Asian American male college students' perceptions of people's stereotypes about Asian American men.

Abstract

Indiana University BloomingtonAlthough Asian American men are a heterogeneous group with diverse ethnic andsocioeconomic backgrounds, they are frequently depicted in rigid, stereotypical waysthat assume few differences exist among them. Guided by social identity theory, thepurpose of this study was to examine 158 Asian American male college students’perceptions of people’s stereotypes about Asian American men. Based on a discovery-oriented exploratory analysis of participants’ open-ended responses, the followingcategories of perceived stereotypes about Asian American men were identied: (a)interpersonal decits, (b) intelligence, (c) intense diligence, (d) unattering physicalattributes, (e) physical ability distortions, (f) perpetual foreigner, and (g) sexual/romantic inadequacies. Next, a latent class cluster analysis was conducted to identifymeaningful clusters of participants based on the foregoing categories of perceivedstereotypes. The results revealed three clusters of participants; these clusters werelabeled Body-Mind Stereotypes, Nerd Stereotypes, and Outsider Stereotypes. Partici-pants in the Outsider Stereotypes cluster reported higher levels of depressive symptomsthan those in the other two clusters, whereas those in the Nerd Stereotypes clusterreported the lowest levels of interdependent self-construal. These ndings are discussedin terms of practical implications for addressing the deleterious nature of stereotypesabout Asian American men.Keywords: