The Ace Student
A Study on the Effects of the Model Minority Stereotype
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.624Keywords:
Asian students, Model Minority, ACEAbstract
With the rise of Asian populations in the United States came the development of various social challenges that not only limited opportunity and discriminated against early Asian immigrants, but also led to the eventual formation of the model minority stereotype. Although perceptions surrounding the model minority stereotype have evolved over the years, it continues to impact millions of lives across the nation by increasing the risk of developing anxiety disorders or depression (among other effects) in Asian American students, which necessitated its investigation. Thus, this paper seeks to examine the origins of this stereotype as well as its impact on Asian Americans and by extension, other ethnic/culture groups in the United States, and combines these findings with the psychology of motivation and human behavior in order to explain the possible link between these two areas. It finally arrives at the conclusion that wide-spread education and awareness of the model minority stereotype’s lesser-known impacts may be a step in the right direction, although further action must be taken to effectively mitigate this stereotype’s harmful effects moving into the future.
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