Counselling Psychology Quarterly

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Body shame among Asian American college

women: the roles of sexual objectification,
internalized racism, and ethnic identity strength

Hsiu-Lan Cheng

To cite this article: Hsiu-Lan Cheng (2023) Body shame among Asian American college women:
the roles of sexual objectification, internalized racism, and ethnic identity strength, Counselling
Psychology Quarterly, 36:1, 112-133, DOI: 10.1080/09515070.2022.2065664

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2022.2065664

Published online: 16 Apr 2022.

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COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY
2023, VOL. 36, NO. 1, 112–133
https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2022.2065664

Body shame among Asian American college women: the roles

of sexual objectification, internalized racism, and ethnic
identity strength
Hsiu-Lan Cheng
Department of Counseling Psychology, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Informed by objectification theory’s tenet that sexual objectifica­ Received 1 December 2021
tion and racism are powerful sociocultural forces that perniciously Accepted 26 March 2022
impact women of color’s mental health, the present study exam­ KEYWORDS
ined the longitudinal links of sexual objectification and three forms Sexual objectification;
of internalized racism (i.e. self-negativity, weakness stereotype, internalized racism; ethnic
appearance bias) with body shame among Asian American college identity; body shame/body
women (N = 146). Ethnic identity strength, a theorized protective image; Asian American
factor in body image literature, was examined as a moderator for women
the hypothesized longitudinal links. Results indicated that sexual
objectification and self-negativity measured at Time 1 had signifi­
cant and positive bivariate associations with body shame measured
at Time 2. However, these variables no longer predicted body
shame when body mass index (BMI) was included as a covariate.
A significant interaction between appearance bias and ethnic iden­
tity strength emerged in predicting body shame. Specifically, high
ethnic identity strength exacerbated the detrimental effect of
appearance bias on Asian American women’s body shame, whereas
low ethnic identity strength buffered this effect. This finding contra­
dicts theoretical views of ethnic identity strength as a protective
factor in women of color’s body image development. Practice
implications and future research directions are discussed.

Historically, body dissatisfaction was thought to be a White female problem that did not
affect women of color in the United States (U.S.), but meta-analytic and large-scale studies
have indicated small or negligible differences in body dissatisfaction among U.S. women
across racial groups (Cheng, Perko, Fuller-Marashi, Gau, & Stice, 2019; Grabe & Hyde, 2006;
Shaw, Ramirez, Trost, Randall, & Stice, 2004). Due to mass media’s idealization of thinness,
many women have become preoccupied with body shape, weight, and size (Striegel-
Moore & Bulik, 2007). Indeed, females are socialized to base their self-confidence on their
physical attractiveness and taught that the female body is “valued predominantly for its
use to (or consumption by) others” (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997, p. 174). Consequently,
women may begin to agree with, rather than refute, the objectifying messages concern­
ing their bodies and may internalize unrealistic appearance standards. Women may feel
ashamed of their bodies (i.e. body shame) if they perceive their bodies to be deviated far

