Foreigner Objectification, Bicultural Identity, and Psychological Adjustment in Asian American College Students A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Stephanie Pituc IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Richard M. Lee, Ph.D., Advisor August 2013 © Stephanie Pituc, 2013 i Acknowledgements This dissertation and the fruits of my graduate career could have never been harvested without the support of the many individuals who collectively make up my personal and professional families. I would like to first express my deep gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Rich Lee, who has been a rock of support and a rock star of many sorts in the six plus years that I have known him. Thank you for always pushing me to strive towards mastery, imparting the importance of “passion and commitment” to one’s work, your compassion during challenging times, and for giving countless hours of editing and advisement (willingly and with minimal complaint, no less!). I hope to follow in your tradition of inspiring and fostering the development of other students and making valuable contributions to the Asian American community. Many thanks go out to the rest of my dissertation committee – Drs. Moin Syed, Pat Frazier, and Teresa Swartz. Each of you provided unique theoretical and methodological perspectives that challenged me to think more deeply and critically about racism, identity, and the Asian American experience. Through your guidance and support, I feel (an unfamiliar) sense of confidence and pride in this work and in my capabilities as a scholar. I also want to acknowledge the incomparable support of Dr. Jo-Ida Hansen and Amy Kranz, who are true advocates of graduate student success. Salamat to my many mentors –Christine Yeh, Alvin Alvarez, Rich Lee, and others from the Asian American Psychological Association – not just for ii offering me incredible opportunities and for believing in me, but also for modeling the diverse ways in which one’s life and career can serve social justice. Surviving and thriving over the last six years would not have been the same without my cohortmates – Oh Myo Kim, Reiko Hirai, Sam Hintz, and Sandra Shallcross. It was a privilege to go through this with such talented, compassionate, and life-loving folks. In my mind, Grads lives on forever. I am also grateful for the support of “older” and “younger” Elliott Hall colleagues, Kelly Condit-Shrestha, Jenni Falk, and everyone else who offered patient friendship throughout these tedious years. Dakal ku utang ng loob to my family for the many sacrifices they have made to help me succeed in school and life. I feel fortunate to have been born to loving parents, Teresita Lim Pituc and Marciano Pituc; selflessly raised by my late grandmother, Florencia Domingo Pituc; and grown up alongside my inspirational brother, Walter Pituc, and an incredible extended family. Last, but not least, I express my gratitude to Tony Giancola, my favorite chosen member of my family. Thank you for helping me to grow in all my identities every day. I hope to reciprocate the support that you’ve given me as you pursue your career, and I am thrilled to continue forward on our journey together. iii Dedication To Mom, Tatang, Walter, and all Filipino Americans. iv Abstract Asian Americans have historically been subjected to unfair treatment as “forever foreigners,” a phenomenon of racial discrimination defined here as foreigner objectification (FO). Recent psychological research corroborates this narrative and suggests that FO is related to negative outcomes (Armenta, Lee, Pituc, Jung, Park, Soto et al., 2013; Q. L. Huynh, Devos, & Smalarz, 2011; S. Kim, Wang, Deng, Alvarez, & Li, 2011). The present study builds upon this nascent research by investigating the construct of foreigner objectification (FO) and its relationship with bicultural identity, psychological distress (depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and social interaction anxiety) and subjective well-being (self-esteem, satisfaction with life). The sample consists of 718 self-identified Asian American undergraduate students from multiple sites across the United States. The primary research question asked whether bicultural identity profiles (as indicated by the affirmation/commitment component of both ethnic-racial identity and national American identity) moderate the relationship between FO and psychological adjustment outcomes. Identity profiles were derived using person-centered cluster analytic methods, resulting in a solution of five profiles (Strong Bicultural, Average Bicultural, Weak Bicultural, Strong Ethnic, and Strong American). The moderation model was tested with multiple group structural equation modeling analysis and conducted separately for the U.S.-born and immigrant participants. For the immigrant sample (n = 253), the relations between FO and both psychological distress and subjective well-being were non-significant, and there v was no difference in the FO-adjustment relationship between identity profiles. In line with Self-Categorization Theory (Turner, 1985), the results suggest that the potentially negative impact of FO is more relevant to U.S.-born Asian Americans than to their immigrant counterparts. For the U.S.-born sample (n = 465), a significant medium sized effect was found between FO and psychological distress in the expected direction, with no observed moderation by identity. FO was also significantly associated with poorer subjective well-being for the U.S.-born individuals in the Strong Bicultural, Average Bicultural, and Weak Bicultural profiles. This association was not statistically significant for those in the Strong Ethnic and Strong American profiles, indicating a moderating role of bicultural identity. vi Table of Contents Page Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………….... i Dedication………………………………………………………………............... iii Abstract………………………………………………………………................... iv Table of Contents……………………………………………………………….... vi List of Tables………………………………………………………………......... vii List of Figures…………………………………………………………………..... xi Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………… 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review…………………………………………………….17 Chapter 3: Research Study……………………………………………………….72 Goals and Hypotheses……………...……………………………………. 72 Methods…………………………………………………………………..76 Analyses………………………………………………………………….84 Results…………………………………………………………………… 90 Chapter 4: Discussion…………………………………………………………...115 References…………………………………………………………………….... 132 Appendix A: Measures …………………………………………………………146 vii List of Tables Page Table 1. Bivariate Correlations, Means, and Standard Deviations of Study Variables, Total Sample, N = 718 ……………………………………………….92 Table 2. Bivariate Correlations between Study Variables, by Nativity………….93 Table 3. Preliminary Analyses of Demographics and Primary Variables of Interest……………………. .…………………………………………………….94 Table 4. Coefficients of Hierarchical Agglomerative Cluster Analysis on Subsample A…………………………………………………………………...... 97 Table 5. Comparison of Effect Sizes Representing the Variance of Profile Indicator Variables Predicted by Cluster Solutions Generated by Hierarchical Agglomeration Procedure………………………………………………………...97 Table 6. Means and Standard Deviations of the Five-cluster Solution’s Cluster Centroids.……………………………………………………………………......101 Table 7. Mean Differences between Profiles for Main Study Variables and Bicultural Profile Validation, Total Sample………………………………..…...105 Table 8. Fit Indices of Models Tested in Multigroup SEM of the Association between Foreigner Objectification and Psychological Adjustment Outcomes – Total Sample, N = 718…………………………………………………………. 108 viii Table 9. Invariant Model’s Regression Estimates of the Association between Foreigner Objectification and Psychological Adjustment Outcomes for Total Sample, N = 718…………………………………………………………. ……..108 Table 10. Fit Indices of Models Tested in Multigroup SEM of the Association between Foreigner Objectification and Psychological Adjustment Outcomes – Immigrant Subsample, n = 253…………………………………………….. …..111 Table 11. Invariant Model’s Regression Estimates of the Association between Foreigner Objectification and Psychological Adjustment Outcomes for Immigrant Subsample, n = 253…………………………………………………………….. 111 Table 12. Fit Indices of Models Tested in Multigroup SEM of the Association between Foreigner Objectification and Psychological Adjustment Outcomes – U.S.-born Subsample, n = 465…………………………………………………. 114 Table 13. Regression Estimates for Path from FO to Subjective Well-being, Model 3, U.S.-born Subsample, n = 465……......................................................114 Table 14. Critical Values for Pairwise Contrasts of SWB Regression Estimates…………………………………………………………….…………...114