The Model Minority Narrative and Its Effect on Asian American Identity and Social Status

2015 ◽  
pp. 323-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Cultural Struggle ◽  
Asian American Identity

Asian Americans have been conceptualized as a model minority for their apparent success in socioeconomic, academic, and professional settings, where other minorities have struggled. However, studies have suggested that this image is only a popularized stereotype, with academic underachievement, poverty, mental health issues, and cultural struggle prevalent amongst different Asian American communities. This chapter is a meta-analysis of studies on the model minority narrative, its influence on the social perception of Asian Americans, and its effect on shaping self-identity for Asian Americans themselves. This chapter also discusses the role the narrative plays in hindering racial parity and inter-race relations through furthering the marginalization of minority groups, silencing the voices of social change while maintaining the imbalance of status and power that currently exists in the United States.

Asian Americans

Sociology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer C. Lee ◽  
Alexander Lu
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Socioeconomic Outcomes ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Racial Ethnic

Asian Americans currently make up about five percent of the US population and are one of the fastest growing racial/ethnic groups in the United States. The history of Asians in the United States spans more than 200 years. The term “Asian American” covers over twenty nationality groups. It covers a wide variety of identities, languages, cultures, and experiences, yet this diversity has been masked with the assumption of homogeneity and the model minority image. Research within sociology on Asian Americans often focuses on dispelling the model minority myth through the empirical analysis of heterogeneity within the Asian American population, particularly in regard to educational and socioeconomic outcomes. Other sociological research examines contemporary stereotypes and discrimination against Asian Americans as well as the racial stratification of Asian Americans in relation to other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. However, it is important to note that Asian American Studies is an interdisciplinary field, and much sociological work is informed and influenced by multi- and interdisciplinary work. Therefore, although focused primarily on sociological works, this article will include books and articles from other disciplines that have important implications for sociological research.

The Impact of the Model Minority Culture in Higher Education Institutions

2016 ◽  
pp. 404-445
Author(s):  
Ben Tran
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Psychological Issues ◽  
Mental Health Issues ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are one of the fastest growing ethnic communities in the United States. Often referred to as the model minority, first coined by William Peterson, in 1966, AAPIs in the U.S. number approximately 15 million and represent more than 100 languages and dialects. However, few studies have investigated psychological consequences of internalizing the model minority. The purpose of this chapter is delve into the other side of the model minority façade, the less glamorous side of model minority, one of the causes of Asian Americans' psychological and mental health issues: the history of model minority, the concept of stereotype, and the various psychological and mental health issues, the reputation of the concept of psychological issues, and mental health services. While there is sacred empirical evidence in the support of the claim that direct causality exists between model minority and psychological and mental health issues, validities and correlations can be established, through the shared classification of diagnosed symptoms.

THE SUINN-LEW ASIAN SELF-IDENTITY ACCULTURATION SCALE: TEST WITH A NON-STUDENT, ASIAN-AMERICAN SAMPLE

1998 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiretta F. Ownbey ◽  
Patricia E. Horridge
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Public Health Services ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Major Trend

Ethnic diversity is a major trend in the United States with Asian Americans constituting a rapidly growing percentage of the population. Consequently, acculturation among Asian-Americans is an important issue since ethnic diversity both offers cultural richness and contributes to challenges for educational systems, public health services, and entities concerned with consumer practices. The Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation (SL-ASIA) Scale was tested with a non-student, random sample (N = 124) comprised of Chinese- and Filipino-Americans 18 years old and older who lived in San Francisco. Resulting data confirmed results of an initial study of the SL-ASIA; the test scores resulted in acceptable reliability measures and the instrument contains items which are promising for accurate measurement of acculturation level among Asian-American populations.

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.

Minority Versus Minority: Partisanship and Inter-Group Competitions Among Asian Americans

2021 ◽  
pp. 1532673X2110532
Author(s):  
Dongshu Liu ◽  
Nathan Carrington
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Partial Explanation

Increasingly salient in democratic politics are the divides among political parties regarding how they mobilize supports between ethnic majorities and minorities. Why, then, do some members of a minority group support political parties that seem antithetical to the interests of minority groups? We draw on group conflict theory to suggest that a partial explanation rests on perceived competition within minority groups. We test this theory by focusing on Republican Party support among Asian Americans in the United States. Based on two representative surveys and an original online survey experiment of Asian Americans, we demonstrate that perceived competition among racial minority groups has a significant effect on the partisanship of Asian American and pushes them toward the Republican Party. We also present observational evidence suggesting our theory applies to other minority groups. Our findings provide critical implications on how race affects politics in democracies with increasingly diversified ethnic minority groups.

