Systems of oppression like racism and colonialism pose significant threats to Asian Americans’ development and mental health, and education has been used to perpetuate these oppressions worldwide. Ethnic Studies education, which focuses on the first-person perspectives of racially minoritized groups, is a promising anti-racist educational intervention that may yield two psychological benefits that can prepare Asian Americans to navigate and challenge systems of oppression: sociopolitical development and radical healing from oppression. As the sociopolitical climate around diversity education becomes increasingly polarized and as research on the developmental benefits of Ethnic Studies education grows, quantitative research is especially imperative to corroborate qualitative research, support research-driven educational policy, and explore the extent to which Ethnic Studies education contributes to anti-racist youth development and social transformation. This dissertation quantitatively explores Ethnic Studies education as an educational intervention for anti-racist youth development and mental health promotion among Asian American college students (N = 254). Asian American students enrolled in college Ethnic Studies courses in 2022 were surveyed at the beginning (i.e., pre-test) and end (i.e., post-test) of their Ethnic Studies course. Study 1 utilized latent transition analysis to examine Asian American critical consciousness development among Ethnic Studies students. Profiles were differentiated by Asian American-specific and general critical consciousness indicators. Profile membership was predicted by various demographic factors and prior familial and school racial-ethnic socialization. In terms of transitions over time, most students who were in pre-test latent profiles with high scores across critical consciousness indicators transitioned into post-test latent profiles with higher average scores on critical consciousness indicators. Study 2 applies the latent profiles identified at post-test in Study 1 and found that psychological assets related to radical healing help explain differences in psychological distress between latent profiles. Implications for future research and educational practice for promoting individual and collective well-being in the context of oppression are discussed. Taken together, these studies offer quantitative support for Ethnic Studies education’s potential as an intervention to bolster Asian Americans’ sociopolitical development and propensity for radical healing.

The purpose of this dissertation was to perform a comprehensive psychometric evaluation of the Multiracial Identity Integration Scale (MIIS), the most cited measure of racial identity for multiracial individuals. Despite the prominence of this measure in informing theories of how multiracials understand their different racial backgrounds, the MIIS has demonstrated limited psychometric validity outside of the original scale development study. To address these gaps, across three studies I examined the factor structure, validity, reliability, and measurement invariance of the MIIS using the largest sample (N = 1,592) of multiracial American adults to date. An 8-item orthogonal, two- factor model with correlated errors to account for method effects was supported by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Consistent with the original scale development study, Racial Distance (4 items) referred to multiracial individuals’ perceptions of separation among their different racial backgrounds, whereas Racial Conflict (4 items) referred to perceptions of incompatibility and tension among their multiple racial groups. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the MIIS demonstrated configural, metric, scalar, and residual invariance across gender (male vs. female), nativity (U.S.-born vs. foreign-born), multiracial status (biracial vs. multiracial), multiracial generation (first-generation vs. multigenerational multiracial), and White, Black/African American, Latinx, and American Indian racial backgrounds. Moreover, results suggested at least partial scalar invariance across age (emergent vs. established adulthood), annual income (<$19,000 vs. $20,000 to $39,000 vs. $40,000 to $59,000 vs. >$60,000), multiracial groups (Asian-White vs. Black-White vs. Latinx-White), and Asian American racial background. Evidence of convergent validity was partially supported with MIIS subscales correlating with lack of family acceptance, challenges with racial identity, multiracial pride, and self-esteem. Nonsignificant correlations between MIIS subscales and social desirability bias demonstrated discriminant validity. In support of criterion-related validity, subscale means varied across multiracials who endorsed different primary racial typologies. Moreover, incremental validity was supported with MIIS subscales predicting whether multiracials identified as monoracial or multiracial, above the contributions of a measure of multiracial racial identity exploration. Despite promising psychometric evidence, several important caveats concerning reliability and how to appropriately use this optimally weighted scale given the presence of method effects are discussed.

Pew Research Center reported in 2015 that already one-in-seven infants born in the United States are Multiracial (Livingston, 2017). Therefore, the number of Multiracial families is growing, and there is a need to understand how parents are engaging in racial-ethnic socialization, or the transmission of messages to Multiracial children about race, ethnicity, and culture (Atkin & Yoo, 2019; Hughes et al., 2006). I conducted a qualitative interview study with 20 Multiracial emerging adults to understand the types of racial-ethnic socialization messages Multiracial youth receive from their parents, and used these themes to inform the development and validation of the first measure of racial-ethnic socialization for Multiracial youth, the Multiracial Youth Socialization (MY-Soc) Scale.

