Examination of the “model minority” stereotype through ethnicity and sexual orientation heterogeneity among Asian American youth

Abstract

Introduction The “model minority” stereotype disguises heterogeneity among Asian American youth, many of whom are harmed by policies and attitudes that assume this population to be uniformly high achieving and “problem free.” The current study uses an intersectional lens to disaggregate this population by ethnicity and sexual orientation subgroups to demonstrate differences in academic performance and substance use behavior among Asian American youth. This study also investigates the extent to which racial/ethnicity and sexual orientation‐based bullying may explain such links. Methods Participants included 65,091 Asian American youth (46.41% Southeast Asian; 37.01% East Asian; 16.58% South Asian) in grades 6–12, who were part of the California Healthy Kids Survey (2015–2017). Participants were 49.4% female and about a third each were in grades 6–8, grades 9–10, and grades 11–12. School‐based surveys were administered. Youth reported on substance use, grades, and bias‐based bullying experiences in the past 12 months. Results Generalized linear mixed‐effects model results showed that outcomes varied widely across youth ethnicity and sexual orientation subgroups. Inclusion of racial/ethnic and sexual orientation bullying in these models attenuated the direct effects between ethnic and sexual identities and academic performance and substance use outcomes. Conclusions Implications of this work suggest that research and policy should not treat Asian American students as uniformly high‐performing and low‐risk, because the experiences of those who deviate from these assumptions will be left undetected. Interventions targeting bias‐based bullying may be able to reduce disparities in academic and substance use outcomes among Asian American youth.