exploring the effect of in-group and out-group race-related stressors on anxiety among asian pacific...

Exploring the effect of in-group and out-group race-relatedstressors on anxiety among Asian Pacific IslanderAmerican studentsSabine Elizabeth French1, Nellie Tran2, Noé Rubén Chávez3

1University of Illinois at Chicago2University of Massachusetts Lowell3Columbia University Medical Center

Correspondence concerning this article shouldbe addressed to Sabine E. French, Departmentof Psychology, University of Illinois at Chicago,1007 West Harrison (MC 285), Chicago, IL60607-7137. E-mail: [email protected]

The authors thank the students for theirparticipation in the study, the undergraduateresearch assistants for their work on theresearch team, and colleagues and thegraduate students for their feedback on earlierdrafts of the manuscript.

doi: 10.1111/jasp.12028

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined (a) the impact of in-group (own-group con-formity pressure) and out-group (perceived discrimination, stereotype confirma-tion concern) race-related stressors; (b) the direct effect of 2 in-group- (privateregard, centrality) and 1 out-group-oriented (public regard) racial identity factors;and (c) the potential protective role of these identity factors on the impact of stres-sors on the anxiety of Asian Pacific Islander American (API) college students attend-ing a racially diverse university. As predicted, positive feelings toward one’s ownracial group (i.e., private regard) had a significant negative relationship with anxiety.Private regard protected APIs from own-group conformity pressures and stereotypeconfirmation concerns. Findings address the diverse university context that maycreate acculturative pressures or stereotype confirmation concern conditions.

Much of the research on race-related stress among people ofcolor has focused on stressors from out-group members.Little research has examined how in-group members mightexert pressures on group members to conform to groupideals. The diversity of the student body on college campusesis increasing as the United States grows more racially and eth-nically diverse. In these settings, students can experience bothin-group and out-group race-related stressors. Given that thesupplement on the Surgeon General’s report on race and eth-nicity (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,2001) highlights the direct impact of racism and discrimina-tion on the mental health of Asian Pacific Islander Americans(APIs; e.g., increased anxiety), it is particularly important tounderstand how discrimination from both in-group and out-group members impacts the anxiety levels of APIs.

The present study evaluates the impact of both in-groupand out-group race-related stressors on the anxiety levels ofAPI college students in a highly diverse university setting.Utilizing the multidimensional model of racial identity(Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998), weargue that the racial identity factors that protect an indi-vidual from the negative effects of race-related stressors mayvary by their association with either one’s in-group or out-group. The current research has three specific aims: (a) to

examine the impact of in-group (own-group conformitypressure) and out-group (perceived discrimination, stere-otype confirmation concern) race-related stressors on theanxiety level of API college students; (b) to examine thedirect effect of two in-group-oriented (private regard andcentrality) and one out-group-oriented (public regard)racial identity factor on anxiety; and (c) to examine thepotential protective role of these in-group-oriented andout-group-oriented identity factors on the impact of race-related stressors on anxiety.

Impact of race-related stressorsamong Asian Pacific IslanderAmericans

Race-related stressors can be grouped into four categories: (a)experiences with prejudice and discrimination; (b) awarenessof a devalued quality of one’s social identity in society; (c)stereotype threat conditions involving awareness of specificstereotypes that others hold of one’s racial group, and therelated anxiety/fear of confirming these stereotypes; and (d)attributional ambiguity involving a lack of clarity in situa-tions in which a stigmatized person is uncertain whether thetreatment he or she receives is based on racial prejudice

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Journal of Applied Social Psychology 2013, 43, pp. E339–E350

© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 2013, 43, pp. E339–E350

(Crocker, Major, & Steele, 1998). These four categories focuson experiences with or expectations regarding out-groupmembers.

Most research on race-related stressors and the mentalhealth of APIs focuses on one category of race-related stres-sors: racial discrimination. The importance of discrimina-tion and its negative impact on well-being has beendemonstrated in the literature across many groups, includ-ing APIs (e.g., Mossakowski, 2003; Noh, Beiser, Kaspar,Hou, & Rummens, 1999; Noh & Kaspar, 2003; Yoo & Lee,2005). Despite comprising only one category of race-relatedstressors, studies of direct experiences with prejudice anddiscrimination dominate the literature on race-relatedstress and the psychological well-being of racial minorities(e.g., Brown et al., 2000; Finch, Kolody, & Vega, 2000;Fisher, Wallace, & Fenton, 2000; Noh et al., 1999; Sellers,Caldwell, Schmeelk-Cone, & Zimmerman, 2003; Sellers,Copeland-Linder, Martin, & Heureux Lewis, 2006). While agrowing body of literature among racial minorities hasexamined the role of stereotype threat on academic achieve-ment (Cole, Matheson, & Anisman, 2007; Kellow & Jones,2008), fewer studies have examined stereotype threat as itrelates to psychological well-being.

