn greatly reduced the opportunities for the employment and recognition of Asian and Asian American actors. Yellowface performance does not only misrepresent Asians and Asian Americans by limiting the kinds of visibility and opportunities that they might have, but it also supports the imagined distinctions between those values presumably embodied by white Americans and those associated with oriental others. Late-19th and early-20th-century plays such as George Ade’s The Sultan of Sulu (1902), Joseph Jarrow’s The Queen of Chinatown (1899), and David Belasco’s Madame Butterfly (1900) not only used yellowface acting but also expressed anxieties about interracial interactions and the potential for racial contamination produced by U.S. imperialism and Chinese immigration. Both yellowface and “whitewashing” (the erasure of Asian and Asian American characterizations from film and theater in order to benefit white actors) continue to be used in U.S. theater and film. In addition to protesting, Asian American performing artists have responded by creating alternative venues for Asian American performers and writers to make their talents known, such as Los Angeles’s East West Players (established in 1965). Asian Americans have also fully engaged with these issues through writing a host of plays that feature characterizations of actors who suffer the effects of discriminatory casting practices. Two plays in particular, David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face (2007) and Lloyd Suh’s Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery (2015) not only critique the legacies of yellowface representation but also prompt broader reflection on how contemporary Asian American identities are shaped by both political radicalism and “model minority” conformity. These plays re-appropriate yellowface to comment on the changing and contested nature of racial categories such as “Asian American” as well as the continuing problems of racial typecasting.

PUFF, PUFF, PASS

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Jason P. Smith ◽  
David M. Merolla
Keyword(s):  
General Social Survey ◽  
Racial Prejudice ◽  
Flowering Plant ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Medical Cannabis ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This research aims to enhance our understanding of the relationship between racial prejudice and White Americans’ views on cannabis legalization. The recent legalization of recreational cannabis in a handful of states, along with many other states legalizing medical cannabis in recent years, has catapulted the flowering plant back into the spotlight and nightly news cycles. Given the historically racist propaganda used to criminalize the plant, it follows that Whites’ support for legalization may be associated with racial prejudice. Using data from the General Social Survey data from 1972–2018, we find that different forms of racial prejudice have a negative effect on Whites’ support for cannabis legalization generally. Additionally, as the negative effect of overt, old-fashioned racism diminishes over time and across birth cohorts it is supplanted by the more subtle laissez-faire racism. In conclusion, we discuss the implication of the relationship between racial prejudice and views on marijuana for the increasingly complicated racial dynamics surrounding cannabis legalization.

The Model Minority Thesis and Workplace Discrimination of Asian Americans

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Lai
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
Racial Stereotypes ◽  
Workplace Discrimination ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Traditional Paradigm ◽  
Missed Opportunity

In the focal article, Ruggs et al. (2013) observed that there is a dearth of racial discrimination research beyond the traditional White–Black or White–nonWhite comparisons in the industrial–organizational (I–O) literature and urged researchers to treat each minority race separately because individuals may have unique experiences with discrimination based on different racial stereotypes associated with their race/ethnicity. I agree with the above assessments. Moreover, I argue that the overlook of negative consequences of positive stereotypes of some marginalized groups, such as Asian Americans, is another “missed opportunity” that has not been addressed in the focal article. Specifically, the traditional paradigm, which tends to exclusively focus on how negative stereotypes of a marginalized group (e.g., Blacks, individuals with disabilities) lead to workplace discriminations against them, may be too narrowly focused. In this commentary, I use Asian Americans as an example to illustrate how seemingly positive stereotypes, the model minority thesis, may also lead to workplace discrimination of Asian Americans, an often overlooked minority group in the discrimination literature.

scholarly journals High-Status Exemplars and the Misperception of the Asian-White Wealth Gap

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Enya Kuo ◽  
Michael W. Kraus ◽  
Jennifer Richeson
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
High Status ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Central Hypothesis ◽  
Wealth Gap ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

In this research, we test the central hypothesis that perceptions of Asian Americans as a high-status “model minority” lead to overestimates of the extent of wealth equality between Asian and White Americans. We test this hypothesis across three studies that manipulate the salience of high- or low-status Asian American exemplars before soliciting estimates of Asian-White wealth equality. A meta-analysis of the results revealed that participants significantly overestimated Asian-White wealth equality, and that making low- versus high-status Asian American exemplars salient decreased this tendency. These data suggest that activation of high-status Asian American exemplars elicits greater overestimates of Asian-White wealth equality, obscuring existing wealth disparities relative to White Americans and significantly downplaying the economic inequality that burdens a subset of Asian Americans from less-prototypical ethnic backgrounds. The findings echo recent calls by sociologists and political scientists for a more nuanced understanding of the diversity and economic inequality among Asian American communities.