Model Minorities and Overcoming the Dominance of Whiteness

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas D. Hartlep
Keyword(s):  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Curriculum Studies ◽  
Model Minority Stereotype ◽  
Model Minorities

Stereotyping Asian Americans as successful or model minorities is not positive. Instead, it is a form of racist love that reinforces White supremacy. How can a positive stereotype reinforce White supremacy? Because the process of revering Asian Americans as model minorities leads to other groups of people, such as people of color and Indigenous people, being reviled. But if the model minority characterization of Asian Americans is inaccurate, what should curriculum studies scholars do? Disproving a “stereotype” is impossible. Curriculum studies scholars and theorists should not attempt to disconfirm something that is untrue, or something that is racist, but instead should narrate the reality of being Asian American. The model minority stereotype of Asian Americans has been studied and contested over 50 years within the context of the United States. Over these 50 plus years, the model minority stereotype has taken on a transcendent meaning. Overcoming the dominance of Whiteness requires Asian Americans to transcend “positive” stereotypes via critical storytelling. This will require curriculum studies as a field to continue to interrogate: What are the realities of living in racist Amerika for Asian Americans?

Adapting Identities: Religious Conversion and Partisanship Among Asian American Immigrants

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 692-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre P. Audette ◽  
Mark Brockway ◽  
Christopher L. Weaver
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Incorporation ◽  
Asian American Immigrants ◽  
Religious Landscape

Asian Americans constitute the largest group of new immigrants and the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States. While Asian American immigrants have experienced greater economic success than other minority groups, this has not necessarily led to greater political incorporation such as identification with a political party. Political parties have made little substantive outreach to Asian Americans, leaving a void in political socialization that other institutions, such as churches, have sought to fill. Yet the U.S. religious landscape is often quite different from that of Asian immigrants’ sending countries, providing opportunities for changes in religious identity through conversion. Leveraging data from the 2012 Pew Asian American Survey, we show that conversion from Buddhism to Christianity among Asian American immigrants facilitates the development of partisan political identities. We demonstrate that conversion functions as an adaptation in identity that helps facilitate subsequent changes in identity, such as the acquisition of partisanship.

Asian American Identity: Shared Racial Status and Political Context

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 729-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Junn ◽  
Natalie Masuoka
Keyword(s):  
Asian American ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Identification ◽  
Group Consciousness ◽  
Explicit Consideration ◽  
Group Attachment ◽  
American Case ◽  
Asian American Identity

Amidst rising levels of ethnic diversity in the United States, scholars struggle to understand how group consciousness functions among other non-black minority groups such as Asian Americans and Latinos. Most of the literature in this area focuses on the relationship between identity and immigration incorporation or the debate between national origin and panethnicity. We argue that the Asian American community offers an important case study to understand how social context and one's perceived racial position influence an individual's sense of group attachment. Thus, the Asian American case presents new insight beyond the black politics model into how racial identification influences individual political attitudes and behavior. We present findings from a unique embedded survey experiment conducted in 2004 that reveals a surprising degree of malleability in Asian American racial group attachment. This is a striking contrast to the findings demonstrated by blacks whose racial identification is relatively more stable over various contexts. We seek to explain these findings by advocating for a more explicit consideration of the structural incentives and costs of adopting racial and ethnic identities by highlighting the significance of U.S. immigration policy and its role in creating group-based stereotypes and racial tropes.

scholarly journals Mental Health of Asian American Older Adults: Contemporary Issues and Future Directions

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giyeon Kim ◽  
Sylvia Y Wang ◽  
Soohyun Park ◽  
Stacy W Yun
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Asian Americans ◽  
Asian American ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mental Health Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Current State ◽  
Mental Health Issues

Abstract Given the increased attention to older Asian Americans due to their increasing numbers in the United States, this article aims to provide a collective appraisal of older Asian American mental health issues by reviewing trends in older Asian American mental health research over the past 2 decades. This review article provides an overview of the current state of mental health and care research on older Asian Americans and vital factors associated with older Asian American mental health and care. We also identify gaps in current research on Asian American mental health issues and propose 5 potential areas for future research into which gerontologists need to put more effort during the next decade. Ways to reduce disparities in mental health and improve the quality of mental health of older Asian Americans are also discussed.

The Ambiguous Practices of the Inauthentic Asian American Woman

Hypatia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily S. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Asian American ◽  
Group Identity ◽  
American Woman ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Identity ◽  
Asian American Women ◽  
Asian American Woman ◽  
American Women ◽  
Asian American Identity

The Asian American identity is intimately associated with upward class mobility as the model minority, yet women's earnings remain less than men's, and Asian American women are perceived to have strong family ties binding them to domestic responsibilities. As such, the exact class status of Asian American women is unclear. The immediate association of this ethnic identity with a specific class as demonstrated by the recently released Pew study that Asian Americans are “the highest‐income, best‐educated” ethnicity contrasts with another study that finds Asian American women have the highest suicide rates in the United States. To understand these contrasting statistics, this article explores Asian American women's sense of authenticity. If the individual's sense of authenticity is intimately related with one's group identity, the association of the Asian American identity with a particular class ambivalently ensnares her as dichotomously inauthentic—as both the poor Asian American woman who fails to achieve economic upward mobility and the model minority Asian American woman who engages in assimilation practices. Feminist philosophers understand that identities change, but exactly how these transformations occur remains a mystery. The article ends with three speculations on the difficulties for practicing and recognizing individual acts that transform one's group identity.

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