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In the process of navigating my own identity as I grow up and mature, the label “Asian” poses various influences on me since it brings expectations about my origins, values, actions, physical identity, etc. Although I have not been told officially about what other people expect me to be as an Asian living in the States, I did experience some “positive stereotypes” here, both directly and indirectly.

I was able to pass math exams easily when I was in high school, and my classmates would ask me for help and praise me by saying, “Asians do good at math!” I have to admit that I felt satisfied for helping my classmates and also proud of myself and my Asian identity when I heard the compliment. The praise from others motivated me to do better on my coursework. However, gradually, in my deep consciousness, I sometimes started to feel uncomfortable, vulnerable or ashamed to fail or to ask for help, because I thought in my school I represented the image of a good Asian student who should always be smart and good at studying.

This experience made me rethink about the “positive stereotypes” of Asian Americans in the States and the impact they might have on Asian Americans mentally. It is often conspicuous that generalizing a group of people as having an undesirable trait is disrespectful. However, would the situation be completely reversed when we talk about a positive stereotype? When we generalize Asian Americans as smart and hardworking, is there a negative side that we might have overlooked? Thus, I would like to explore in this project how the perception of “model minority” could influence Asian Americans’ mental well-being.
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I created an illustration in Adobe Illustrator titled “Look at Asians beyond the small bubbles.” I tried to use a metaphor to convey the idea that many people in the U.S. generalize Asians as having some similar traits, values, or beliefs. Instead, I wish more people could look beyond the small bubbles of Asian community and realize each of us is unique.

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I interviewed my friend, Alex, who immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong, China when he was in elementary school. He is a valuable person to learn from because he comes from a multicultural background and came to the U.S. at an early age. Here is what I learned from the conversation with him:

Growing up in the U.S., Alex experienced different kinds of stereotypical perceptions associated with Asians. He has been passionate about art and music since he was a little kid, and “has no interest in math or science growing up.” However, when he started high school here in the U.S., he felt the expectations teachers and his peers might have on him because of the positive stereotypes associated with Asians. “My classmates would assume I’m good at math. But I’m not. And this makes me stressed because I don’t live up with their expectations,” Alex said. Despite expectations on academic achievements, he also experienced stereotypical perceptions about his family. According to Alex, he was assumed to have a rich family by his peers, even by some Asian international students, but he actually came from a family where none of his parents work in technical fields and he received financial aid from school. When it comes to mental health, Alex described himself as being “optimistic and mentally healthy” because his parents and siblings are supportive. However, he also mentioned that the topic of mental health was “rarely discussed in his family.” He feels that in today’s society, mental health is becoming a more and more important subject and there are a variety of “solutions and apps that solve mental health problems.” Alex thinks this is a good sign that people are realizing the importance of mental health and are working to better the treatment of mental health issues.

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In order to explore my critical question, I read through five articles (all included in my Annotated Bibliography), interviewed one of my friends, Alex, who is an immigrant from China to the United States, created illustrations based on the current situation, and combined my personal experience. As a result, I was able to gather some important insights regarding the “model minority” myth and how it could impact Asian Americans’ mental well-being.

This topic is worth investigating in the first place because some positive stereotypes associated with Asian Americans cannot or should not encapsulate the traits and experiences of people coming from very different cultural backgrounds. The term, “model minority” was coined in the 1960s and has been used to imply that Asian Americans are financially and educationally successful compared to other racial or ethnic groups. This false notion could further segregate Asian American communities and pose potential harms to Asian Americans’ mental health.

According to a focus group research done by Ruiz et al., many Asian Americans who participated in the study regarded the “model minority” myth as being harmful. Their negative experiences include not being able to match up the expectations based on “model minority” myth with their own experience as some of them come from impoverished communities and some of them are not academically successful at certain subjects, such as math and science. The common pattern here is that Asian Americans are frustrated to be placed in the “model minority” box. Yu’s article, “Asian Americans: The Overrepresented Minority?: Dispelling the ‘Model Minority’ Myth” further adds fuel to the fire. In contrast to the common notion that individuals can become successful when they are intelligent and hard-working, Asian Americans are in fact the least likely group in the United States to be promoted to leadership or management roles. The gap between how Asian Americans are perceived and how they truly achieved may be potentially harmful to their mental well-being.

There are some major themes of Asian American youth’s mental health issues concluded by Lee et al. in their research. The themes include “pressure to meet parental expectations of high academic achievement and live up to the ‘model minority’ stereotype,” hardship in “balancing two different cultures and communicating with parents,” strong obligations due to Asian family values, and “discrimination or isolation due to racial or cultural background.” Amongst these themes, Asian American stereotypes of being smart and hard-working may have placed more pressure on Asian American youths. Moreover, when Asian American youths’ mental health are negatively affected, they are less likely to seek help from professionals. One study found that only 17 percent of Asian American young adults who experience mental health problems sought professional care.

Studies have also demonstrated the positive relationship between model minority stereotypes and symptoms of depression. Despite the leading suicidal rates among Asian American youths, their mental health issues are still overlooked in today’s society. Because of the Asian cultural norm that emphasizes a reserved character, some Asian American youths tend to suppress their feelings and feel ashamed to reveal their mental health problems to others, including professionals. Another deterrent of Asian Americans’ help-seeking behavior is a lack of mental health professionals who are able to “offer linguistically and culturally appropriate care,” according to Lee et al.

It is no doubt that in today’s world, the topic of mental health is becoming increasingly prominent and more and more people realize that mental health is as important as physical health. However, when we stress the importance of mental health, we should also consider how to raise awareness and provide better care for all human beings and not overlook the needs of Asian American community. After the research, I started to become conscious about the “model minority” myth and moving forward, I can practice not being affected by the stereotypes and coping with stress in different ways rather than suppressing myself. There is an opportunity to learn more about how we can create better mental health care for Asian Americans and I will keep exploring that in the future.

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