CONTACT Hsiu-Lan Cheng hcheng13@usfca.edu

© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 113

from the societally propagated body ideals (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Empirical
studies have linked body shame to mental health problems that disproportionately affect
women, including depression, eating disorder issues, and trauma symptomatology (e.g.
Miles-McLean et al., 2015; Moradi, Dirks, & Matteson, 2005; Velez, Campos, & Moradi,
2015).
Racial minority women may be at additional risk for body shame and related concerns
as – aside from sexism – racial stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination can convey
messages that diminish and degrade the humanity of women of color, including depict­
ing them in racially objectified ways (Moradi, 2010, 2013; Moradi & Huang, 2008). For
example, African American women are often denigrated as sexually insatiable “Jezebels”
(Thomas, Witherspoon, & Speight, 2004; Watson et al., 2012) and Asian American women
are usually stereotyped as a hypersexualized “Dragon Lady” or sexually exotic “China
Dolls” (Shimizu, 2007; Yokoyama, 2007). Racial minority stressors, such as racism, may play
a critical role in racial minority women’s body image development (Kawamura, 2011;
Striegel-Moore & Smolak, 2000), particularly when racism or oppressive experiences are
internalized (Choi, Israel, & Maeda, 2017; Hwang, 2021). Accordingly, the first aim of the
present study was to investigate sexual objectification, internalized racism, and body
shame among Asian American college women.
The focus on Asian American college women is informed by the literature indicating
that they are a significantly understudied and underserved group in body image research
and practice (Franko, Becker, Thomas, & Herzog, 2007; Lee-Winn, Mendelson, & Mojtabai,
2014). For example, although research indicates that Asian American college women
reported lower levels of body satisfaction than their peers of European, African, or
Hispanic/Latina heritages (Forbes & Frederick, 2008), Asian American college students,
compared to students of other racial heritage, were less likely to be referred for assess­
ment of body image issues and eating disorders even when problematic behaviors (e.g.
laxative use) were present (Franko et al., 2007). Scholars have called for examining
whether certain cultural factors may modify the effects of sociocultural stressors on racial
minority women’s body image concerns (Croll, Neumark-Sztainer, Story, & Ireland, 2002;
Striegel-Moore & Smolak, 2000). Ethnic identity is among the most frequently theorized
and examined resource factors and cultural assets for racial/ethnic minorities (Priest et al.,
2013). Accordingly, the second aim of the present study was to examine ethnic identity
strength as a moderator on the relationships between sexual objectification, internalized
racism, and body shame in Asian American women.

Sexual objectification
Sexual objectification refers to the treatment of women as sexual objects and the reduc­
tion of their whole beings to their bodies or body parts (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997).
Sexual objectification manifests in women’s everyday environments through interperso­
nal encounters (e.g. male gaze) and visual media (e.g. sexualized portrays), and can breed
body shame and related concerns in women (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997). Objectification
theory purports that external messages and experiences of sexual objectification can seep
into women’s psychological processes to shape the way they think and feel about their
bodies, resulting in self-objectification – that is, the internalization of an “observer’s
perspective on their physical selves” (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997, p. 177). Women may
114 H.-L. CHENG

begin to view their bodies in similarly sexualized ways and evaluate their appearance
according to the objectifying sociocultural standards; consequently, they may experience
body shame if they believe that their physical appearance falls short of standards of
attractiveness (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997).
In support of objectification theory, empirical studies have documented a significant
and positive correlation between experiences of sexual objectification and body shame
among African American (e.g. Watson, Ancis, White, & Nazari, 2013), Latina (e.g. Velez
et al., 2015), and primarily European American women samples (e.g. Moradi et al., 2005).
No known published studies have specifically investigated sexual objectification experi­
ences and body shame among Asian American women, but related research has indicated
a positive correlation between Asian American women’s encounters of general sexist
events (e.g. unfair treatment by instructors or teachers because of one’s identity as
a woman) and body shame (Le, Kuo, & Yamasaki, 2020). This related research, together
with sexual objectification research findings based on other racial minority women
described above, support the hypothesis of a positive association between sexual objec­
tification experiences and body shame among Asian American college women.

Racism as objectification
As members of disenfranchised racial and gender minority groups, Asian American
women face the double jeopardy of racism and sexism, which can increase their suscept­
ibility to developing body image and eating concerns (Cheng & Kim, 2018). Expansions of
objectification theory (Moradi, 2010, 2013) conceptualize racism as a powerful socializa­
tion force that serves to objectify people of color (e.g. treatment as racial objects rather
than whole human beings) and communicates the inadequacy of their physical attributes.
Specifically, racist messages and acts connote the unworthiness of non-White bodies
while upholding Whiteness and European American physical features as desirable and
favorable, which may leave Asian American women (and other persons of color) suscep­
tible to negative feelings about their body image.
Empirical studies have provided support for the links between racism variables and
body shame among Asian American women. For example, gendered racial microaggres­
sions (i.e. subtle and commonplace biased treatment based both on race and gender;
Keum et al., 2018) had a positive direct link to body shame in a sample of Asian American
college and adult women (Le et al., 2020). Experiencing general racial discrimination,
encountering teasing related to racial physical attributes, and being stereotyped as
a perpetual foreigner were associated with greater body shame among Asian American
college women through increased levels of internalization of the thin ideal and chronic
monitoring and self-consciousness of how one’s body may be judged by others (Cheng,
Tran, Miyake, & Kim, 2017).