Race-related stressors may also originate from one’sin-group. APIs feel pressure to maintain their ethnic culturaltraditions, and their parents report exerting such pressures ontheir children to maintain their ethnic traditions (Choi &Dancy, 2009; Killian & Hegtvedt, 2003). The study ofin-group pressures has tended to focus on acculturationprocesses and maintaining one’s ethnic traditions and iden-tity. By focusing on in-group pressures only in relation toimmigration issues (i.e., acculturation research), researchmisses the opportunity to understand how in-group pres-sures continue to affect APIs alongside out-group pressures.To address these gaps in the literature, we examined stere-otype confirmation concern and own-group conformitypressures in addition to perceived discrimination.

Stereotype confirmation concerns

Stereotype threat theory suggests that when individuals areprimed with a negative identity, their performance on thesubsequent task is hindered because of their inability to dealwith both the anxiety produced by the task and their fear ofconfirming the negative identity (Steele & Aronson, 1995).APIs face discrimination that reflects stereotypical images ofthem as the model minority (academically gifted) and foreverforeigner (non-native speaker assumptions). In a study ofstereotype threat with API women using either an Asianprime or a female prime, researchers found that participantsperformed better on SAT verbal questions when primed withtheir female identity than when primed with their Asian iden-tity, which tapped into English language competence and

reflected the forever-foreigner stereotype (Shih, Pittinsky, &Trahan, 2006). This study highlights the potential anxietythat is produced in APIs when reminded that they are viewedas forever foreigners. While the study does not actuallypresent a stereotype, nor a pressure on API participants, thefindings show that mere reminders of their Asian identityproduces negative effects on their performance.

Stereotype threat theory suggests that targets primed witha negative identity perform worse than do those not primedbecause targets fear confirming stereotypes about theirgroup. Individuals may feel a more constant concern to notconfirm a negative stereotype about their group. For example,out-group members may deny APIs their American identitythrough small, unintentional racial slights (Sue, Bucceri, Lin,Nadal, & Torino, 2007). Having their American identitydenied may create feelings of constant pressure to disconfirmstereotypes of APIs. This pressure may cause APIs to feelanxiety similar to that discussed as part of stereotype threattheory. For example, when an out-group member assumesthat an API individual is a non-native English speaker, theout-group member is assuming that the target is not U.S.-born, thus denying the target his or her American identity(Cheryan & Monin, 2005). Consequently, the present studyexplored the direct effect of stereotype confirmation concernon APIs’ anxiety levels.

Across racial groups, stereotype confirmation concerndiffers by gender (Contrada et al., 2001). Men report morestereotype confirmation concern than do women. However,the results show an opposite pattern for API women, whotend to report more stereotype confirmation concern than doAPI men. Perhaps cultural expectations for API women arestronger and more prevalent than they are for API men andwomen of color from other groups (Espiritu, 2001). We con-tinued to explore this possibility by evaluating gender effectsin the present paper.

Own-group conformity pressure

The dominant literature on prejudice and discriminationidentifies people of color as targets and victims of racial stres-sors from out-group members. Less is known about the racialstressors that people of color may create for fellow in-groupmembers. Own-group conformity pressure involves feelingsof constraint as a result of expectations of what constitutesappropriate behavior for one’s own racial group. Contrada etal. (2001) developed an own-group conformity pressuremeasure with a multiracial sample of college students thatincluded APIs to reflect a broader range of own-group con-formity pressures. APIs experience pressure to conform toracial group norms—for example, to excel academically (Sueet al, 2007; Ying et al., 2001)—and report more peer-relateddiscrimination than do their African American counterparts(Rivas-Drake, Hughes, & Way, 2008). Consequently, studies

E340 Asian Pacific Islander American racial identity


considering only pressures from out-group members depictan incomplete picture of race-related stressors for APIs.

APIs who are first- or second-generation Americans areparticularly vulnerable to own-group conformity pressuresbecause of the dual pressures to maintain ties to their racial/ethnic group and simultaneously to adapt to meet main-stream cultural norms (Berry, Kim, Minde, & Mok, 1987).Because APIs report maintaining both an American identityand an Asian identity, which become salient in different con-texts (Miller, 2007, 2010), they may be prone to acculturativestress when they experience the pressure to either conform toAmerican norms or conform to one’s native cultural norms(Berry et al., 1987). Therefore, it is likely that own-group con-formity pressure will affect anxiety levels among APIs, par-ticularly in a racially diverse college context.

