Journal article
Lay Theory of Race Affects and Moderates Asian Americans' Responses Toward American Culture
Journal of personality and social psychology, Vol.95(4), pp.991-1004
10/2008
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/110035
PMID: 18808273
Abstract
People may hold different understandings of race that might affect how they respond to the culture of groups deemed to be racially distinct. The present research tests how this process is moderated by the minority individual's lay theory of race. An essentialist lay theory of race (i.e., that race reflects deep-seated, inalterable essence and is indicative of traits and ability) would orient racial minorities to rigidly adhere to their ethnic culture, whereas a social constructionist lay theory of race (i.e., that race is socially constructed, malleable, and arbitrary) would orient racial minorities to identify and cognitively assimilate toward the majority culture. To test these predictions, the authors conducted 4 studies with Asian American participants. The first 2 studies examine the effect of one's lay theory of race on perceived racial differences and identification with American culture. The last 2 studies tested the moderating effect of lay theory of race on identification and assimilation toward the majority American culture after this culture had been primed. The results generally supported the prediction that the social constructionist theory was associated with more perceived similarity between Asians and Americans and more consistent identification and assimilation toward American culture, compared with the essentialist theory.
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Details
- Title
- Lay Theory of Race Affects and Moderates Asian Americans' Responses Toward American Culture
- Creators
- Sun No - Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignYing-yi Hong - Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignHsin-Ya Liao - Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignKyoungmi Lee - Department of Marketing, Kansas State UniversityDustin Wood - Department of Psychology, Wake Forest UniversityMelody Manchi Chao - Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Publication Details
- Journal of personality and social psychology, Vol.95(4), pp.991-1004
- Academic Unit
- Educational Leadership, Sport Studies, and Educational/Counseling Psychology, Department of
- Publisher
- American Psychological Association
- Identifiers
- 99900547210901842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article