Internalized racism
Another powerful and potentially more insidious form of racism is internalized racism,
which refers to the adoption of racist messages and attitudes into one’s belief system such
that one thinks, feels, and behaves in ways that agree with dominant White narratives
about racial minorities (Choi et al., 2017; David, Schroeder, & Fernandez, 2019; Hwang,
 COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 115

2021). Internalized racism can manifest in racial self-loathing, stereotypes, discrimination,

endorsement of White supremacy, and adoption of racist principles; thereby, racial
minority individuals unknowingly perpetuate racial inequalities and oppression against
themselves and their own groups (David, 2013; Freire, 1970; Hwang, 2021). As internalized
racism involves deprecation of one’s racial identity (e.g. believing that one’s race or
ethnicity is inferior to White/European American heritages; Helms, 1995), it may influence
racial/ethnic minority individuals’ overall self-concept, including how they feel about their
physical appearance (Choi et al., 2017; Hwang, 2021).
Although Asian Americans have been stereotyped as a “model minority” group that
enjoys educational and economic success and suffers few problems, they have endured
much overlooked racial injustice (Cheng et al., 2021). Examples of systemic racism (e.g.
denial of citizenship, immigration ban, internment camps, exploitation of Asian immigrant
labor) are replete in Asian American history (Chou & Feagin, 2015; Gee, Ro, Shariff-Marco,
& Chae, 2009) and individual experiences of discrimination are common (e.g. 62.4% of
Asian Americans reported encounters of routine racial discrimination, Chae et al., 2008).
Opinion polls of the American general public across decades have revealed themes of
anti-Asian sentiments, including perceiving Asian Americans as less patriotic and taking
away jobs from other Americans (Gee et al., 2009). Anti-Asian racism and xenophobia have
become even more rampant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many Asian Americans are
blamed for the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S. and numerous anti-Asian incidents (e.g.
verbal insults, vandalism, physical violence) have been reported (Borja et al., 2020; Jeung,
Horse, Popovic, & Lim, 2021). As such, the historical and contemporary anti-Asian milieu
may be internalized into Asian American individuals’ ideological systems such that they
may unwittingly identify with the denigrating messages and racist attitudes toward the
overall Asian American population, including how they feel about other Asian Americans,
their own Asian identity, and even their Asian physical attributes and features.
Choi et al. (2017) developed the Internalized Racism in Asian American Scale (IRAAS) and
found three dimensions of internalized racism among Asian Americans. The first dimen­
sion is termed self-negativity, which refers to a global depreciation of one’s own Asian
American identity, and can manifest in disliking being Asian American, wishing one was of
another racial identity, and demonstrating negative feelings toward other Asian
Americans. The second dimension is weakness stereotypes, which represents an adoption
of predominantly negative stereotypes of Asian Americans as having flaws or weaknesses
inherent to their Asian identity. Examples include beliefs that Asian Americans are less
assertive, incompetent leaders, socially awkward, physically weaker, and having other
deficits inherent to their race. The third dimension is appearance bias, which involves
a wide endorsement of Eurocentric features and standards of attractiveness and unfavor­
ably evaluating Asian Americans against Eurocentric norms. Examples include
a devaluation of phenotypic features associated with Asians, preference for lighter skin
color, and alteration of one’s own appearance to approximate idealized Eurocentric
features and appearance.
Empirical research has indicated that internalized racism (variedly defined in different
studies) is positively associated with a range of physical (e.g. cardiovascular disease,
abdominal obesity) and psychological (e.g. depression; psychological distress) concerns
among diverse groups (see Gale et al., 2020 for a meta-analysis); however, no known
empirical studies have specifically examined the associations of internalized racism and
116 H.-L. CHENG

