The Effects of Asian American Studies on Asian American College Students' Psychological Functioning
Lee, Matthew R.
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/82166
Description
Title
The Effects of Asian American Studies on Asian American College Students' Psychological Functioning
Author(s)
Lee, Matthew R.
Issue Date
2008
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Okazaki, Sumie
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Bilingual and Multicultural
Language
eng
Abstract
Because Asian American college students are commonly perceived to be highly achieving and functioning, psychosocial outcomes other than academic achievements are understudied. Nonetheless, stereotypes and racism have consistently been shown to be detrimental to Asian American students' psychological well-being and racial identity (e.g., Kodama, McEwen, Osajima, 1993). Researchers promoting a model of Asian American college student identity development (Kodama, McEwen, Liang, & Lee, 2002) advocate student participation in multicutural programming and education to affirm and foster students' positive racial identity. Two studies examined the hypothesis that for Asian American students, participation in multicultural education and programming buffers stresses associated with racial minority status at a predominantly White institution of higher learning. Study 1 used longitudinal survey data to investigate the effects of multicultural programming and social experiences on collective self-esteem and general psychological well-being among first-year Asian American undergraduates. Study 2 used a quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of participating in a racial identity-focused intergroup dialogue versus a general Asian American studies class and a control group on outcomes such as collective self-esteem and general psychological well-being. The results from both studies indicate that participation in Asian American-specific coursework and race-specific extracurricular activities (e.g., awareness month events) may provide a positive and buffering effect on race-related collective self-esteem. These findings support a contemporary model of Asian American college student development and may influence university departments to consider promoting race-specific diversity coursework and activities for Asian American students.
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