First Advisor

Yue Ni

Term of Graduation

Summer 2026

Date of Publication

8-11-2026

Document Type

Closed Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Psychology

Department

Psychology

Language

English

Subjects

Asian American, mindset, model minority myth, racism, school engagement

Physical Description

1 online resource (viii, 77 pages)

Abstract

Asian American college students navigate educational contexts shaped by both interpersonal and societal racism, yet their developmental experiences remain understudied in higher education research. Guided by García Coll and colleagues' (1996) Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies in Minority Children, this study examined how two mechanisms of racism, external experiences of interpersonal racism and internalized endorsement of the model minority myth, relate to school engagement among Asian American college students. School engagement is conceptualized through behavioral, cognitive, and emotional (school belonging) components, reflecting students' participation, investment, and sense of connection to their academic environments. Additionally, this study investigated whether mindset, defined as students' beliefs about the malleability of intelligence, moderates the associations between racism and school engagement. Using Wave One data from the Asian American College Student Critical Consciousness Study (N = 209), hierarchical multiple regression analyses assessed the unique and combined contributions of four predictors: interpersonal racism (i.e., subtle and blatant discrimination) and societal racism operating at the intrapersonal level (i.e., achievement orientation and unrestricted mobility beliefs), to general and dimension-specific engagement. Moderation analyses tested whether students' growth mindset buffered these associations. Exploratory longitudinal analyses used Wave Two data to examine whether the four racism variables and growth mindset predicted engagement outcomes over time. Results showed that subtle discrimination, a form of interpersonal racism, was negatively associated with behavioral engagement, school belonging, and general engagement. Growth mindset was positively associated with school belonging and general engagement. Moderation analyses suggested that growth mindset shaped several associations between both subtle and blatant discrimination and school engagement, with both of them showing stronger negative associations with engagement among students with lower growth mindset. Longitudinal exploratory analyses did not show significant effects of the four racism predictors on later engagement. However, growth mindset consistently and positively predicted later cognitive engagement, and earlier school engagement consistently predicted later engagement outcomes. Overall, findings suggest that interpersonal discrimination may be especially relevant for Asian American college students' engagement and that growth mindset may shape how students remain engaged when facing racialized experiences.

Rights

© 2026 Xuan Tan My Dinh

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Comments

This thesis is only available to students, faculty and staff at PSU.

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/45139

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