Perceiving Racial / Ethnic Disadvantage and Its Consequences for Self-Esteem among Asian-Americans

This study is the first to test experimentally (vs. correlationally) whether perceiving racial/ethnic disadvantage leads to lower self-esteem among Asian-Americans. We manipulated perceived disadvantage by having Asian-American college students recall and write about experiences in which they were personally disadvantaged because of their race/ethnicity, and examined the effects of perceiving disadvantage on various outcome measures, including racial/ethnic identity, racial/ethnic salience (the number of ethnic identities participants listed on the Twenty Statements Test), and self-esteem. Consistent with experimental research with other racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States, the self-esteem of Asian-Americans was unharmed by recalling and describing past incidents of racially-based disadvantage.


Introduction
"I remember the first time I came to the United States … I felt butterflies in my stomach…the immigration officer at the INS made some passes/jokes … He was jeering at [my mom].Then, another IO [immigration officer] came in and told him to leave us alone and just do what he was supposed to do with our documents.Then the newly arrived IO told me 'Welcome to America'."[Research participant] Despite the rapid Asian population growth in North America in the past decades, the literature on perceived discrimination and stigma consciousness is limited for Asian-Americans, relative to other American racial/ethnic groups (Gee, Ro, Shariff-Marco, & Chae, 2009;Hwang & Goto, 2008;Lee & Ahn, 2011;Son & Shelton, 2011), and the effects of perceiving discrimination on self-esteem remain unclear.Numerous theories propose an "internalization hypothesis" and contend that stigmatized individuals inevitably internalize and/or are psychologically taxed by the prejudicial appraisals of others, leading to negative self-evaluations, psychological maladjustment, and poor physical health, e.g., Reflected Appraisal Theory (Mead, 1934), Rejection Sensitivity Theory (Downey & Feldman, 1996;Mendoza-Denton, Downey, Purdie, Davis, & Pietzak, 2002), Social Comparison Theory (Festinger, 1954), Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986), and the Perceived Unfairness Model (Jackson, Kubzansky, & Wright, 2006).Other theories propose a "buffering hypothesis" and posit that racial/ethnic minorities effectively use self-protective strategies, such as racial/ethnic identification or external attributions, to protect and maintain self-esteem and wellbeing in the face of prejudice, e.g., Attributional Ambiguity Theory (Crocker & Major, 1989), the Rejection-Identification Model (Branscombe, Schmitt, & Harvey, 1999).
Most correlational studies conducted with Asian-Americans have found that perceptions of discrimination are related to lower self-esteem and psychological well-being (Chou, Asnaani, & Hofmann, 2012;Gee et al., 2009;Gee, Spencer, Chen, Yip, & Takeuchi, 2007;Lee, 2005;Lee & Ahn, 2011;Noh, Beiser, Kaspar, Hou, & Rummens, 1999;Noh & Kaspar, 2003;Yip, Gee, & Takeuchi, 2008;Yoo & Lee, 2005), although a few show no association with self-esteem (Barry & Grilo, 2003;Lee, 2003, Study 1;Mak & Nesdale, 2001).These contradictory findings point to the complexity of the relationship between perceptions of discrimination, self-esteem, and psychological adjustment for Asian-Americans (for reviews, see Gee et al., 2009;Lee & Ahn, 2011).Moreover, all of the past research is limited by its correlational design, and experimental studies are needed to determine whether there is a causal link between perceiving discrimination and low self-esteem among Asian-Americans.The underlying assumption in correlational studies is that perceiving discrimination leads to a negative self-concept (perceived discrimination  self-esteem).However, correlation does not imply causation (Fisher, 1966), and it is equally plausible that people who possess low self-esteem are more likely to report that their racial/ethnic group is a target of discrimination (self-esteem  perceived discrimination).
Only one experimental study has tested whether perceiving discrimination leads to negative emotions among Asian-Americans.In this seminal study, Yoo and Lee (2009) found that Asian-American college students who imagined they had experienced multiple instances of discrimination reported greater negative affect than those who imagined they had experienced a single incident.Asian-Americans who were high in racial/ethnic identity were especially likely to be harmed by perceiving discrimination.Yoo and Lee (2009) noted that a limitation of their study was that participants only imagined they had experienced discrimination after reading a standardized vignette (e.g., being denied admission to a night club) and approximately one-third of participants reported "they could not relate to their vignette at all" (p.76).
In this brief report, we present the results of the first study to test experimentally whether perceiving racial/ethnic disadvantage leads to lower self-esteem among Asian-Americans.We sought to expand the literature on this topic by using a manipulation with greater ecological validity (i.e., by having participants write about actual experiences with racially-based disadvantage) and by focusing on self-esteem as the dependent measure, a variable that has long been of interest to psychologists and social stigma researchers (e.g., Crocker & Major, 1989;Lee, 2005;Mead, 1934;Noh et al., 1999;Tajfel & Turner, 1986).The statistical models that we tested are presented in Figure 1.First, based on our experimental data, we tested the main effects of perceiving disadvantage on self-esteem (Model 1, path a), as well as on racial/ethnic identity and salience (Model 2, path b).Second, based on correlational analyses, we investigated whether racial/ethnic identity moderated the relationship between perceived disadvantage and self-esteem (Model 3, path c).The participants' open-ended accounts of racially-based disadvantage were coded by type of experience, and we report their frequency and median age of occurrence.Model 1: path a, main effect of perceived disadvantage on self-esteem; Model 2: path b, main effect of perceived disadvantage on racial/ethnic identity (and salience); Model 3: path c, moderating effect of racial/ethnic identity.