The buffering potential ofracial identity

Unfortunately, the perpetuation of Asian Americans asforever foreigners can also be seen in research among AsianAmericans. Specifically, the perpetuation of APIs as an eth-nicity rather than a race fails to acknowledge the fact thatAPIs are systematically oppressed as a minority group byothers who view them and treat them as a collective unit(Helms & Talleyrand, 1997; Okazaki & Saw, 2011). Becauserace focuses on the history of power and oppression of aminority group, studies on racism and prejudice that focuson others’ perceptions of APIs ought to focus on under-standing APIs’ perception of their racial identity (Alvarez,Juang, & Liang, 2006).

Racial identity refers to the significance and qualitativemeaning that individuals attribute to their racial groupmembership (Sellers et al., 1998). Across multiple groups,individuals reporting more positive racial identity generallyreport more positive psychological well-being (Cross, 1991;Phinney, 1996) in terms of coping ability, mastery, self-esteem, optimism, and quality-of-life indices (Roberts et al.,1999; Utsey, Chae, Brown & Kelly, 2002). Positive racial iden-tity has been found to be negatively associated with measuresof loneliness and depression (Roberts et al., 1999). Whileexamining racial identity globally has shown associations toone’s mental health, the entanglement of racial identitydimensions may mask the effect of individual dimensionsthat may be more or less important for APIs.

In this paper, we examined three components of racialidentity as separate potential buffers. We considered two cat-egories of potential protective factors: in-group-oriented(centrality and private regard) and out-group-oriented(public regard) protection. We modeled in-group and out-group protective factors after the multidimensional model ofracial identity (MMRI) because it includes both of thesedimensions, while other identity models (e.g., Multigroup

Ethnic Identity Measure [MEIM]; Phinney, 1992) includeonly in-group factors.

Given the multiple dimensions of race-related stressorsthat people of color experience, dimensions of racial identitythat tap in-group and out-group expressions of racial identitymay buffer the negative effects of in-group and out-groupstressors differently. Similar to understanding how individu-als are affected by the pressures from both within and outsidetheir group, it is possible that individuals might also buildresiliency based on these factors. By studying these aspectsseparately, we are better able to understand how in-group andout-group factors affect individuals.

In-group-oriented racialidentity factors

In-group-oriented racial identity factors include how indi-viduals feel about their group (private regard) and howimportant their group is to defining their overall identity(racial centrality). Among APIs, prior research has reportedinconsistent buffering effects of these factors for the negativeeffects of perceiving discrimination on anxiety. Positiveregard toward one’s group has often been considered a pro-tective mechanism shielding racial minorities from others’negative attitudes about their group (Sellers et al., 2003).However, among Asian American college students, the find-ings have shown no racial-identity-buffering effect againstdiscrimination on community well-being, social well-being,or self-esteem (Lee, 2003). Yet, other studies have found thepotential of racial identity to buffer discrimination in someinstances, but not others. For example, racial identity (cen-trality and private regard) protected Asian American collegestudents against the effect of discrimination on well-beingindicators only when participants reported low levels of dis-crimination (Yoo & Lee, 2005). These inconsistent findingswarrant further investigation.

The relationship between racial identity, discriminationexperiences, and other outcomes also depends on one’s gen-eration status. For example, a vignette study found that forU.S.-born Asian American college students, having highracial identity exacerbated participants’ reported negativeaffect after reading about multiple incidents of racialdiscrimination. In contrast, no relationship was observedbetween negative affect and reading about perceiving only asingle incident of racial discrimination (Yoo & Lee, 2008). Forimmigrant students, however, it was having low racial iden-tity that exacerbated the effect of reading about incidents ofracial discrimination (Yoo & Lee, 2008). Perhaps immigrantAsian Americans who prefer to identify as “American” aremore negatively affected by thoughts of discriminationbecause they are not expecting it. On the other hand, U.S.-born Asian Americans with high racial identity are only upsetwhen thinking about multiple incidents of discrimination.

French et al. E341


Consequently, these generational differences suggest theimportance of assessing differences between immigrant andU.S.-born APIs because racial identity may not have bufferingeffects for all APIs.

