Asian ethnic subgroup moderates the relationship between Asian American discrimination experiences and solidarity with Black Americans

The Asian American category is an ethnically diverse group, yet research has not examined how Asian ethnic subgroup differences may lead to differences in discrimination experiences and solidarity perceptions. Given that Asian subgroups vary by skin tone, prototypicality, and solidarity history, we would expect these subgroups to differ in their experiences and responses to discrimination. Here, we examine how Asian ethnic subgroup moderates associations between Asian Americans’ perceived discrimination events since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and solidarity with Black Americans. A large, ethnically diverse sample of self-identified Asian Americans (N = 2,309) completed a series of measures as part of an online survey. Overall, Chinese (n = 604), Japanese (n = 148), Korean (n = 244), and Vietnamese participants (n = 311) reported more discrimination events than Indian (n = 333) and Filipino participants (n = 399) during this time period. Critically, all but Korean participants showed a positive relationship between reported discrimination events since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and perceptions of both linked fate and similarity with Black Americans. Our findings demonstrate the ways that Asian subgroups’ experiences differ, and how these differences might, in turn, predict responses to discrimination that foster intra-minority solidarity between Asian and Black Americans.