Experimental Effects of Perceiving Racial/Ethnic Disadvantage
Experimental studies with other American racial/ethnic groups, such as African-Americans and Latinos, often have found that perceptions of discrimination are not linked to lower self-esteem, especially among individuals who make external attributions to discrimination (i.e., who attribute negative feedback to the prejudicial attitudes of their evaluator, rather than to personal failings) or who reject status-legitimizing ideologies, such as the belief in individual mobility and the Protestant work ethic (Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998;Major, Kaiser, & McCoy, 2003;Major & O'Brien, 2005).Given the mixed evidence in the literature with Asian-Americans described above, however, we did not offer a prediction regarding the main effect of perceiving racially-based disadvantage on self-esteem (Model 1, path a in Fig. 1).
Group identification (in this case, racial/ethnic identification) is another variable of importance to the link between perceived discrimination and self-esteem (Branscombe et al., 1999;Kaiser & Wilkins, 2010;Operario & Fiske, 2001;Tajfel & Turner, 1986).When faced with widespread societal discrimination, minorities may counter that threat by identifying more strongly with the stigmatized group.As depicted in Figure 1 (Model 2, path b), we tested the main effects of perceiving disadvantage on racial/ethnic identity (i.e., how strongly attached one is to one's racial/ethnic group; Spencer-Rodgers & Collins, 2006), as well as racial/ethnic salience (i.e., the centrality of race/ethnicity to the self-concept; McGuire, McGuire, Child, & Fujioka, 1978).With respect to racial/ethnic salience, we were interested in whether perceiving disadvantage influences both the salience of specific ethnic identities (e.g., Chinese) and the salience of the broader pan-ethnic category Asian.To accomplish this, we administered an open-ended measure of the self-concept, the Twenty Statements Test (TST; Kuhn & McPartland, 1954), and computed the proportion of ethnic and pan-ethnic identities participants listed on the TST.We hypothesized that priming perceptions of racially-based disadvantage would increase the psychological salience of ethnicity (McGuire et al., 1978;Turner, 1987) and group identification (Branscombe et al., 1999;Kaiser & Wilkins, 2010;Tajfel & Turner, 1986).