Out-group-oriented factors

Scholars have argued that racial and ethnic identity researchamong Asian Americans has missed the opportunity tounderstand the effect of out-group influences while focusingtoo heavily on in-group cultural behaviors and practices(Helms & Cook, 1999). Still, only one study could be locatedin which researchers included an out-group-oriented factor:the use of the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity(MIBI) modified for Chinese Americans (Rivas-Drake et al.,2008). Here, researchers observed a protective effect of publicregard (perceiving that others held positive attitudes towardtheir group) such that those reporting high public regardreported fewer depressive symptoms under high levels of dis-crimination, as compared to those with low public regard.While this one study involved sixth-grade Chinese Ameri-cans, their findings and the dearth of literature examining anout-group component suggests that the question is worthasking. Therefore, this study includes an out-group racialidentity component (i.e., public regard) to explore its poten-tial buffering effect on race-related stressors on anxiety levelsamong API college students. Building on this study, wehypothesize that API college students who believe that othergroups hold positive beliefs about their group will be pro-tected from the negative effects of discrimination on theiranxiety.

The present study

The goal of this study is to examine in-group and out-grouprace-related stressors simultaneously and to consider protec-tive mechanisms associated with one’s racial group and atti-tudes held by others of one’s racial group. First, we expandedthe study of race-related stressors beyond general experiencesof perceived discrimination to include two additional dimen-sions: stereotype confirmation concern and own-group con-formity pressures. We examined the direct effect of APIs’perceptions of race-related stressors on anxiety levels. Specifi-cally, we predict that higher levels of discrimination, stere-otype confirmation concern, and own-group conformitypressure will be associated with higher levels of anxiety.

Second, we examined the direct effects of in-group (privateregard and centrality) and out-group (public regard) racialidentity factors on anxiety after controlling for the effect ofrace-based stressors. Given the association between race-based stressors and racial identity (Sellers et al., 2006), wewanted to determine the relation of racial identity to anxietyafter removing the shared variance with the race-based

stressors. Based on previous research, we predict that higherlevels of private and public regard will be associated withlower levels of anxiety (Chae et al., 2008). Finally, we exploredthe moderating role of these in-group and out-group factors.

As previously mentioned, research findings on the buffer-ing effect of in-group factors have been inconsistent. There-fore, we did not have hypotheses for this relationship. Priorstudies considering the buffering effect of in-group factorsused measures that confounded attitudes (private regard) andattachment (centrality) to one’s group. Our study examinesthese factors separately to consider the potential importanceof each in-group factor independently. Based on Rivas-Draveet al. (2008),we also predict a buffering effect of the out-groupfactor (public regard), such that discrimination will have agreater impact on anxiety for APIs who report low publicregard than for those who report high public regard.

Method

Participants

The current cross-sectional data are part of a larger study, theTransition to College Project, a study that examined the aca-demic and race-related experiences of racially diverse collegestudents at a southern California university, where no singleracial/ethnic group was in the majority and API studentsmake up 35% of the student body. This type of setting sug-gests a greater likelihood that students will interact with bothracial in-group and out-group members, which makes it idealfor examining race-related stressors from outside one’s group(discrimination and stereotype confirmation concerns) andfrom in-group members (own-group conformity pressures).

The specific sample for this paper included 209 self-identified APIs (119 women, 90 men), who ranged in agefrom 18 to 30 years (Mdn = 19 years; M = 19.2, SD = 1.3).1

The mostly (56.9%) U.S.-born sample included 47.1% fresh-men, 36.1% sophomores, 10.6% juniors, 4.8% seniors, and1.4% fifth year or more. The students represented five differ-ent API ethnic groups: 25.8% Chinese, 21.5% Korean, 14.4%Filipino, 9.1% Taiwanese, 18.2% Vietnamese, and 11.0%other/not specified. The median family income of the samplewas $50,001 to $60,000.

Procedure

APIs fromanintroductorypsychologyclass subjectpool in thewinter quarter of 2002 received course credit for their partici-pation. The study was conducted with approval from the uni-versity’s Institutional Review Board. All participants signedinformed consent forms before beginning the study. Partici-pants completed Part I of the measures at home. Part II, which

1Only 1 participant was older than 24 years.



consists of the substantive variables of the study, was com-pleted in a laboratory setting with an API research assistant.

Measures2

Perceived racial discrimination

The Adolescent Discrimination Distress Index (Fisher et al.,2000) is a 16-item measure that assesses perceived stressful-ness of racially discriminatory incidents occurring withinthree contexts: educational (e.g.,“You were discouraged fromjoining an advanced level class”), institutional (e.g.,“You werehassled by police”), and peer (e.g., “Students of a differentracial-ethnic background did not include you in theiractivities”). Although designed for high school students, theitems are also relevant for students attending college. Eachitem is scored as a 0 if it had never happened and a 1 if ithad occurred. Thus, the range of possible scores was 0 to 16(a = .91).