scholarly journals Commentary: Persistence and Health-Related Consequences of the Model Minority Stereotype for Asian Americans

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella S. Yi ◽  
Simona C. Kwon ◽  
Rachel Sacks ◽  
Chau Trinh-Shevrin
Keyword(s):  
Health Disparities ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
Aggregate Level ◽  
Model Minority Stereotype ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
American Society ◽  
Racial Ethnic

<p>Fifty years ago, the term model minority was coined to describe the extraordinary ability of Asian Americans to overcome hardship to succeed in American society. Less well-known is how the model minority stereotype was cultivated within the context of Black-White race relations during the second half of the 20th  century, and how this stereotype, in turn, has contributed to the understanding and prioritization of health disparities experienced by Asian Americans. The objectives of this article are to define the model minority stereotype, present its controversies, and provide examples of its social and health-related consequences (ie, implications for obesity and tobacco) across multiple levels of society and institutions. A salient theme throughout the examples provided is the limitation of data presented at the aggregate level across all Asian subgroups which masks meaningful disparities. The intent is to increase the visibility of Asian Americans as a racial/ethnic minority group experiencing chronic disease health disparities and deserving of health-related resources and consideration. <em>Ethn Dis</em>. 2016;26(1):133-138;doi:10.18865/ed.26.1.133</p>

From Undesirable to Marriageable

2015 ◽  
Vol 662 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Lee
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Marriage Market ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Boundaries ◽  
Gendered Patterns ◽  
And Gender

Asian Americans are at the vanguard of rising intermarriage in the United States. Once deemed “undesirable” and “unassimilable,” Asian Americans have become the most “marriageable” racial minority group in the country. In this article, I posit that the passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act altered the socioeconomic profiles of Asian immigrants to the United States, thereby making them more desirable partners in the marriage market. Further, I explain interracial “marriageability” as a social construction and document how the rising rate of intermarriage has resulted in a growing Asian multiracial population that experiences fewer social identity constraints than do other multiracial Americans. Some demographers claim that these trends reflect a “diversity explosion,” in which racial boundaries are upending, especially for Asian Americans. However, the gendered patterns of intermarriage and the persistence of racial and gender stereotypes, including the “model minority” trope in the case of Asian Americans, indicate that while Asians may have achieved racial mobility, racial boundaries persist and inhibit full incorporation.

Relationship between State and Civil Society: Theoretical Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-74
Author(s):  
Abdou Barrow
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Social World ◽  
The State ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

Relationship between state and civil society has been of great interest in the field of social sciences especially in the field of sociology and political science. There have been several theorist that tries to look into this relationship. The aim of this paper is to review the theoretical approaches of Marxist, Elites, and Neo-Consensualist on the relations between state and civil society in nowadays societies. Research are based on literature studies, on conflict perspectives in sociology. These theories are very prominent when talking about state-civil society relationship in sociology. Marxist looks the relationship between the two as conflictual, meaning dominant civil society use the state as an instrument in exploiting the weak economic class. Elites argue the relationship differently from that of Marxist and liberals, as for them, state is run by few individuals at the expense of the mass. In the eye of Neo-Consensualist is entirely a different story, as that of Parson view certain prospectin the social world of constituting the society that is; norms, and values. As for Bellah he sought religion as a mechanism in the spirit of acculturating a kind of doctrine in a sense that, state and citizens go bye. Result for this theoretical views is elites show the relationship different from the Marxist and liberals, as for them the state is run by few individuals at the expense of the mass. This people are a minority group that has influence through economically, socially and the like but in short they have potentials in making things happen. This minority group the called them the elite as the mas they called the ruled.

scholarly journals High-Status Exemplars and the Misperception of the Asian-White Wealth Gap

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-405
Author(s):  
Entung Enya Kuo ◽  
Michael W. Kraus ◽  
Jennifer A. Richeson
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
High Status ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Central Hypothesis ◽  
Wealth Gap ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

In this research, we test the central hypothesis that perceptions of Asian Americans as a high-status “model minority” lead to overestimates of the extent of wealth equality between Asian and White Americans. We test this hypothesis across three studies that manipulate the salience of high- or low-status Asian American exemplars before soliciting estimates of Asian-White wealth equality. A meta-analysis of the results revealed that participants significantly overestimated Asian-White wealth equality and that making low- versus high-status Asian American exemplars salient decreased this tendency. These data suggest that activation of high-status Asian American exemplars elicits greater overestimates of Asian-White wealth equality, obscuring existing wealth disparities relative to White Americans and significantly downplaying the economic inequality that burdens a subset of Asian Americans from less prototypical ethnic backgrounds. The findings echo recent calls by sociologists and political scientists for a more nuanced understanding of the diversity and economic inequality among Asian American communities.

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