About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 6. Risk, Intervention, Prevention, and Action

Abstract

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Purpose: According to the Sociopolitical Development theory, the experiences of racial discrimination motivate anti-racism actions. However, extant research has limited understanding of the mechanisms linking the experience of racial discrimination and anti-racism action among Asian American (AA) young adults. One prominent mechanism may be a bicultural identity (i.e., ethnic and American identities) – for example, experiencing racism may compromise a sense of Americanness, while it awakens or strengthens ethnic awareness. Bicultural identity is particularly relevant as most AA young adults are children of immigrants and undergo a bicultural and multidimensional cultural adaptation process including developing a bicultural identity. This study investigates whether a bicultural identity, respectively ethnic and American identities, serves as a mediator that in turn shapes the ways in which AA young adults engage in different forms of anti-racist civic actions in response to racial discrimination.
Methods: Data are from the fourth wave of the Midwest Longitudinal Study of Asian American Families project that surveyed 265 Filipino Americans (FAs; Mage=21.54) and 348 Korean Americans (KAs; Mage=21.23) between 2021 and 2022 during which the COVID pandemic provoked a surge of anti-Asian racism. Three aspects of anti-racism action were measured as outcomes, including interpersonal, communal, and political change actions. Discrimination related to the COVID-19 pandemic was measured through specific indicators: blame, assault, avoidance, and vicarious. In addition, general racial discrimination was assessed to gauge the overall experience of discrimination perpetrated by other racial groups. Path analyses were used to examine whether the relationships between different types of discrimination and three anti-racism actions were mediated by ethnic and American identities for each ethnic group.
Results: In both ethnic groups, COVID-19 and general discrimination were associated with more anti-racism actions (see Figure). In addition, for FAs, both types of racial discrimination were related to lower American identity, while ethnic identity was associated with more anti-racism actions. For KAs, general discrimination was associated with higher American identity, whereas ethnic identity was associated with more political actions. Neither American identity nor ethnic identity had a significant mediating effect on the relationship between discrimination and anti-racism action in either ethnic group.
Conclusions/Implications: Our findings suggest that experiences of both general and COVID-19 related discrimination directly promote young AAs’ anti-racism actions. While the results did not find significant mediating effects of ethnic and American identities, the results underscore ethnic identity as an important predictor of anti-racism actions for both ethnic groups. It is plausible that various demographic factors, such as gender or place of birth, might influence these mediating relationships differently. Alternatively, ethnic and American identities might serve as moderators in the relationships between racial discrimination and anti-racism action. Indeed, additional analyses on moderating effects found that those who have a weaker sense of identity, both ethnic and American, may be more motivated by the experience of racism to take anti-racism actions. The results of the study highlight the need for an enhanced understanding of the diverse mechanisms through which AA young adults participate in different forms of anti-racism actions.

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