This study examined the impact of discrimination, shame, and acculturation on the psychological wellbeing of East Asian international students in the U.S. Using the Minority Stress Theory as a framework, discrimination and shame were hypothesized to have a significant negative relationship with wellbeing while acculturation was hypothesized to moderate these relationships. A sample (N = 281) of East Asian international undergraduate students completed a web-based survey with measures of perceived discrimination, interpersonal shame, acculturation, and mental health outcomes. Regression analyses containing wellbeing (outcome), acculturation (moderator), discrimination (predictor), and shame (predictor) were performed to test the hypotheses using SPSS PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2018). As hypothesized, discrimination and shame were found to negatively predict wellbeing. Acculturation was found to moderate the relationship between shame and wellbeing. Specifically, adherence to the heritage culture intensified the impact of both external shame and family shame on wellbeing. Adherence to the host culture was found to intensify the impact of family shame but not external shame on wellbeing. Different from the hypothesis, acculturation did not moderate the relationship between discrimination and wellbeing. Implications were provided to guide future directions for research, practice, and policy.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study examined the impact of discrimination, shame, and acculturation on the psychological wellbeing of East Asian international students in the U.S. Using the Minority Stress Theory as a framework, discrimination and shame were hypothesized to have a significant negative relationship with wellbeing while acculturation was hypothesized to moderate these relationships. A sample (N = 281) of East Asian international undergraduate students completed a web-based survey with measures of perceived discrimination, interpersonal shame, acculturation, and mental health outcomes. Regression analyses containing wellbeing (outcome), acculturation (moderator), discrimination (predictor), and shame (predictor) were performed to test the hypotheses using SPSS PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2018). As hypothesized, discrimination and shame were found to negatively predict wellbeing. Acculturation was found to moderate the relationship between shame and wellbeing. Specifically, adherence to the heritage culture intensified the impact of both external shame and family shame on wellbeing. Adherence to the host culture was found to intensify the impact of family shame but not external shame on wellbeing. Different from the hypothesis, acculturation did not moderate the relationship between discrimination and wellbeing. Implications were provided to guide future directions for research, practice, and policy.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Ko, Shao-Jung Stella"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Patton O. Garriott","Andi M. Pusavat","Duan Zhang"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:02:53Z","subjects":["Acculturation","Asian","Discrimination","International students","Mental health","Shame","Counseling Psychology","Education","Educational Psychology","Multicultural Psychology","Psychology","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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