The 16-item measure of own-group conformity pressureassesses the degree to which participants had felt pressured bytheir racial/ethnic group to conform to particular ways ofbehaving, dressing, socializing, dating, or speaking during thepast 3 months (Contrada et al., 2001). A sample item is “Towhat degree have you felt pressured by members of yourracial/ethnic group to avoid or minimize social interactionswith members of other racial/ethnic groups?” A score of 0indicates that the individual never felt pressured, while a scoreof 1 indicates that they had felt any pressure. Summing itemsyielded a possible range of 0 to 16 (a = .91).

Stereotype confirmation concern

An 11-item measure (Contrada et al., 2001) assesses thedegree of concern about confirming a stereotype about one’sracial group in the past 3 months across academic, physicalappearance, language use, and social activity domains (e.g.,“How often have you been concerned that by taking yourstudies too seriously you might appear to be confirming astereotype about your racial/ethnic group?”). Each item wasscored a 0 if the individual had never felt concerned and a 1 ifthey had felt any concern. The range of possible scores was 0to 11 (a = .93).

Racial identity

We adapted Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, and Smith’s(1997) Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI)

for use with all groups by substituting “my racial/ethnicgroup” where the inventory originally said “Black.” Althoughthe measure was not originally created for Asian Americans, itis the only widely used racial identity measure to include anout-group component, and it has been successfully adaptedfor use with API samples by other researchers (e.g., Yip,2005). Internal reliability tests show acceptable reliability andinternal consistency for the current sample.

The MIBI has three dimensions: centrality, regard, andracial ideology. We use only the dimensions of centrality andregard here, and we focus on three subscales: centrality (8items; e.g., “In general, being a member of my racial/ethnicgroup is an important part of my self-image”; a = .82), publicregard (4 items; e.g., “Overall, members of my racial/ethnicgroup are considered good by others”; a = .73), and privateregard (7 items; e.g., “I feel good about my racial/ethnicgroup”; a = .78). Participants responded on a 7-pointLikert-type scale ranging from 1 (disagree strongly) to 7 (agreestrongly).

Anxiety

The anxiety measure was adapted from the Mental HealthInventory (Viet & Ware, 1983). It indexes psychologicalhealth within the general population. We used the eight-itemanxiety subscale from the multiscale measure in the currentstudy (e.g., anxious/worried; a = .88). Participants rated eachitem on a 5-point scale ranging from 0 (none of the time) to 5(all of the time).

Results

We conducted preliminary analyses to examine the extent towhich participants reported experiencing the three race-related stressors. Next, we reviewed Pearson correlations toexamine the associations among all variables of interest. Wealso examined gender, generational status, and ethnic groupdifferences for all variables. Finally, we examined the threemain research questions using hierarchical linear regression.

Preliminary analyses

Table 1 contains all means and standard deviations. Nearly allparticipants experienced at least one form of race-relatedstressor (99.5%). Examining the race-related stressors sepa-rately by the three components, 99.0% of students reportedperceiving discrimination, 89.0% reported feeling pressureto conform, and 93.3% reported stereotype confirmationconcern. Finally, 85.2% of students reported experiencing allthree race-related stressors.

Pearson correlations in Table 2 show a positive associationbetween anxiety and all three race-related stressors, and anegative association between anxiety and private and publicregard. All three race-related stressors positively related to

2Measures were chosen for the study that could be used across multiple racial

groups because the larger study included participants from multiple racial

and ethnic backgrounds.

French et al. E343


each other. Likewise, the racial identity variables were posi-tively associated with each other. The race-related stressorswere positively associated with centrality and negatively asso-ciated with public regard.

MANOVAs reveal no gender, generational, or ethnic groupdifferences for anxiety or racial identity. However, the analy-ses reveal significant gender differences for race-relatedstressors, F(3, 198) = 3.27, p = .022, h2 = .05. Womenreported fewer experiences of discrimination than didmen, F(1, 200) = 8.71, p = .004, h2 = .04, (women, M = 9.33,SD = 4.66; men, M = 11.31, SD = 4.41). The multivariatetest for generational differences was also significant, F(3,198) = 3.51, p = .016, h2 = .05. Surprisingly, none of the indi-vidual variables (univariate tests) were significant: discrimi-nation, F(1, 200) = 0.03, p = .874, h2 = .00; own-groupconformity pressure, F(1, 200) = 2.13, p = .146, h2 = .01; andstereotype confirmation concern, F(1, 200) = 2.73, p = .101,h2 = .01. Nonetheless, we included both gender and genera-tion status in the primary analyses.