Study 1 identified nine themes of racial-ethnic socialization content: cultural socialization, racial identity socialization, preparation for bias socialization, colorblind socialization, race conscious socialization, cultural diversity appreciation socialization, negative socialization, exposure to diversity socialization, and silent socialization. Study 2 utilized a sample of 902 Multiracial emerging adults to develop and validate the MY-Soc scale. Items were written to assess all of the themes identified in Study 1, with the exception of exposure to diversity socialization, and the survey was designed to collect responses regarding the socialization practices of two of the youths’ primary caregivers. The sample was split to run exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, finding support for a 62-item scale measuring all eight themes. The MY-Soc Scale was also supported by validity and reliability tests. The two studies advance the literature by increasing understanding of the racial-ethnic socialization experiences of Multiracial youth of diverse racial backgrounds. The MY-Soc Scale contributes an important tool for scholars and practitioners to learn which racial-ethnic socialization messages are promotive for Multiracial youth development in different contexts.

Applying interdependence and critical consciousness theories, this study adopted a two-phase sequential explanatory mixed-methods design with dyadic data to examine three overarching research questions on Asian-White interracial heterosexual couples’ well-being, in particular, psychological distress and relationship satisfaction. First, as part of Phase 1, this study examined actor and partner associations between perceived blatant or subtle racism against the Asian partner and well-being. Second, whether critical consciousness moderated the associations between perceived racism and well-being was examined. Third, as part of Phase 2, this study engaged participants to interpret how critical consciousness may have shaped their own and their partner’s well-being in the face of racism.

In Phase 1, 191 self-identified Asian-White interracial heterosexual couples (N = 382 individuals) completed an online survey. In Phase 2, a subsample of eight couples (n = 16 individuals) purposefully selected from Phase 1 completed semi-structured individual interviews (Mlength = 79 minutes). Results from Actor-Partner Interdependence Models revealed positive actor associations between perceived blatant and subtle racism with psychological distress for both Asian and White partners, and a negative actor association between perceived subtle racism and relationship satisfaction for White partners. Asian partners’ higher critical consciousness placed them at risk for greater psychological distress and lower relationship satisfaction if they perceived more frequent blatant racism; however, White partner’s critical consciousness mitigated the positive associations between Asian partners’ perceived blatant or subtle racism and psychological distress. Thematic analysis for multiple perspective interviews from Phase 2 highlighted that both Asian and White partners perceived racism as intersectional and manifesting at interpersonal, relational, and systemic levels. Participants highlighted the eroding effects of subtle racism in comparison to blatant racism and how higher critical consciousness facilitated White partners to empathize with and support Asian partners to cope with the negative impact of racism.

This study offers an empirical understanding of Asian-White interracial heterosexual couples’ well-being in a relationship context. Counseling psychologists and other mental health professionals working with couples can draw from this study’s implications to promote critical consciousness in White partners and enhance communication on racism-related topics to promote both Asian and White partners’ well-being.

Using a sample of 309 Asian American college students, the present study examined the effects of color-blind racial ideology (i.e., unawareness of blatant racial issues, unawareness of racial privilege and unawareness of institutional racism) on the link between internalization of the model minority myth (i.e., unrestricted mobility and achievement orientation) and psychological distress (i.e., social climate stress, interracial stress, within group stress, racism stress and achievement stress). Results primarily suggest the denial of blatant racism and racial issues (and not denial of racial privilege and institutional racism) exacerbate the effect of internalizing the model minority myth related to unrestricted mobility, while it buffers the effect of internalizing the model minority myth related to achievement orientation on race-related social stress. Also, denial of racial privilege appears to buffer the effect of internalizing the model minority myth related to unrestricted mobility and within group stress. Clinical implications and future directions for research are discussed.

