Abstract: Between Resistance and Burden: Testing a Model of Internalized Racism, Psychological Distress, and Critical Consciousness Among Asian American College Students (Society for Social Work and Research 31st Annual Conference)

Schedule:

Friday, January 22, 2027

Union Station 15 (Hilton San Francisco Union Square)

* noted as presenting author

Lalaine Sevillano, PhD, Assistant Professor, California State University, Long Beach, CA

Hyeyoung Kang, MA, Doctoral Student, Portland State University, Portland, OR

Yailanis Cruz, MSW student, California State University, Long Beach, CA

Marina Medwid, MSW student, California State University, Long Beach, CA

Yairis Cruz, MSW student, California State University, Long Beach, CA

Elaine Szeto, MSW, Doctoral student, Portland State University, OR

Bradley Conner, PhD, Professor, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

Esther Calzada, PhD, Professor, University of Texas at Austin, Austin

Background:

Internalized racism, referring to inculcation of the racist stereotypes and leading to feelings of self-doubt, disgust, and disrespect for one’s race and/or oneself, has been found to be associated with adverse psychological effects and lower grades among racially minoritized populations. Critical consciousness refers to a critical praxis which helps individuals to recognize that their oppression is attributable to outside forces such as systemic racism, and to address social inequalities. Given that Asian American college students are frequently exposed to racism, there is a need to understand how these experiences may become internalized and influence their mental health and academic outcomes. The present study aims to examine the association between internalized racism and academic persistence by (1) focusing on the mediating role of psychological distress and (2) the moderating role of critical consciousness among Asian American college students.

Methods:

Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted to examine the hypothesized associations. A total of 294 Asian American college students (M_age = 19.67, SD = 1.36) were recruited from a large public university in Texas. To examine the moderating effects of critical consciousness, multi-group analysis was conducted by dividing participants into low and high critical consciousness groups using a median split. Model fit was evaluated using chi-square difference test, CFI, and RMSEA.

Results:

Findings indicated that colonial mentality, as a form of internalized racism, significantly predicted psychological distress and academic persistence. Higher internalized racism was associated with greater psychological distress and lower academic persistence. Group differences showed that colonial mentality negatively affected academic persistence only in the low critical consciousness group. In the high critical consciousness group, it was linked to both higher psychological distress and lower academic persistence. Psychological distress further mediated the relationship between internalized racism and academic persistence only in the high critical consciousness group.

Conclusions:

The findings suggest that supporting Asian American college students’ mental health should include addressing internalized racism, particularly colonial mentality, given its associations with psychological distress and academic persistence. They also highlight the importance of fostering inclusive and equitable learning environments to prevent the perpetuation of internalized racism. Unexpectedly, results complicate dominant assumptions within critical consciousness frameworks, as critical consciousness was not found to be a purely protective factor against internalized racism. One plausible explanation is a psychological cost of critical consciousness, whereby greater awareness of inequality may coincide with greater internalization of dominant stereotypes. Asian American college students, and Asian Americans more broadly continue to be under-represented in research. This study contributes to vital research particularly that internalized racism may be a mechanism that impacts Asian American college students’ mental health, educational persistence, and civic awareness and engagement. Findings inform the development of Asian American college student support systems that include anti-racism programming and culturally-responsive mental health services.