The Model Minority as a Shared Reality and Its Implication for Interracial Perceptions

Despite the disparities of the life experiences among Asian Americans, the model minority stereotype continues to propagate in the United States. Taking a shared reality theory perspective, we demonstrate that the model minority image of being diligent, high achieving, and submissive is a characteristic representation of Asian Americans that is widely shared among Americans (Study 1). In addition, Americans assume that most people in the United States expect Asian Americans to conform to the model minority image (Study 2). Taken together, these results suggest that the model minority representation is a shared reality in the United States. Furthermore, results from an experimental study (Study 3) confirms that media exposure to Asian-American successes can strengthen European Americans’ belief in the model minority as a shared reality, broadening the difference between the perceived acceptance of Asian Americans and African Americans in the community. Such exposure also strengthens European Americans’ inclination to align their personal attitudes toward Asian Americans with their perceived shared attitude in the community.