The ‘success’ image of Asian Americans: Its validity, and its practical and theoretical implications1

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Abstract
The success stereotype of Asian Americans is examined in terms of three major research questions. (1) What factors account for the vicissitudes of the dominant group's perception of Asian Americans since 1850? (2) To what extent is the current success image of Asian Americans true? (3) How would such a model minority image affect Asian Americans, the other minorities, and majority Americans? The first question is addressed by historical data, and the second and third questions are answered by analyses of census data supplemented by other empirical data on Asian Americans. Factors accounting for the changes of the dominant group's image of Asian Americans are found to be primarily situational, and our analyses in the light of the principle of earnings equity indicate that the success image is largely a myth due to labour market disadvantages and other related social problems. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed in the conclusion.