Moderation Effect of Racial/Ethnic Identity
In addition to the search for the main effects of perceived discrimination on self-esteem, scholars have long investigated whether racial/ethnic identity acts as an exacerbating or protective factor in the face of prejudice (Allport, 1954;Crocker et al., 1998;Major & O'Brien, 2005;Tajfel & Turner, 1986).Does racial/ethnic identity moderate the link between perceived discrimination and self-esteem among Asian-Americans (Model 3, path c in Fig. 1)?Again, the research with Asian-Americans is relatively limited and equivocal.On one hand, strong identification with one's racial/ethnic group has been associated with increased vulnerability to prejudice among Asian college students (Operario & Fiske, 2001;Yoo & Lee, 2009) and older Asian adults (Yip et al., 2008).On the other hand, racial/ethnic identity and ethnic pride (i.e., positive feelings toward one's group membership) have been shown to buffer the negative psychological impact of perceived discrimination among Korean-Americans (Lee, 2005), Filipino-Americans (Mossakowski, 2003), and middle-aged US-born Asian adults (Yip et al., 2008).Again, given the mixed evidence in the literature, we did not offer a prediction regarding the moderating effect of racial/ethnic identity.

Participant Characteristics
Participants (N = 83) were self-identified Asian-American undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley who participated for credit in a psychology course (Note 1).The students (65 were women) ranged in age from 18 to 37 (M = 20.2,SD = 2.6).The participants' fathers' educational attainment served as an approximate indicator of socioeconomic status: 32% (high school graduate or less), 31% (college graduate), and 37% (advanced degree).Fifty-one percent of the sample was foreign-born (mean age of immigration: M = 9.0, SD = 6.2).On average, the participants had spent 78.5% of their lives (SD = 28.9%)residing in the United States.Among those who were foreign-born, the median number of years spent living in the US was 11.5 years.

Perceived Racial/Ethnic Disadvantage
Perceptions of disadvantage were measured with the 7-item Racial/Ethnic Group Disadvantage Scale (Spencer-Rodgers, Gilbert, & Peng, 2013).Sample items include: "My racial/ethnic group is treated unfairly by other racial/ethnic groups," "My racial/ethnic group has fewer political resources than other racial/ethnic groups," and "Historically, my racial/ethnic group has been discriminated against by other racial/ethnic groups."The items were rated on a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much).Cronbach's alpha was .76.

Racial/Ethnic Identity
Racial/ethnic identity (Spencer-Rodgers & Collins, 2006) (Note 2) was assessed with 4 items: "I identify with members of my racial/ethnic group," "I feel emotionally attached to other members of my racial/ethnic group," "I feel a common bond with other members of my racial/ethnic group," and "I feel separate from other members of my racial/ethnic group" (reverse-scored).The items were rated on a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much).Cronbach's alpha was .77.

Racial/Ethnic Salience
As an indicator of racial/ethnic salience (Masuoka, 2006), we examined the number of ethnic identities (e.g., Japanese, Japanese American) and pan-ethnic identities (e.g., Asian, Asian American) that participants listed on an open-ended measure of the self-concept, the Twenty Statements Test (TST; Kuhn & McPartland, 1954).The TST included the following standard instructions: "There are twenty numbered blanks on the page below.Please write twenty answers to the simple question, 'Who am I?' Answer as if you were giving the answers to yourself, not to anyone else.Work fairly quickly."

Proportions of Ethnic and Pan-Ethnic Identities
Two research assistants, blind to hypotheses and working independently, coded the TST responses for the number of ethnic and pan-ethnic identities participants listed.The intercoder agreement was high (Kappa: .84and.91).Proportions were computed by dividing the number of ethnic (and pan-ethnic) identities listed by the total number of responses.

Weighted Ethnic and Pan-Ethnic Identities
We also examined whether participants in the disadvantage-prime condition were more likely to list an ethnic identity at the beginning versus the end of the TST, as an additional measure of salience (Watkins, Yau, Dahlin, & Wondimu, 1997).We weighted each response according to its position on the TST (i.e., 1 st line = 20 points, 20 th line = 1 point).Thus, if a participant wrote "Chinese" on line 1, she obtained a score of 20.If another participant wrote "Japanese" on line 1 and "Japanese American" on line 15, he obtained a score of 25 (computed as 20 + 5 = 25).The same procedures were used for the pan-ethnic identities.

Self-Esteem
Self-esteem was assessed with the 10-item Rosenberg Global Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1979).The items were rated on a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much).Cronbach's alpha was .91.

