Colonial mentality, or internalized colonialism, has been discussed by scholars and by Filipino American community members as a significant factor in the experiences of contemporary Filipino Americans, yet this construct has not received empirical attention in psychology. The authors of the current study addressed this gap in the Asian American psychological literature by developing the Colonial Mentality Scale for Filipino Americans, a theoretically derived and psychometrically tested multidimensional measure of colonial mentality. Exploratory (n ϭ 292) and confirmatory (n ϭ 311) factor analyses on Internet-obtained data suggest that colonial mentality among Filipino Americans is best conceptualized and measured as composed of 5 related factors, each of which represents unique manifestations of the construct. Results also suggest that colonial mentality is associated with the psychological well-being and mental health of modern day Filipino Americans. Research and clinical implications are discussed.

Since the publication of Sue et al. (Am Psychol 62:271–286, 2007a, b) seminal article, there has been an enormous scholarly interest in psychology on this construct of racial microaggressions—subtle everyday experiences of racism. In this paper, we provide a review of racial microaggressions research literature in psychology since 2007, following the publication of the first comprehensive taxonomy of racial microaggressions, which provided a conceptual framework and directions for research related to racial microaggressions. However, our review suggests that important conceptual and methodological issues remain to be addressed in the three domains: (1) what are racial microaggressions and who do they impact; (2) why are racial microaggressions important to examine; and (3) how are racial microaggressions currently studied and how might we improve the methodologies used to study racial microaggressions. We propose recommendations to further facilitate racial microaggressions research, improve the scientific rigor of racial microaggressions research, and contribute toward a more complete and sophisticated understanding of the concept and consequences of racial microaggressions—a construct that is undoubtedly salient and psychologically relevant among many members of racial minority groups.

Colonial mentality is a term used widely by ethnic studies scholars and by the Filipino American community to refer to a form of internalized oppression among Filipinos and Filipino Americans. The authors propose that colonial mentality is a construct that is central to the understanding of the psychology of contemporary Filipino Americans. Drawing on larger scholarship from postcolonial studies and psychological research on oppression, the authors review the historical and sociological contexts in which to understand the significance of the colonial mentality concept for the Filipino American population. The authors also review the existing literature on colonial mentality and provide specific recommendations for incorporating this construct into research and practice with Filipino Americans. It is argued, through this illustrative example of colonial mentality among Filipino Americans, that examining the psychological impact of colonialism is a way to incorporate larger historical and sociological contextual variables into ethnic minority research and practice.

Theory and empirical research suggest that perceived self-efficacy, or one's perceived ability to perform personally significant tasks, is related to individuals' psychological well-being and mental health. Thus, the authors hypothesized that bicultural individuals' perceived ability to function competently in 2 cultures, or perceived bicultural self-efficacy, would be related positively to their psychological wellbeing and mental health. Three studies were conducted to develop and validate a measure of perceived bicultural self-efficacy and to explore its relationships with indices of psychological well-being and mental health. Exploratory (n ϭ 268) and confirmatory (n ϭ 164) factor analyses on the theoretically derived Bicultural Self-Efficacy Scale (BSES) items support a measurement model that taps into the 6 dimensions of bicultural competence proposed by T. LaFromboise, H. L. K. Coleman, and J. Gerton (1993). Furthermore, initial evidence for internal consistency (Studies 1, 2, and 3) and test-retest reliability (n ϭ 51 Asian Americans) for each of the 6 subscales were found. Finally, perceived bicultural self-efficacy was found to be related to bicultural college students' psychological well-being and mental health. Research implications of the perceived bicultural self-efficacy construct and the potential utility of the BSES as a multidimensional measure of the construct are discussed.

As low as the rate of mental health help-seeking is among Asian Americans, Filipino Americans seek mental health services at a much lower rate even compared with other Asian Americans. Despite the field's progress in identifying and understanding factors that may influence mental health help-seeking attitudes among Asian Americans, despite research on other minority groups suggesting that cultural mistrust may influence attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help, and despite the abundance of literature documenting the historical and contemporary experiences of oppression by Filipino Americans, the possibility that cultural mistrust may play a significant role in Filipino Americans' mental health help-seeking attitudes have yet to be empirically investigated. Thus, using a sample of 118 Filipino Americans, the current study demonstrates that higher levels of cultural mistrust is related to lower likelihood of seeking professional psychological help. Furthermore, cultural mistrust predicted variance in mental health help-seeking attitudes that are not accounted for by income, generational status, loss of face, and adherence to Asian cultural values. Implications for future research are discussed.