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Asians consistently report higher social anxiety symptoms but have lower prevalence rates, compared to Westerners. As cultural differences and measurement issues could both be potential sources for the discrepancy, it is important to examine whether score differences between cultural groups are due to measurement issues or genuine underlying differences in social anxiety. This study used 402 participants to examine the construct of social anxiety and measurement invariance of six social anxiety scales using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Results supported scalar invariance of a three-factor bifactor model (comprised of Fear/Avoidance of Social Interaction, Fear of Negative Evaluation, and Taijin Kyofusho/fear of interpersonal relationships). Furthermore, multivariate analysis of covariance and moderation analysis revealed Asian Americans endorsed higher Fear/Avoidance of Social Interaction symptoms, but do not differ in Taijin Kyofusho and Fear of Negative Evaluation symptoms, compared to European Americans. This study showed when measurement bias is minimized, Asians still endorse higher symptoms of Fear/Avoidance of Social Interactions. Moreover, Taijin Kyofusho appears to be an aspect of social anxiety identified in more than one cultural group rather than a culture-related specific syndrome. Thus, it is important for clinicians and researchers to consider Taijin Kyofusho in the evaluation of social anxiety. / School Psychology

The mid-1970s was a turning point in the history of New York’s Asian/American communities. As the city stood on the brink of economic collapse, the broader labor movement’s membership declined, but many Asian/American New Yorkers demonstrated their labor activism in worker centers, grassroots organizations, as well as unions. This was also a moment, as the Cold War waned, when tens of thousands of Asian migrants resettled in New York City. With the influx of migrants in a tightening economy, the nature of the city’s workforce changed, adding to the growing labor surplus, just as work was disappearing. My dissertation titled “One Rise, One Fall: Labor Organizing in New York’s Asian Communities, 1970s to the Present,” is a study of labor activists’ strategies to deal with the economic crisis and reconcile their racial difference. Through oral histories and archival research, my dissertation bridges the fields of Asian American Studies, urban studies, and labor history. While historians have examined the intense economic transformations of the 1970s, noting the changes in the labor market and decline in trade unionism, few have examined the varied attempts to organize durable unions and labor organizations in this period. My dissertation contributes a class analysis to the literature on racial formation, examining the strategies of New York’s Asian communities in harsh economic times. Dominant discourses about race and class, like yellow peril and model minority narratives, became a barrier for Asian/American labor activists looking to build worker power and remake their city. In some instances, Asian/American workers were perceived as dangerous foreigners who were taking white working-class jobs, and in other contexts, they were docile and deserving subjects in contrast to black and brown Americans. These two poles – of yellow peril and model minority narratives – informed Asian/American labor mobilizations. This study examines how race and class were inextricably intertwined, affecting modes of labor organizing in every industry. Opening with a study of Asian/American building tradesmen and their fight for jobs in the mid-1970s, “One Rise, One Fall” examines the multiple strategies that Asian/American workers deployed in order to cope with economic changes and racial discrimination. In my study, Asian/American organizers struggled to organize new immigrants in the Chinese restaurant industry in the 1980s, and rank-and-file garment workers fought for fair piece rates despite the logics of a global supply chain in the 2000s. Each chapter is a case study of organizing strategies in midst of Asian/American laborers’ varied circumstances of citizenship, race, class, and gender. As labor organizing became increasingly difficult in an era of increased migrations, weakened labor laws, and globalized production, labor mobilizations in Asian communities occurred in and outside of unions. My research reveals the capacity and creativity of labor activism in grassroots organizations, worker centers, and labor unions, since the 1970s. Through this case-study approach, my dissertation analyzes the experiences of organizers and workers, in order to investigate how Asian/Americans navigated the politics of work, difference, and the radical restructuring of the urban-based global economy. / History

To understand infant-feeding patterns among Hmong women in St. Paul, MN, this qualitative study used a convenience sample of 21 Hmong mothers who had at least 1 child under the age of 2. Drawing on interviews and questionnaires, this researcher explored (a) how participants described their traditional and American cultural traditions, beliefs, and values, (b) their infant-feeding practices, and (c) how their infant-feeding practices are shaped by adaptations to traditional and American cultures. In this sample, those women who had recently immigrated to the United States were more likely to exclusively use formula. Interviews suggest that American norms of breastfeeding in public, hectic lifestyles in a new country, and lack of cultural knowledge about pumping and storing breast milk influenced 1st- and 1.5-generation participants to exclusively use formula. For 2nd-generation participants, the awkwardness of breastfeeding in public was also cited as an important influence on their decision to use formula. However, quite different from 1st- and 1.5-generation women, 2nd-generation women were more educated and more likely to be employed in less segregated and professional occupations, which exposed them to mothers of different backgrounds who were breastfeeding. This exposure to breastfeeding mothers appeared to influence breastfeeding initiation among 2nd-generation Hmong. This study also found that negative social support from participants' mothers and mothers-in-law, and positive social support from sisters and sisters-in-law had a strong impact on their infant-feeding decisions. Unlike previous research among Hispanic immigrants, this study revealed that 2nd-generation Hmong immigrants were slightly more likely to include some form of breastfeeding in their infant-feeding method. This study also revealed the importance of social support and the role of the ethnic community in infant-feeding choices. More research is needed, however, to further clarify the relationship between acculturation and social support on breastfeeding initiation and duration among various immigrant populations. / Sociology

This study researches the involvement and engagement of Asian college students in the United States. Utilizing Astin's Theory of Student Involvement, Tinto's Interactionalist Theory, and the Model Minority Stereotype as its theoretical foundation, this study examines if colleges and universities are truly engaging its Asian student populations through the variables of mentorship relationships, involvement inside and outside of the classroom, and leadership opportunities. The study takes the additional step of examining intra-group variability among Asian students, in an effort to determine if different ethnic group memberships and generation/citizenship status play a role in the experience of Asian college students. Using data from the 2009 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership Survey, the study utilizes path analysis to build a path model linking the aforementioned variables with self-esteem and self-confidence. / Urban Education