body image constructs among Asian Americans. Two related studies, however, have
examined the link between internalized racism-related constructs and body image
among one Asian American ethnic group in particular. Specifically, David and Okazaki
(2006) found that among Filipino American individuals with high colonial mentality,
defined as internalized oppression following colonialism, a noteworthy characteristic is
a dissatisfaction with Filipino (i.e. non-European) physical features. In another study,
higher levels of colonial mentality were associated with more body dissatisfaction
among Filipino Americans, which was related to higher levels of depressive symptoms
(Cajucom, 2017). Research with African Americans also provided related evidence. Higher
levels of internalized anti-Black racist stereotypes were associated with lower skin color
satisfaction among African American college students (Maxwell, Brevard, Abrams, &
Belgrave, 2015) and qualitative interviews with African American women indicated
a connection between internalized racism and hair shame (Mason, 2016). Relatedly, self-
hatred of African American racial identity was positively associated with body image
dissatisfaction, which, in turn, was associated with disordered eating among African
American college women (Flowers, Levesque, & Fisher, 2012).
Although empirical studies have yet to specifically examine internalized racism and body
image concerns among Asian American women as a whole, the above reviewed small body
of research regarding Filipino Americans and African Americans, respectively, suggests that
connections likely exist between internalized racism and body shame among Asian
American women. To complement and extend this literature, the present study examined
how the three forms of internalized racism – self-negativity, weakness stereotypes, and
appearance bias (Choi et al., 2017) – were longitudinally linked to body shame among Asian
American women. This approach permits a more nuanced understanding of how different
forms of internalized racism may function in the context of body shame concerns.

Ethnic identity strength

Another goal of the present study was to examine ethnic identity strength as a culturally
relevant variable that may modify the effects of minority-identity related stressors (i.e.
sexual objectification, various forms of internalized racism) on body shame. Theoretically,
a strong and firm ethnic identity has been asserted to protect racial/ethnic minority women
from allowing Eurocentric body ideals or mainstream sociocultural standards of beauty to
influence their body image (e.g. Croll et al., 2002; Kempa & Thomas, 2000; Striegel-Moore &
Smolak, 2000). A strong ethnic identity may also enable women to identify experiences of
racism and rightfully attribute such experiences to discriminatory contexts and injustice,
rather than internalizing them, thereby protecting against negative psychological out­
comes (Watson, DeBlaere, Langrehr, Zelaya, & Flores, 2016). Furthermore, scholars have
theorized that ethnic identity strength may protect against the effects of other forms of
discrimination (e.g. sexism, sexual objectification) because it enables racial/ethnic minority
individuals to draw upon the resilience afforded through their ethnic identity (i.e. a valued
part of their being) to resist and disrupt the otherwise harmful impact of oppression (Velez
et al., 2015; Watson et al., 2013; Zhang, Dixon, & Conrad, 2009). As such, ethnic identity
strength may not only moderate the effects of internalized racism, but also the effects of
sexual objectification, on body shame among Asian American college women.
 COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 117

Empirically, however, only a handful of studies have tested the moderator role of
ethnic identity strength (or related constructs) in body image research. In a sample of
African American college women, high levels of culturally inclusive racial identity
attitudes – characterized by affirming one’s racial group and other sociocultural groups –
buffered against sexual objectification experiences such that the association between
sexual objectification and internalization of dominant standards of beauty became
nonsignificant (Watson et al., 2013). In another study, ethnic identity strength protected
against the harmful effects of viewing thin-ideal rap videos (i.e. a source of sexual
objectification) on body dissatisfaction among African American college women
(Zhang et al., 2009). Similarly, exposure to sexualized, thin-ideal media images of
White women was not associated with negative body image among Latina girls high
in ethnic identity, but this link was significant among girls low in ethnic identity
(Schooler & Daniels, 2014).
Among Asian Americans, only two studies can be located, but the study results
were mixed. Specifically, among Asian American college women samples, Phan and
Tylka (2006) found that ethnic identity strength intensified, rather than buffered, the
association between perceived sociocultural pressure to be thin and body preoccupa­
tion, but Rakhkovskaya and Warren (2016) found that ethnic identity strength did not
moderate the relationship between overall sociocultural thinness pressure and body
dissatisfaction. No other known studies have examined ethnic identity strength (or
related constructs) as a moderator in body image research with Asian Americans. As
such, it is far from certain whether ethnic identity may hold promising protective
effects as theorized (e.g. Croll et al., 2002; Kempa & Thomas, 2000; Striegel-Moore &
Smolak, 2000) and indicated in studies with African American and Latina females
(Schooler & Daniels, 2014; Watson et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2009) or that it may
have exacerbating effects (Phan & Tylka, 2006) or no effects at all for Asian American
women’s body image concerns in the face of sexual objectification and various forms
of internalized racism.

