(PS9-B37) Exploring Acculturation and Perceived Discrimination as Predictors of Social Interaction Anxiety in Asian Americans

            A number of research studies have found that Asian Americans report higher levels of social anxiety symptoms compared to European Americans. Some researchers argue that symptoms of social anxiety may be perceived differently in Asian cultures or even serve a functional purpose in social interaction, as some socially anxious behavior such as lowering head or averting eye contact, may be viewed as efforts to fit in and maintain social harmony. As Asian Americans adapt to the mainstream American cultures, such “adaptive” socially anxious behavior may gradually lose their functional values. Thus over time, orientation to the mainstream American culture may be associated with less social anxiety symptoms among Asian Americans. However, Asian American represents not only a unique cultural group, but also a minority and immigrant group that experiences a wide range of stressors when adjusting to the mainstream culture and interacting with members of the majority group. Furthermore, with the COVID-19 outbreak, there has been an increase of reports of racial discrimination or even verbal and physical attacks against Asians and Asian Americans, worsening their already stressful social experiences. It is likely that perceived discrimination would represent another key factor that may be associated with elevated social anxiety symptoms among Asian Americans. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine how orientation to the mainstream American culture and Asian heritage culture, as well as perceived racial discrimination may be related to social anxiety symptoms reported by Asian American college students.  

A total of 144 participants who identify as Asian Americans completed online questionnaires, including the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS-6), Vancouver Index of Acculturation (VIA), and the Subtle and Blatant Racism Scale for Asian American College Students (SABRA). Participants were 60.4% female and had a mean age of 19.69 years (SD = 2.48). The internal consistencies of all measures were satisfactory (α =.85 for SIAS, .88, and .87 for VIA- American or heritage culture, and .85, .80, and .65 for total, subtle and blatant racism, respectively).

The multiple regression model with acculturation to mainstream culture, acculturation to heritage culture, experiences of subtle racism and blatant racism as predictors produced R² = .10, F(5, 128) = 2.30, p = .02. Acculturation to mainstream culture significantly predicted social interaction anxiety symptoms (t = -2.71, p =0.01), indicating that Asian American college students who were more acculturated to the mainstream culture were expected to have lower social interaction anxiety symptoms. Acculturation to heritage culture and experiences of subtle racism and blatant racism did not significantly contribute to the multiple regression model. Results from this study suggest that acculturation to the mainstream culture appears to be a key factor that explains higher social interaction anxiety ratings in Asian Americans. Further research is necessary to establish if the relationship between experiences of racism and social anxiety in this study may be generalized. Specifically, results may differ based on the density of Asian American population in various geographical locations.