Static Status, Shifting Sociability: Competence and Warmth in Asian American Intraminority Boundary-Making

This study investigates intraminority boundary-making among Asian Americans, testing how the panethnic umbrella fractures along the stereotype content model’s two dimensions of competence and warmth. Using the 2016 National Asian American Survey (N = 4,362), I identify a dual process of racialization. Competence, representing group status, operates as a globalized baseline imported upon arrival and remains static throughout the immigrant life span. Warmth, reflecting sociability and benign intent, functions as a localized, actively socialized boundary: Rather than narrowing over time, the warmth gap between white Americans and marginalized racial and ethnic groups widens with U.S. residency. These findings suggest that for Asian Americans, the path toward “honorary white” status requires a strategic performance of social distancing, where “becoming American” means actively marginalizing specific outgroups.