Macro-Contextual and Individual Predictors of Discrimination, Intergroup Attitudes, and Collective Action to Address Racial Inequality

Principal Investigator: Dr. Doris F. Chang, Associate Professor, NYU Silver School of Social Work.

Collaborators: Dr. Sumie Okazaki, Dr. Thu T. Nguyen, Dr. Maureen Craig

Dates of award: 9/1/2021 – 8/31/2022

Amount of award: $56,000

Study description: Anti-Asian violence and harassment have escalated during the Covid-19 pandemic, catalyzed by the racial framing of the virus, and converging with a national awakening to systematic racism following the death of George Floyd. Consistent with prior research on racism and mental health, Covid-related discrimination is associated with poorer mental health outcomes in diverse Asian American samples (Cheah et al., 2021; Stop AAPI Hate Mental Health Report, 2021). However, studies rarely consider how macro-contextual factors such as ambient racial climate (including negative views of other racial groups) and community characteristics affect racialized individuals’ psychosocial experiences, intergroup relations, and collective actions aimed at addressing racial inequality. The main aim of this study is to examine how regional variations in racial climate (as indicated by sentiment analysis of geocoded Twitter data of anti-Asian and anti-Black bias as well as solidarity and allyship across racial groups) are associated with three sets of outcomes: a) racial discrimination and mental  health, b) intergroup attitudes (structural awareness, sense of belonging, political commonality/coalitional attitudes), and c) collective action and coalitional support (own-group benevolent support and political activism, Asian-Black allyship behaviors). Taking into account the diverse immigration histories and discrimination experiences of these groups, analyses will determine how regional public discourse about race affects well-being, intergroup attitudes, and collective action. The study will also examine how regional variations in residential segregation/integration and income inequality reflect community contexts for intergroup conflict, cooperation and competition (Tajfel, 1982), and may be associated with the same three sets of outcomes. Understanding the multi-level factors that shape Asian Americans’ individual and intergroup responses to racism, and subsequent civic and political engagement has important implications for community well-being and intergroup solidarity, and shaping a more inclusive, equitable, and democratic society.

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