Generational Status,Gender,and Health: The Role of Identity Centrality among Asian Americans in the United States

Abstract

Scholarship on immigrant health among Asian Americans in the United States has been limited in its discussion of identities as a useful marker of integration. At the same time, a large volume of research has focused on the foreign-born population, with relatively fewer studies including their native-born counterparts. As a result, little is known about how identities can enhance or risk the health of Asian Americans comparatively across generational status. In recognition of such gaps in existing literature, I use the 2016 National Asian American Survey (n = 4,242) and examine how Asian/ethnic/American identity centrality moderates the relationship between generational status and self-rated health among Asian American adults, with gender as a key modifier. I find that Asian identity centrality operates as a health protective resource among foreign-born immigrants regardless of gender. In contrast, it functions as a risk to health among second-generation men and third-generation women. American identity centrality is also a risk to health, but specifically among 1.5- and second-generation men and women. Notably, ethnic identity centrality is detrimental to the health of 1.5-generation men. Findings reveal nuanced patterns of Asian American integration into U.S. society and their relationships to health. Future research should continue to advance knowledge on generational disparities in health among Asian Americans, with greater attention to gender specificity and social psychological mechanisms.