The present study

Empirical studies have yet to examine sexual objectification and internalized racism in
association with body shame among Asian Americans and how a strong ethnic identity
may modify the associations. Given the foregoing literature indicating significant and
positive relationships between general sexist events and body shame among Asian
American women (Le et al., 2020) and between experiences of sexual objectification
and body shame among other racial groups of women (Velez et al., 2015; Watson et al.,
2013), it is reasonable to speculate a positive association between experiences of sexual
objectification and body shame among Asian American college women. Thus, the first
hypothesis of the current study was that sexual objectification would be longitudinally
associated with body shame among Asian American women (Hypothesis 1). Also, related
literature indicates associations between internalized racism-related constructs (e.g. colo­
nial mentality, self-hatred of racial identity) and body image issues among Filipino
Americans (Cajucom, 2017; David & Okazaki, 2006) and African American women
(Flowers et al., 2012; Maxwell et al., 2015), which supports reasonable speculation of
associations between internalized racism variables and body shame among Asian
118 H.-L. CHENG

American women. Thus, the second hypothesis posited that higher levels of self-
negativity, weakness stereotypes, and appearance bias would be respectively and long­
itudinally associated with more body shame (Hypothesis 2).
The empirical literature as reviewed above, however, is mixed in regards to the role of
ethnic identity strength as a moderator (e.g. Phan & Tylka, 2006 vs. Rakhkovskaya & Warren,
2016). Specifically, Phan and Tylka (2006) found that ethnic identity strength worsened,
rather than buffered, the effects of perceived sociocultural pressure to be thin on body
preoccupation, whereas Rakhkovskaya and Warren (2016) found no moderating effect of
ethnic identity strength on the link between overall sociocultural thinness pressure and
body dissatisfaction. Due to the mixed literature concerning the role of ethnic identity
strength, research questions, rather than specific hypotheses, were examined: does ethnic
identity strength moderate the longitudinal association between sexual objectification and
body shame among Asian American women (Research Question 1)? Does ethnic identity
strength moderate the links of self-negativity, weakness stereotypes, and appearance bias,
respectively, with body shame among Asian American women (Research Question 2).

Method
Participants
Participants were 146 college Asian American women with a mean age of 21.13 years
(SD = 4.19, range = 18–47) at Time 1. Ethnic identifications of the sample were 46.6%
Chinese, 25.3% Filipina, 18.5% Vietnamese, and 9.6 % other Asian American identities (e.g.
Japanese, Korean, Indian, Indonesian, multiethnic, etc.). The majority (65.1%) of the
participants reported they were second generation in the U.S. (i.e. self born in the U.S.,
but at least one parent born outside of the U.S.), followed by first generation (18.5%; self
born outside of the U.S.), third generation (11.6%; self and both parents born in the U.S.,
but at least one grandparent born outside of the U.S.), and fourth generation (2.1%; self,
parents, and grandparents were all born in the U.S.) and above (2.1%). In terms of family
socioeconomic status, 41.8% reported they were middle class, 24.7% middle-upper class,
22.6% lower-middle class, 9.6% lower class, and 1.4% upper class. In regards to relation­
ship status, 49.0% of the participants reported they were single, 46.9% in a committed
relationship, and 4.1% married at Time 1. The body mass index (BMI) of the participants
ranged from 17.01 to 35.44 (M = 22.65, SD = 3.71). In the U.S., a BMI of 18.5 or less is
considered underweight, 18.5 to 24.9 normal weight, 25.0 to 29.9 overweight, and 30.0 or
above obese (National Institutes of Health, 2021).

Measures
The measures of the present study are summarized below. Demographic items (e.g. age,
Asian ethnicity) and participants’ height and weight for calculation of BMI were also collected.

Sexual objectification
The Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale (ISOS; Kozee, Tylka, Augustus-Horvath, &
Denchik, 2007) is a 15-item assessment of sexual objectification experiences (e.g. “How
often have you been whistled at while walking down a street?”). Items are rated on a 5-point
 COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 119

scale that ranges from 1 (Never) to 5 (Almost always). Item ratings were averaged to yield
a scale score in the present study, and higher scores indicated more frequent experiences of
sexual objectification. Concurrent validity of the ISOS is demonstrated by a positive associa­
tion with a measure of broader experiences of sexist events (Kozee et al., 2007). ISOS scores
have demonstrated adequate internal consistency reliability in samples of Black women
(α = .91; Watson et al., 2013), Latinas (α = .94; Velez et al., 2015), and women of color (α = .95;
Watson et al., 2016). No known previous studies have used the ISOS with Asian American
women samples. In the current sample, the internal consistency was .94.

