The Model Minority Stereotype and Republican Partisan Identification Among Asian Americans

What explains Republican partisanship among Asian Americans? Scholars have extensively examined the factors associated with Democratic partisan orientations among Asian Americans, yet little is known about what informs increasing support for Republicans within this diverse pan-ethnic community. Asian Americans hold a distinctive position in the racial hierarchy, stereotyped as “model minorities,” who are venerated as putatively more hardworking than other ethno-racial minority groups. We argue that this stereotype is linked to values associated with the Republican Party, including self-reliance, meritocracy, and achievement. In turn, we predict that belief in the model minority stereotype contributes to Republican partisanship among Asian Americans. Using national survey data, we find that believing in the model minority stereotype is associated with Republican identification. A pre-registered survey experiment further tests whether increasing the salience of common Asian American stereotypes through hypothetical reports influences their partisanship. The results show that priming the model minority stereotype leads to small increases in Asian American support for Republicans on several affective measures at levels that are marginally significant (p < 0.10). These findings indicate that Republican partisanship among Asian Americans is linked to perceptions of their group’s positioning in the American racial hierarchy.