Research Design
The study employed a between-participants design, with participants randomly assigned to a control or experimental condition.

Procedures and Experimental Manipulation
We used a disadvantage manipulation that has been used successfully in prior research (Branscombe, 1998).Participants were brought into the lab in small groups (3-6).They were provided with a brief oral and written introduction to the study and a consent form.To reduce suspicion and potential psychological reactivity, the study was described as being about "self-awareness and learning" and whether thinking about one's personal background influences one's motivation to comprehend written information.Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions.Individuals in the disadvantage-prime condition (N = 38) were provided with the following instructions (adapted from Branscombe, 1998): "We would like you to reflect, in writing, on an experience in your life.Specifically, we would like you to think about and consider the ways that you have been disadvantaged because of your race/ethnicity.Think about a specific memorable experience or situation.Take a moment to think about the experience.Now, please briefly describe the experience." The instructions were followed by 38 blank lines (1.5 pages).Participants indicated how old they were when the experience occurred.Rather than writing about the ways in which they had been advantaged due to their group membership (Branscombe, 1998), participants in the control condition (N =45) proceeded immediately to the dependent measures.The Twenty Statements Test and self-esteem measure were completed first and demographic items last.The order of presentation of the remaining measures was counter-balanced.Participants were thoroughly and sensitively debriefed.

Control Variables
In all analyses, we tested for effects of gender, nativity status (0= foreign-born, 1= US-born), and immigrant status (i.e., percentage of life spent living in the US = [length of US residence/age] x 100), and either controlled for these variables or reported the main effects and interactions.Socioeconomic status, current age, and age at which the racist experience occurred were not related to any of the study variables, and hence, were not considered further.

Manipulation Check
Three participants who reported never having experienced racial/ethnic disadvantage and two participants who did not follow the instructions were excluded from the analyses, thus resulting in a usable sample of N = 83.The remaining experimental participants wrote a minimum of 2 paragraphs describing an experience with racial/ethnic disadvantage.An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated that experimental participants scored higher on perceived racial/ethnic disadvantage (M = 4.15, SD = .87)than did control participants (M = 3.84, SD = .81),F(1, 79) = 4.08, p = .042,η p 2 = .05. (Note 3)

Qualitative Analyses: Types of Experiences
Two research assistants categorized the responses according to type of experience (e.g., social exclusion, being ridiculed, etc.).The intercoder agreement Kappa was .89.Table 1 presents the frequency of occurrence of each type of experience and the median reported age of occurrence.

Experimental Effects of Perceiving Racial/Ethnic Disadvantage
We tested paths a and b (illustrated in Fig. 1) by conducting a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA).Specifically, a MANCOVA was conducted on the study variables (listed in Table 2), using experimental condition, nativity status, and gender as the factors, and immigrant status as a covariate (Note 4).There were no main effects of nativity status or gender, or interactions involving these variables.The main effects of experimental condition (i.e., mean comparisons, F, p, and η p 2 values) are presented in Table 2. Other 5% 20 Note.Frequency = (number of responses in each category ÷ total number of responses).
As expected, Asian-Americans in the disadvantage-prime condition listed a greater proportion of ethnic identities (e.g., Chinese) on the open-ended TST, and they listed them earlier on the measure, indicating that their ethnic group membership was more salient or central to the self-concept.Contrary to prediction, however, they listed fewer pan-ethnic identities (e.g., Asian) and listed them significantly later on the TST.There was no effect of experimental condition on self-esteem: Asian-Americans in the experimental group (M = 5.08, SD = 1.11) and control group (M = 4.87, SD = 1.05) did not differ, F(1, 74) = .49,p = .49,η p 2 = .01.The null hypothesis cannot be confirmed, and null effects must be interpreted with caution (Fisher, 1966).Nonetheless, this finding provides support for the buffering hypothesis and theoretical models of self-protection and resilience.