Objective: This study examined how the belief (internalization) in the model minority myth of achievement orientation and of unrestricted mobility relates to one’s social awareness of racial inequity and inequality in society (critical consciousness) amongst Asian American college students. Methods: Participants (N = 275, 67.7% female, M_age = 22.35) were recruited from Asian American ethnic studies classes, clubs and organizations and completed an online cross-sectional survey. Results: Results indicated that internalization of achievement orientation significantly correlated with levels of racial critical consciousness while unrestricted mobility did not. Conclusion: These findings extend research exploring the correlates of critical consciousness on internalization of racial stereotypes for Asian Americans.

Asian Americans have a unique relationship with food. From the moment they landed on American soil, their history and experiences have been tied to food, and not entirely by their own will. Now, the general American population enjoys foods from a multitude of ethnic groups, but in America’s early history, these foods were abhorred and used as justifications for legal discrimination, murders, massacres, and banishment. These struggles forced Asian Americans to work in the food industry (the only work they could do without as much backlash), further promoting the association of Asian Americans and food. While working in the food industry in order to find passage into America and to survive, many Asian dishes had to be assimilated to the palette of the general White American population and many dishes were made up and presented as authentically Asian. Some of these dishes have become iconic when thinking of classic American foods—chow mein, orange chicken, and more. For many non-Asian Americans, these popular dishes contribute to the pairing of Asian Americans with food and the food industry. But for Asian Americans, these dishes symbolize their struggles—leaving their homes and families behind, trying to live out the American dream, assimilating and changing their foods in just the right way in order to fit in, be accepted, and to survive. This project, in the form of a cookbook, examines the significance of food in the Chinese American, Japanese American, and Filipino American experiences in America while looking at the histories of those specific foods as well as histories of each group.

Internalized racism is a destructive, yet insidious psychological effect of racism. Although it has garnered increased attention in the research and clinical community due to its pervasive impact in racial minority individuals, empirical research on this topic has been limited. At the time of this study, no existing scale captures the key dimensions of internalized racism of Asian Americans. This study attempted to fill this gap by developing a self-report instrument that identified the key dimensions of this psychological construct. Seven hundred and fourteen Asian Americans participated in this study, and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to investigate the factor structure of the scale. Results indicated that the Internalized Racism Scale for Asian Americans (IRSAA) has five factors, which are Endorsement of Negative Stereotypes, Sense of Inferiority, Denial or Minimization of Racism, Emasculation of Asian American Men, and Within-group Discrimination. This dissertation also examines and discusses the evidence of convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity for the IRSAA subscales.

Scholarly interest in racial socialization is growing, but researchers' understanding of how and when racial socialization relates to subjective well-being is underdeveloped, particularly for multiracial populations. The present study investigated the possibility that the relationship of racial socialization to subjective well-being is mediated by racial identification and that this mediation depends on physical racial ambiguity. Specifically, the proposed study used a moderated mediation model to examine whether the indirect relation of egalitarian socialization to subjective well-being through racial identification is conditional on physical racial ambiguity among 313 multiracial individuals. Results suggested egalitarian socialization was positively correlated with subjective well-being. The results provided no support for the moderated mediation hypothesis. The present study examined the complex interaction between racial socialization, racial identification, physical racial ambiguity, and subjective well-being among multiracial individuals. Despite receiving no support for the moderated mediation hypothesis, this research helped to further explicate a distinct pathway through which egalitarian socialization impacts well-being through racial identification for multiracial individuals independent of physical racial ambiguity.

This dissertation used the risk and resilience framework to examine the associations between perceived racial discrimination, family racial socialization, nativity status, and psychological distress. Regression analyses were conducted to test the links between perceived racial discrimination and psychological distress and the moderation on these associations by family racial socialization and nativity status. Results suggest, for U.S.-born adolescents, cultural socialization strengthened the relation between subtle racial discrimination and anxiety symptoms. In addition, promotion of mistrust buffered the relations of both subtle and blatant racial discrimination on depressive symptoms. For foreign-born adolescents, promotion of mistrust exacerbated the association between blatant racial discrimination and depressive symptoms. Overall, the findings revealed the detrimental effects of perceived racial discrimination on the mental health of Asian American adolescents, how some family racial socialization strategies strengthen or weaken the relation between perceived racial discrimination and psychological distress, and the different ways foreign-born and U.S-born adolescents may interpret racial discrimination and experience family racial socialization.