Internalized racism
The IRAAS is a 14-item measure of internalized racist attitudes and beliefs among Asian
Americans. The IRAAS has three subscales reflecting three corresponding factors of
internalized racism: (a) Self-Negativity (four items; e.g. “I sometimes wish I weren’t
Asian”), (b) Weakness Stereotypes (six items; e.g. “Asians tend to be socially awkward”),
and (c) Appearance Bias (e.g. four items; “Asians tend to all look the same to me”). The
three subscale scores were used in the present study. The IRAAS items are rated on
a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 6 (Strongly agree), with higher
scores suggesting greater degrees of internalized racism. The IRAAS demonstrated con­
vergent validity through a correlation with the Collective Self-Esteem Scale and predictive
validity through predicting depressive symptoms in expected directions (Choi et al.,
2017). Scores of the IRAAS have shown adequate internal consistency with a sample of
Asian American women (α = .94; Keum et al., 2018). In the present sample, the internal
consistency was .83.

Ethnic identity strength

The revised Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM-R; Phinney & Ong, 2007) is a six-
item assessment of the strength of identity in regard to one’s ethnic group (e.g. “I feel
a strong attachment towards my own ethnic group”). Items are assessed on a 5-point
Likert scale from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 5 (Strongly agree), with higher scores indicating
greater levels of ethnic identity strength. In a sample of college students, Phinney and
Ong (2007) reported an internal consistency reliability of .81. Construct validity of the
MEIM-R is indicated through positive associations with ethnic community social connect­
edness and levels of acculturation among a sample of Asian international college students
(Yoon, Jung, Lee, & Felix-Mora, 2012). Item ratings were averaged and the internal
consistency was .86 in the present sample.

Body shame
The Body Shame subscale of the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (OBCS-Shame;
McKinley & Hyde, 1996) is an eight-item assessment of individuals’ feelings of shame
toward their body (e.g. “When I’m not the size I think I should be, I feel ashamed”) on
a 7-point scale from 1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree). Higher scores indicate
greater levels of body shame. The OBCS-Shame has demonstrated convergent validity
through a negative association with body esteem (McKinley & Hyde, 1996). An internal
consistency reliability of .83 has been reported in a sample of Asian American college
women (Cheng et al., 2017). Item responses were averaged in the current study and the
internal consistency was .86.
120 H.-L. CHENG

Procedures
Upon institutional review board approval, an email list of 1867 Asian American college
women was obtained from an institutional office at a university on the U.S. west coast.
A recruitment email with a link to the research survey was then sent by the institutional
office to the 1867 students. A drawing for twenty $20 gift cards was offered as an
incentive. Among the students contacted, 556 (30%) submitted the survey; however, 74
left the entire survey blank and 52 did not pass the validity check items (e.g. “Thank you
for paying attention to our survey; please mark ‘4’ for this item”). Thus, 430 participants
with valid data were retained at Time 1.
At Time 2, which took place eight months after Time 1, only 299 students from Time 1
were available for follow-up contact because 119 of the 430 Time 1 participants had
graduated and 12 email addresses were no longer valid. As an incentive, students were
informed that every participant at Time 2 would be offered a seven-dollar electronic gift
card. Initially, 156 students (52% of those contacted) submitted the survey at Time 2, but
only 146 were retained for the final sample after excluding eight cases that left the entire
measures blank, one that failed the validity check items, and one that represented
a multivariate outlier (p < .001) according to Mahalanobis-distance scores (Tabachnick &
Fidell, 2007).
Missing data were minimal in the final sample, with 133 (91%) participants having
intact data (i.e. no missingness), 9 (6%) participants missing only 1 item, 1 (0.7%) partici­
pant missing 3 items, and 3 (2%) participants missing 6 items. Little’s MCAR test was not
statistically significant (p = .56), indicating a pattern of data that was missing completely
at random (Schlomer, Bauman, & Card, 2010). Multiple imputation procedures were
conducted with the SPSS software before computing the subscale and scale scores
(Schlomer et al., 2010) for the primary analyses.