Primary analyses

The three primary research questions (RQs) examined in thisstudy are as follows:

Research Question 1. Do in-group-oriented and out-group-oriented race-related stressors predict anxietyfor APIs?

Research Question 2. Do in-group-oriented and out-group-oriented racial identity factors directly predictanxiety?

Research Question 3. Do in-group and out-group racialidentity factors moderate the relation between race-related stressors and anxiety?

We used a four-step hierarchical regression model to testour research questions. Step 1 included gender and genera-tion status to control for demographic variables. Step 2 servedto address RQ1 regarding the race-related stressors variable’srelationship with anxiety and included the three race-relatedstressors (i.e., perceived discrimination, stereotype confirma-tion concern, own-group conformity pressure). Step 3addressed RQ2 by examining whether racial identity (i.e.,centrality, private regard, public regard) dimensions woulddirectly predict anxiety. The racial identity variables wereincluded after the race-related stressors to see if theyaccounted for additional variance in anxiety after controllingfor the effect of race-related stressors. (However, the resultsfor the amount of variance accounted for in anxiety by thestressors and racial identity were not meaningfully differentwhen the entry order was reversed.) In step 4, we used theguidelines of Cohen, Cohen, West, and Aiken (2003) andtested RQ3 to see whether racial identity dimensions wouldmoderate the relationship between stressors and anxiety. Theanalysis included nine interaction terms that were createdwith centered variables. When the interaction terms were sig-nificant, tests of each moderator’s simple slopes guided theinterpretations of the significant interactions showing direc-tion and significance of the moderator at low and high levels(� 1 SD from the mean). All final equation statistics (R2, F, b,b*, SE, and sr2) are reported in Table 3.

Prior to conducting the main analyses, we examined theassumptions of regression analysis. There was no multicol-linearity among the predictor variables. The residuals werenormally distributed. The assumption of homoscedasticitywas met. All tests of influential cases illustrated no influentialcases in the dataset.

Race-related stressors (RQ1)

Step 1, including gender and generation status, did notaccount for a significant amount of variance in anxiety. InStep 2, race-related stressors were found to be significantlypredictive of anxiety. Own-group conformity pressure waspositively related to anxiety. Students who reported higherpressure also reported higher levels of anxiety.

Racial identity (RQ2)

In Step 3, racial identity accounted for a significant amount ofvariance. Private regard negatively predicted anxiety; higherlevels of private regard were associated with lower anxiety.

Table 1 Means and Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficients of Study Variables

Variable M SD a

Anxiety 2.74 0.85 .88Perceived discrimination 10.18 4.65 .91Own-group conformity pressure 7.67 5.05 .91Stereotype confirmation concerns 7.70 3.82 .93Centrality 4.50 0.93 .82Private regard 5.39 0.83 .78Public regard 4.97 0.88 .73

Table 2 Intercorrelations Among Study Variables

1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Anxiety —2. PD .17** —3. OGCP .31*** .44*** —4. SCC .19** .36*** .55*** —5. Cent -.01 .24*** .22** .21** —6. PVR -.26*** -.07 -.01 -.04 .53*** —7. PBR -.29*** -.23*** -.20** -.09† .16** .50***

Note. PD = types of perceived discrimination; OGCP = own-groupconformity pressure; SCC = stereotype confirmation concerns;Cent = centrality; PVR = private regard; PBR = public regard.†p < .10. **p < .01. ***p < .001.



Racial identity as a moderator (RQ3)

Step 4, the interaction step, was marginally significant. Thefinal equation accounted for significant variance in anxietylevels. Two racial identity dimensions moderated the rela-tionship between race-related stressors and anxiety. Privateregard moderated the relationship between own-group con-formity pressure and anxiety. A simple slope analysis shows asignificant slope for own-group conformity pressure at lowprivate regard (b = .31, SE = .08, p < .001), indicating a strongpositive association between own-group conformity pressureand anxiety when private regard was low. The own-groupconformity pressure slope, however, was not significant forstudents with high private regard (b = .05, SE = .09, p = .573).Additionally, at low own-group conformity pressure, meancomparisons show no significant differences in reportedanxiety between students with either high or low privateregard. At high own-group conformity pressure, however,those with low private regard had higher anxiety than didthose with high private regard (see Figure 1).