Experimental Data
Moderation analyses (Model 3, path c in Fig. 1) were conducted following Aiken and West (1991).All continuous variables were mean-centered.We conducted a hierarchical multiple regression analysis as follows: demographic control variables (gender, nativity status, and immigrant status) were entered as covariates (Note 5) at Step 1, and the main effects of experimental condition (0 = control, 1 = disadvantage-prime) and racial/ethnic identity were entered at Step 2. Lastly, we entered the two-way interaction term (experimental condition x racial/ethnic identity) at Step 3. The interaction was sizable (β = .42),but not significant (p = .44,ΔR 2 = .01)(Note 6).

Correlational Data
We conducted a second moderation analysis using the manipulation check (continuous, perceived racial/ethnic disadvantage) as the predictor variable, rather than experimental condition (dichotomous).It is important to note that this analysis, although higher-powered, is correlational rather than experimental in nature.
We conducted the hierarchical multiple regression analysis as follows: demographic control variables (gender, nativity status, and immigrant status) were entered as covariates at Step 1 (Note 5), and the main effects of perceived disadvantage and racial/ethnic identity were entered at Step 2. At Step 2, neither perceived disadvantage (β = -.09,p = .44)nor racial/ethnic identity (β = .12,p = .29)significantly predicted self-esteem.The two-way interaction term (perceived disadvantage x racial/ethnic identity) was entered at Step 3. The change in R-squared (ΔR 2 = .064,p = .022)and the interaction were significant (β = .26,p = .022).The interaction is shown in Figure 2.
We conducted simple slopes analyses for participants who scored one standard deviation above and below the mean on racial/ethnic identity.Perceived disadvantage was not significantly related to self-esteem among Asian-Americans who were relatively high in racial/ethnic identity, β = .19,p = .25.Conversely, perceived disadvantage was negatively related to self-esteem among Asian-Americans who were relatively low in racial/ethnic identity, β = -.37,p = .028.These results, albeit correlational, provide support for the buffering hypothesis.

Discussion
This study is the first to manipulate perceived racially-based disadvantage among Asian-Americans and examine its effect on self-esteem.As indicated in Table 1, the Asian-American college students reported experiencing various forms of racial/ethnic disadvantage.The most common experience (23% of responses) that students wrote about occurred during adolescence and involved feeling alienated or isolated from European-American, and in some instances, Latino peers.The second most common incident (18% of responses) took place during childhood and involved being ridiculed (e.g., name calling, mimicking speech, etc.).Many of the students' accounts described incidents of relatively blatant prejudice perpetrated by retail clerks and airport officials (12% of responses), as well as professionals such as teachers and doctors (9% of responses).Interestingly, on the Twenty Statements Test, the Asian-American students emphasized their specific ethnic identities (e.g., as Korean), but psychologically detached from their pan-ethnic Asian identity.The qualitative analyses showed that many of the students' experiences involved being stereotyped or treated unfairly on the basis of their identity as Asian.This may explain why the experimental participants distanced themselves somewhat from Asian labels (i.e., they listed fewer pan-ethnic identities and listed them later on the TST than did control participants; see Table 2), suggesting they psychologically disengaged from this broader pan-ethnic category.Simultaneously, they emphasized their specific ethnic identities (e.g., as Chinese), indicating these social identities were more salient or central to the self-concept.Another possible explanation for these findings is that one's ethnic group membership, relative to one's pan-ethnic group membership, provides an optimal level of distinctiveness in the face of discrimination threat (i.e., Optimal Distinctiveness Theory, Brewer & Roccas, 2001).

