Park Michael, Woo Bongki, Jeong Eunseok, Gu Bryan, Choi Yoonsun, Takeuchi David
School of Social Work, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
College of Social Work, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
J Res Adolesc. 2025 Jun;35(2):e70023. doi: 10.1111/jora.70023.
Racial discrimination is an important developmental context for racially minoritized young adults, contributing to the formation of societal beliefs and civic commitments. While discrimination is understood to motivate anti-racist action in young adults, the contributions of young adults' belief in a fair society toward this relationship remain unclear. This study examined fair-society belief as a mediating mechanism through which Asian American young adults interpret experiences of discrimination and translate them into various anti-racist actions. Using data from Filipino American (n = 265, M = 22) and Korean American (n = 347, M = 21) young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022, we conducted path analyses to test the mediating effects of fair-society belief in the relationships between COVID-19-specific and general discrimination and anti-racist action. Discrimination was found to motivate Asian Americans to engage in anti-racist actions, although fair-society belief served as a significant mediating factor only for Filipino Americans, particularly those who are U.S.-born, in the link between COVID-19-specific discrimination and interpersonal anti-racist action. These findings suggest heterogeneity in Asian Americans' response to discrimination and underscore the importance of considering specific ethnic contexts when developing programs to promote anti-racist action in Asian American young adults.
种族歧视是少数族裔年轻人成长过程中的一个重要背景，它有助于形成社会信仰和公民责任感。虽然人们认为歧视会促使年轻人采取反种族主义行动，但年轻人对公平社会的信念在这种关系中所起的作用仍不明确。本研究将对公平社会的信念作为一种中介机制进行考察，通过这一机制，亚裔美国年轻人解读歧视经历，并将其转化为各种反种族主义行动。利用2022年新冠疫情期间菲律宾裔美国年轻人（n = 265，平均年龄22岁）和韩裔美国年轻人（n = 347，平均年龄21岁）的数据，我们进行了路径分析，以检验对公平社会的信念在新冠疫情特定歧视和一般歧视与反种族主义行动之间关系中的中介作用。研究发现，歧视促使亚裔美国人采取反种族主义行动，不过，只有对于菲律宾裔美国人，尤其是那些在美国出生的菲律宾裔美国人而言，在新冠疫情特定歧视与人际反种族主义行动之间的联系中，对公平社会的信念才是一个重要的中介因素。这些研究结果表明，亚裔美国人在应对歧视方面存在异质性，并强调在制定促进亚裔美国年轻人反种族主义行动的项目时，考虑特定族裔背景的重要性。
