Perceived prototypicality of Asian subgroups in the United States and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Asians are monolithically categorized under one broad racial label despite their diverse compositions (e.g., with national origins from South, East, Southeast, or West Asia). Some Asian subgroups are perceived to be more prototypically Asian than others and cultural contexts may further shape such perception. With historically longstanding presence of East Asians in the United States and South Asians in the United Kingdom, we theorized that the perceived prototypicality of different Asian subgroups in the two countries would reflect these respective historical saliencies. Three studies (N = 849) examined how (non-Asian) Americans and Britons perceive different Asian subgroups in terms of how prototypically Asian and how foreign they seem. Studies 1 and 2 found that compared to British participants, Americans perceived East and Southeast Asians as more prototypically Asian; Britons considered South Asians as more prototypically Asian than American participants. Study 3 showed that Americans perceived East and Southeast Asians to be less foreign and more prototypically American than South and West Asians; in contrast, Britons perceived South Asians to be less foreign and more prototypically British than all other Asian subgroups. This research demonstrates the importance of disaggregating Asian subgroups and contextualizing prototype theories within sociohistorical frameworks.

The Pandemic and the “Perpetual Foreigner”: How Threats Posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic Relate to Stereotyping of Asian Americans

“…Thus, our results should not be assumed to generalize beyond this sub-population. In addition, although previous work suggests that many White Americans blur distinctions between different Asian cultural and national groups, there are clear reasons to believe that studying perceptions of specific Asian subgroups could yield meaningful nuance (Goh and McCue, 2021). In our study, we followed prior work in focusing on Asian Americans as an aggregate group, but we recognize that investigations focusing on perceptions of Asians with different national heritages could prove extremely valuable.…”

Gendered Perceptions of East and South Asian Men

“…As such, the larger Asian American group is seen as more feminine than other racial groups. Yet the emasculation of Asian men does not coincide with the bearded terrorist stereotype because "Brown" South Asians are not typically perceived as Asian Americans despite their self-identification in the category (Goh & McCue, 2021; J. Lee & Ramakrishnan, 2020;Thangaraj, 2015).…”

“…To our knowledge, the research reviewed thus far has exclusively used East Asian faces as targets, while excluding other Asian subgroups such as South Asian Americans. Although researchers and lay people alike may not consider South Asians as Asian Americans (Goh & McCue, 2021;J. Lee & Ramakrishnan, 2020), this should not preclude their representation in research.…”

“…This racial group is incredibly diverse, with multi-ethnic groups that can trace their national origins and heritage throughout more than 20 Asian countries. Yet despite this diversity, East Asian Americans are considered the prototypical representation of Asian Americans (Goh & McCue, 2021;Kuo et al, 2020;J. Lee & Ramakrishnan, 2020;Park, 2008).…”

“…The dominance of East Asian prototype translates beyond social cognition and into psychological research, as much of research and theories center and generalize from East Asians (Goh & McCue, 2021). As such, much of the literature on Asian American stereotypes is actually on stereotypes of East Asian Americans specifically.…”