Private regard was also found to moderate the relation-ship between stereotype confirmation concern and anxiety.No significant simple slope was found for the relationshipbetween stereotype confirmation concern and anxietyamong students with low private regard (b = .09, SE = .11,p = .400), indicating that students with low private regardhad similar levels of anxiety whether reporting low or highstereotype confirmation concern. At high private regard,

however, simple slope analysis shows a significant positiverelationship between stereotype confirmation concerns andanxiety (b = .33, SE = .10, p < .001). That is, anxiety washigher for students with high concern than for the studentswith low concern only when students also reported highprivate regard. Examining the same means from the per-spective of stereotype confirmation concerns, under condi-tions of high concern, students with both high and lowprivate regard had similar levels of anxiety. At low concern,on the other hand, those with high private regard hadlower anxiety than did those with low private regard (seeFigure 2).

Centrality moderated the relationship between own-groupconformity pressure and anxiety.Analysis of the simple slopesshows no significant relationship of own-group conformitypressure with anxiety at low centrality (b = .08, SE = .09,p = .365), indicating no association between pressure andanxiety for students with low centrality.The slope for pressure,however, was significant for students with high centrality(b = .27, SE = .08, p < .001). That is, students with high cen-trality and higher levels of own-group conformity pressurealso had higher levels of anxiety. An examination of meansfrom the perspective of own-group conformity pressureshows that under low pressure, students with both high andlow centrality had similar levels of anxiety. At high pressure,however, those participants demonstrating high centralityhad higher anxiety than did their low-centrality counterparts(see Figure 3).

Table 3 Coefficients for the Regression of Anxiety on Gender, Generation Status, Race-Related Stressors, Racial Identity, and Interaction Terms

F DR2 b SE b* sr2

Step 1 F(2, 206) = 1.89 .02*Gender -0.10 0.06 -0.11 0.01Generation status -0.06 0.11 -0.03 0.00

Step 2 F(3, 203) = 6.53 .09***Perceived discrimination (PD) -0.01 0.01 -0.04 0.00Own-group conformity pressure (OGCP) 0.04** 0.01 0.23 0.03Stereotype confirmation concern (SCC) 0.01 0.02 0.04 0.00

Step 3 F(3, 200) = 6.36 .08***Centrality (Cent) 0.13 0.08 0.14 0.01Private regard (PVR) -0.29** 0.09 -0.28 0.04Public regard (PBR) -0.11 0.08 -0.11 0.01

Step 4 F(9, 191) = 1.93 .07†PVR ¥ PD 0.02 0.02 0.10 0.00PVR ¥ OGCP -0.07*** 0.02 -0.35 0.04PVR ¥ SCC 0.07* 0.03 0.27 0.03PBR ¥ PD 0.00 0.02 0.01 0.00PBR ¥ OGCP 0.03 0.02 0.15 0.01PBR ¥ SCC -0.02 0.03 -0.09 0.00Cent ¥ PD 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00Cent ¥ OGCP 0.05* 0.02 0.23 0.03Cent ¥ SCC -0.04 0.02 -0.18 0.01

Total F(17, 191) = 3.78 .25***

Note. Gender: 0 = women; 1 = men. Generation status: 0 = 1st generation; 1 = 2nd generation. sr2 = squared semipartial correlations.†p < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

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Figure 1 Interaction of private regard and own-group conformity pressure on anxiety.

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Figure 2 Interaction of private regard and stereotype confirmation concerns on anxiety.



Discussion

Impact of race-related stressors among AsianPacific Islander Americans

The present study sought to examine in-group and out-grouprace-related stressors simultaneously and to consider protec-tive mechanisms associated with one’s own group, as well asthose associated with attitudes from other groups. Without adoubt, race-related stressors are factors that affect API stu-dents’ anxiety levels. Only 0.5% of the students reported noexperience of race-related stressors. Contrary to the majorityof prior research, perceived discrimination was not the great-est predictor of anxiety. Rather, it was the pressure of con-forming to in-group norms and the daily fear of confirmingstereotypes that had the most damaging impact on students’anxiety levels. Environments that evoke pressure to confirmor disconfirm racial stereotypes are potentially more harmfulthan are direct acts of discrimination. Thus, the universitysetting must be cautious of pressures that API students mightfeel to meet stereotypes that they are high achievers or pres-sures to assert their English-speaking abilities. Nonetheless,the significance of race-related stressors other than racial dis-crimination does not trivialize the issue of racial discrimina-tion itself, but expands our understanding of the complex,race-related experiences of racial minorities.

