Subjective Social Standing of Asian Americans: Neighborhood Context and Psychosocial Resources

Background and Purpose

According to theories of class and social stratification, socioeconomic status (SES) underlies social hierarchies and is associated with the inequality in psychosocial and material well-being as well as various aspects of health. Though research traditionally has operationalized social status as education, income, and occupation, such objective SES only measures some but not all aspects of social stratification hierarchy and unequal derived power. Individuals’ own perception of their comparative social standing may capture broader sense of well-being than objective measures by incorporating an assessment of their backgrounds and cognitive belongingness with the others in the similar objective position. Furthermore, individual social standing is largely determined by living environment, and hence should be examined in the neighborhood context.

The present study focuses on the subjective social status of Asian Americans, one of the fastest growing racial minorities in the U.S. As a racial minority group, Asian Americans encounter social adversities, such as racism, that can take form of structural inequality and inhibits their social standing. With this regard, the purpose of the present study is to examine the influence of individual and neighborhood level socioeconomic and psychosocial resources on Asian Americans’ sense of position in the United States.

Methods

We used National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). The sample consisted of 2,095 Asian American adults living in 251 neighborhoods. Dependent variable was subjective social standing and independent variables consisted of socioeconomic and psychosocial resources at the individual- (e.g., household income, racial discrimination) and neighborhood-level (e.g., neighborhood poverty rate, Asian ethnic density). Using hierarchical linear modeling, we examined five sequential models including the null model, the random intercept model with covariates, the random coefficient model with census tract predictors, the random coefficient model with individual and census tract predictors, and the random coefficient model with cross-level interaction term between ethnic identity and Asian ethnic density.

Results

Our results indicated that both neighborhood and individual factors are important for social standing. On the neighborhood level, residence in a neighborhood with higher poverty rates (γ=1.95, p<.05) and lower Asian ethnic density (γ =-.64, p<.05) were associated with higher subjective social standing adjusting for age, gender, ethnicity, and place of birth. Individuals with higher level of education attainment (γ=.11, p<.001), high or moderate household income (γ=.90, p<.001; γ=.51, p<.001), and white collar occupation (γ=.32, p<.05), reported significantly higher subjective social standing. Lower exposure to racial discrimination (γ=-.06, p<.001) and stronger social cohesion (γ=.05, p<.05) were significantly associated with better subjective social standing. The significant cross-level interaction between ethnic identity and Asian ethnic density (γ =-1.22, p<.05) indicated stronger negative association between Asian ethnic density and subjective social standing among those with strong ethnic identity.

Conclusions and Implications

Our study highlights that the subjective social status of Asian Americans should be understood based on both individual and environmental factors. The present study findings will enhance the understanding of social status and social inequality faced by Asian Americans and hence develop culturally sensitive research and intervention that promotes Asian Americans’ psychological well-being.