Self-Esteem
Importantly, we found that recalling and describing actual, personal experiences with racial/ethnic disadvantage did not lead to lower self-esteem.Null findings must always be interpreted with caution (Fisher, 1966).Nonetheless, this result is consistent with much of the experimental research with other racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States, such as African-Americans and Latinos, and with theoretical models of self-protection and resilience (for reviews, see Crocker et al., 1998;Major & O'Brien, 2005).
Notably, our experimental results differ from the bulk of the existing correlational research with Asian-Americans that has found that perceived discrimination is correlated with lower self-esteem (e.g., Gee at al., 2009;Lee & Ahn, 2011).The vast majority of published studies using Asian-American samples have employed a correlational design, whereas we used an experimental manipulation.Correlational studies examine relatively stable, chronic beliefs that one's group is a target of prejudice and inequitable outcomes in society (i.e., trait-level perceptions).It would be reasonable to expect that Asian-Americans who chronically perceive that their racial/ethnic group is pervasively devalued and disadvantaged in society would be vulnerable to low self-esteem.In this study, we activated a specific memory of racially-based disadvantage among experimental participants (i.e., state-level perceptions) and found that priming perceptions of disadvantage had no appreciable effect on state self-esteem.In sum, we found no evidence to support a causal link between perceived discrimination and self-esteem among Asian-Americans (perceived discrimination  self-esteem).
The classic perspective in the social stigma literature is that racial/ethnic minorities will internalize the prejudicial views of the majority group, and that perceiving discrimination will inevitably lead to low self-esteem and psychological well-being among stigmatized group members (for a review, see Crocker et al., 1998;Major & Obrien, 2005).The classic perspective overlooks, however, the multitude of factors that contribute to psychological resilience among Asian-Americans, including personality variables (e.g., dispositional optimism), social and cultural factors (e.g., family resources and social support), group identification, and so on (Crocker et al., 1998;Major & O'Brien, 2005), an extensive discussion of which is beyond the scope of this brief report.Our results suggest that Asian-Americans, like many other racial/ethnic minorities and stigmatized individuals (e.g., homosexuals, the disabled, etc.), are resilient and resistant to the deleterious effects of perceiving discrimination (Crocker et al., 1998;Major & O'Brien, 2005), at least when recalling past incidents of racial/ethnic disadvantage.

Correlational Moderation Effect of Racial/Ethnic Identity
On an exploratory basis, we tested whether racial/ethnic identity moderated the association between perceived disadvantage and self-esteem.It is important to note that because we used perceived disadvantage (the manipulation check) and measured (not manipulated) racial/ethnic identity as the predictors in this regression analysis, the moderation analyses are correlational rather than experimental in nature.The findings, shown in Figure 2, provide support for the buffering hypothesis: Perceived racial/ethnic disadvantage was unrelated to self-esteem among Asian-Americans who felt highly connected with their group, whereas perceived disadvantage was significantly related to lower self-esteem among Asian-Americans who felt less identified with their group.According to Yoo and Lee (2009), Asian-Americans with a strong sense of racial/ethnic identity may be better able to cope with repeated instances of prejudice by highlighting positive dimensions of their group, whereas people with a weak sense of racial/ethnic identity may lack coping resources (e.g., "clarity, knowledge, and pride of their ethnic group," p. 72).Experimental laboratory studies that manipulate racial/ethnic identity (e.g., by priming valued aspects of one's ethnic group membership) are needed to determine whether racial/ethnic identity has a buffering or exacerbating effect, and to provide causal evidence of its moderating influence.
Our findings differ from those of Yoo and Lee (2009) who found that perceiving discrimination had a negative effect on situational affect among Asian-Americans.A number of factors could explain the discrepancy in our findings, including differences in the measures used, experimental procedures, and participant samples (e.g., a Midwestern vs. West Coast university).Our study focused on self-esteem as the outcome variable rather than current emotions.We employed a manipulation with greater ecological validity, by having Asian-Americans describe an actual personal experience with racial/ethnic disadvantage, rather than imagine a fictitious discriminatory situation.Our study was limited, however, in that the disadvantage manipulation was memory-based and subject to recall biases.Experimental studies that manipulate perceptions of discrimination in real-time by exposing Asian-Americans to analogues of discriminatory events in the laboratory (e.g., a prejudiced experimenter or confederate) are needed.In light of the current findings, the existing literature may have understated the resilience of Asian Americans, and more research is needed on this important topic.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Statistical models tested in the current study

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. The effect of perceived racially-based disadvantage on self-esteem, as a function of racial/ethnic identity (plotted one standard deviation above and below the mean) Note.* p =.028

Table 1 .
Type of disadvantage, frequency, and median age of occurrence

Table 2 .
Mean comparisons by experimental condition