Symposia
Culture / Ethnicity / Race
Thomas Le, M.S.
University of Maryland- College Park
Greenbelt, Maryland
Derek Iwamoto, PhD
Professor
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
Zachary A. Soulliard, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
Yale School of Public Health
New York City, New York
Introduction: While a growing body of literature has examined factors that contribute to Asian Americans’ negative body image, little research has investigated Asian Americans’ body image from a strengths-based perspective. This investigation of Asian Americans’ body positivity specifically related to racialized features demonstrates how Asian Americans’ capacity to resist racism and white supremacy. This study thus presents the Pride in Asian American Appearance Scale (PAAAS), designed to measure the extent to which Asian Americans feel positively about their own racialized physical appearances as well as those of fellow Asian Americans.
Method: Items for the PAAAS were developed through an extensive literature review, cognitive interviews with diverse Asian Americans, and expert feedback from leading scholars in Asian American psychology and the field of body image. 796 Asian Americans were recruited through Qualtrics and completed the PAAAS items as well as additional questionnaires related to body image and race.
Results: Exploratory (N = 398) and confirmatory (N = 398) factor analyses suggested a bifactor model, consisting of 24 items comprising a general factor and four group factors: (a) Pride in Asian Features, (b) Preference for Asian American Appearance, (c) Asian Americans as Desirable, and (d) Action Promoting Asians’ Attractiveness. Internal consistency estimates as well as factor determinacies were high and demonstrated that the specified items adequately represented their intended factors. The PAAAS was significantly correlated in theoretically expected directions with collective racial self-esteem, internalized racist appearance bias and psychological distress.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates Asian Americans’ ability to resist racist messaging that glorifies white physical features. Our results indicate that Asian Americans’ pride in their physical appearance are associated with factors such as internalized racist messaging as well as how much they appreciate their Asian American identity. The PAAAS may be utilized by practitioners and researchers to assess for and encourage positive body image among this underrepresented population.