The Role of the Internalized Model Minority Myth on Mental Health-Related Attitudes Within a Hawaii-Based Sample of Asian American College Students

• Published in: International journal for the advancement of counselling 2024-06, Vol.46 (2), p.306-322
• Main Authors: Lau, Sophia B., Jo, Duckhyun, Nakamura, Lisa, Spencer, Samuel D., Masuda, Akihiko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asian Americans; Asian people; Attitudes; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Clinical Psychology; College students; Counseling; Health behavior; Health services; Help seeking behavior; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Mental disorders; Mental health; Mental health care; Minority & ethnic groups; Mythology; Original Article; Psychological Methods/Evaluation; Psychology; Psychotherapy and Counseling; Stigma; Student attitudes; Teenagers
• ISSN: 0165-0653; 1573-3246
• DOI: 10.1007/s10447-024-09552-5

In the present study, we investigated whether the internalized model minority myth was associated with a range of mental health-related attitudes in a sample of Asian American college students in Hawaiʻi. Participants were 391 Asian American college students recruited from psychology courses at a 4-year public university in Hawaiʻi. As part of their course activities, they voluntarily completed an online survey package that included the measures of interest. The achievement facet of the internalized model minority myth was positively and uniquely associated with the exclusion and course/origin facets of mental health stigma (i.e., stigmatizing attitudes toward people with a psychological disorder). The unrestricted mobility facet of the internalized model minority myth was positively and uniquely associated with the course/origin facet of mental health stigma. Neither facet of the internalized model minority myth was associated with mental health help-seeking attitudes. Implications of these findings and future directions in research are discussed.