The pressure from other APIs to conform to group ideals ornorms was a powerful predictor of anxiety. These may poten-

tially range from pressures to maintain cultural ties with one’snative group to pressures to maintain positive stereotypes ofAPI as “model minorities.” As expected, based on stereotypethreat research, stereotype confirmation concern was posi-tively correlated with anxiety. However, stereotype confirma-tion concerns were not directly related to anxiety when theother race-related stressors were also accounted for in the sta-tistical model. Pressures originating from in-group membersshowed more of an influence on anxiety levels than did stere-otype confirmation concerns from out-group members.

We also examined the direct effects of in-group and out-group racial identity factors on anxiety. As predicted, morepositive personal attitudes about one’s group (i.e., privateregard) and more positive attitudes about how others viewone’s group (i.e., public regard) were related to less anxiety.These findings highlight the importance for API individualsto hold positive attitudes about their own group.

Surprisingly, centrality had no direct relationship onanxiety, and thus may not be as informative in predictinganxiety relative to APIs’ personal attitudes and other groupattitudes about being API. If this is the case, working onbuilding stronger API identities would not influence anxietylevels. Instead, these findings suggest that anxiety reduction isbest achieved by providing APIs and other non-APIs withreasons to hold positive evaluations of APIs. Making APIsmore visible to act as positive role models for students,including APIs in course content, API representation on thefaculty, and API representation in student leadership would

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Figure 3 Interaction of centrality and own-group conformity pressure on anxiety.

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likely increase positive evaluations of APIs, both among APIsand across all other racial groups.

Racial identity as a protective factor

Finally, we explored the moderating role of racial identity onthe relationship between race-related stressors and anxiety.While the literature suggests that private regard protectsagainst the effects of general discrimination on anxiety, wedid not observe that effect. We did, however, find privateregard to protect APIs from own-group conformity pressuresand stereotype confirmation concern. Specifically, studentswho held more positive attitudes about APIs were protectedagainst the negative effect of pressure to conform to groupideals. We also found that when students reported fewer pres-sures to conform, their feelings toward their group did notpredict anxiety. Perhaps these students are comfortable con-forming to group norms because they have such high regardfor their group. The group norms may represent a cohesivequality that is comforting. Therefore, own-group conformitypressure is not uniformly distressing. Future studies shouldexplore the extent to which individuals are able to meetin-group expectations.

Conversely, low regard for their own group (private regard)protected students’ anxiety from the negative effect of fearingthat they might confirm stereotypes. It was having highregard for their own group that actually exacerbated the effectof stereotype confirmation concerns on anxiety. Similar toprevious research, high private regard for one’s group wasrelated to lower anxiety levels (Phinney, 1992; Roberts et al.,1999; Sellers et al., 1997, 2003). In the present study, however,this was only true when the fear of confirming stereotypesfrom out-group members was low. Consequently, it was theattachment to APIs that seemed to make students more vul-nerable to fears of confirming out-group members’ stere-otypes about APIs. As shown in stereotype threat studies ofAPI women, perhaps fears of confirming stereotypes of APIsas forever foreigners is most damaging for APIs who holdhigh evaluations of their own group. Unfortunately, this also

means that promoting racial identity alone is not a solution toovercoming stereotype confirmation concerns. Rather, anideal intervention promoting positive attitudes toward APIswould attempt to simultaneously nullify and break downstereotypes, promote a positive sense of racial identity, andreduce anxiety.

When individuals strongly identified with APIs as agroup (i.e., centrality), they were vulnerable to pressures toconform to in-group norms and ideals, and they reportedmore anxiety. Perhaps APIs who report high levels of pres-sure from in-group members feel anxiety because they areunable to meet these expectations. On the other hand, forstudents who are less attached to their API identity,messages from their in-group may be irrelevant, thus notcausing anxiety.

The racial diversity of the university may make the experi-ences of these students unique, making the current studyfindings potentially less generalizable in a less diverse univer-sity context. Given increasing diversity nationwide and ineducational institutions, however, it is likely that more andmore students will find themselves in equally diverse environ-ments. A limitation of the present study is that we usedcross-sectional data. Future research should examine the lon-gitudinal effects of race-related stressors on the anxiety levelsof API students.

The experiences of racial minority students are shaped bytheir interactions with members of other races and membersof their own group (Rodriguez, Myers, Morris, & Cardoza,2000). Considering the racial diversity of the campus wherewe conducted the study, multicultural dynamics becomemuch more salient. An important agenda for reducinganxiety for API students within this racially and culturallydynamic university setting is negotiating belongingness totheir racial group while also adapting to and functioning inthe larger cultural context that may stress different norms orcultural values. Interventions aimed at helping API studentsshould also address acculturative stressors, such as own-group conformity pressures in order to more comprehen-sively target race-related stressors.

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