Microaggressions and self-esteem in emerging Asian American adults: The moderating role of racial socialization.

The current study explores the moderating role of racial socialization in the relation between experiences of racial microaggressions and individual self-esteem and racial microaggressions and collective self-esteem for Asian American emerging adults. Asian American emerging adults (Mage = 23.83 years, SD = 2.83; N = 87) completed the Racial and Ethnic Microaggression Scale, the Perceived Racial Socialization Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Collective Self-Esteem Scale. Results suggest a negative correlation between racial microaggression experiences with both individual self-esteem, r = −.34, p = .001 and public self-esteem, r = −.35, p = .001, a component of collective self-esteem. Depending on type and level of message, racial socialization may serve as a protective factor in racial microaggressions and self-esteem relations. Specifically, results suggest a significant interaction when promotion of mistrust was tested as a moderator of the microaggressions–individual self-esteem relation (b = .063, SE = .026), t(86) = 2.47, p = .015, where the relation between microaggressions and self-esteem was only significant at low and moderate levels of promotion of mistrust. Promotion of mistrust also moderated the microaggressions–private self-esteem relation (b = .045, SE = .02), t(86) = 2.30, p = .024. However, when promotion of mistrust moderated this relation, the relation was nonsignificant at all levels (low, moderate, and high). An examination of simple slopes suggests a change in the direction of the relation between microaggressions and private self-esteem from negative for low and moderate levels of promotion of mistrust to positive for high levels of promotion of mistrust. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)

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