Forever Foreign? Asian Australians Assimilating to Australian Culture Are Still Perceived as Less Australian Than White Australians

Abstract

Westerners of Asian descent emphasize their engagement with national culture to assert their national identity. The present research investigates whether this strategy effectively enhances observers’ perceptions of Asian Westerners’ national identity. In Study 1 (N = 160), Australian participants evaluated an Asian or White target, manipulated to be either hyper-Australian or not. In Study 2 (N = 440), targets were additionally manipulated to be either Australian-born or not. Across both studies, Asian targets depicted as hyper-Australian, Australian-born, or both, were considered more Australian than generic Asian targets. However, Asian targets were consistently rated as less Australian than White counterparts who were depicted equivalently apart from race. Thus, the strategy of heavy engagement with the national culture increases perceptions of Asian Westerners’ national identity, but not to the point that they are considered equivalently to White Westerners.