Race-Based Marginalization And Private Racial Regard In Asian Americans: Self-Esteem And Nativity As Moderators

In a sample of 881 Asian American college students, the present study examined self-esteem and nativity status (i.e., non-U.S.-born vs. U.S.-born) as moderators in the associations between race-based marginalization experiences ( i.e., awareness of the perpetual foreigner stereotype and perceived racial discrimination) and private racial regard. Results indicated that there was a significant 3-way interaction between awareness of the perpetual foreigner stereotype, self-esteem, and nativity status, but there was not a significant 3-way interaction between perceived racial discrimination, self-esteem, and nativity status. Specifically, we found that self-esteem buffered the negative relationship between awareness of the perpetual foreigner stereotype and private racial regard for U.S.-born Asian Americans, but not non-U.S.-born Asian Americans. Among Asian American college students who were born in the United States, awareness of the perpetual foreigner stereotype and private racial regard were significantly and negatively correlated when self-esteem was low, but not when self-esteem was high. This pattern, however, was not found among Asian American college students who were born outside of the United States. The present findings suggest that self-esteem may be a particular important psychological resource that may serve as a protective factor to cancel out the negative link between awareness of the perpetual foreigner stereotype and private racial regard among U.S.-born Asian American individuals.