Results
Before testing the research hypotheses, statistical analyses were performed to compare
whether systematic differences existed between students who completed only the Time 1
survey and students who completed both Time 1 and Time 2 surveys. Comparison results
showed that these two groups did not differ significantly on demographic characteristics
(i.e. age, family socioeconomic status, generation status, relationship status) or any of the
Time 1 research variables (i.e. BMI, Self-Negativity, Weakness Stereotype, Appearance
Bias), except for Sexual Objectification. Specifically, students with only Time 1 data
(M = 2.33, SD = .77) scored higher on Sexual Objectification than students with both
Time 1 and Time 2 data (M = 2.17, SD = .65), and the effect size (Cohen’s d) of the
difference were 0.22, which is considered a small effect (Cohen, 1988). Potential implica­
tions of this difference are explored in the Discussion section.

Test of hypotheses
Table 1 summarizes the bivariate correlations, means, standard deviations, and range of
scores of the research variables. As expected, higher BMI was longitudinally associated
with more Body Shame (r = .29, p < .001). Sexual Objectification was also significantly and
 COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 121

Table 1. First-order bivariate correlations, means, and standard deviations of the research variables.
Variable 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
1. Sexual Objectification (T1) –-
2. Self-Negativity (T1) .20* –-
3. Weakness Stereotype (T1) .06 .44***
4. Appearance Bias (T1) −.09 .38*** .63*** –-
5. BMI (T1) .10 −.04 .03 −.08 –-
6. Ethnic Identity Strength (T2) −.05 −.28** −.23** −.14 −.01 –-
7. Body Shame (T2) .23** .19* .12 −.01 .29*** −.07 –-
Possible Score Range 1–5 1–6 1–6 1–6 N/A 1–5 1–7
M 2.17 1.65 1.91 1.47 22.65 3.90 3.91
SD .65 .77 .72 .53 3.71 .70 1.37
Note. N = 146. T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2. M = mean scores of the study variables. SD = standard deviations of the study
variables. N/A = Not Applicable.
*p < .05, **p < .01, *** p < .001.

positively associated with Body Shame (r = .23, p < .01), which supported the first
hypothesis that sexual objectification would have a longitudinal link with body shame.
With regard to the second hypothesis concerning internalized racism, only Self-Negativity
(r = .19, p < .05), but not Weakness Stereotype (r = .12, p > .05) or Appearance Bias
(r = −.01, p > .05), had a significant bivariate association with Body Shame. Thus,
the second hypothesis was only partially supported.

Examination of research questions

To examine Research Questions 1 and 2, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, with
Body Shame as the dependent variable, was conducted. In step 1, the covariate, BMI, was
entered. In step 2, the predictors (i.e. Sexual Objectification, Self-Negativity, Weakness
Stereotype, Appearance Bias) and the hypothesized moderator (i.e. Ethnic Identity
Strength) were entered. In step 3, the respective interaction terms between the predictors
and Ethnic Identity Strength were entered. To reduce multicollinearity (Frazier, Tix, &
Barron, 2004), the predictor variables and the moderator were standardized; thus, the
interaction terms between the predictors and Ethnic Identity Strength were calculated
from standardized scores. In terms of statistical power (i.e. set at .80), an online calculator
(Soper, 2021) indicated that the current sample size (N = 146) was large enough to detect
at least a medium (f 2 = 0.15, minimum n = 82), but not a small (f 2 = 0.02, minimum
n = 549), interaction effect size.
Table 2 shows that in step 1, BMI positively predicted Body Shame at Time 2. In step 2,
however, none of the variables predicted Body Shame above and beyond BMI. Although
Sexual Objectification and Self-Negatively respectively had a significant bivariate associa­
tion with Body Shame (see Table 1), they did not predict Body Shame in the hierarchical
regression analysis (ps > .05) above and beyond BMI. In step 3, only the Appearance Bias
x Ethnic Identity Strength interaction, among the four interaction terms, emerged as
a significant predictor of Body Shame (p < .01), above and beyond BMI and the main
effects of the independent variables tested in step 2. Therefore, regarding Research
Question 1, the results indicated that ethnic identity strength did not moderate the effect
of sexual objectification on body shame. With regard to Research Question 2, the findings
showed that ethnic identity strength moderated the effect of appearance bias, but not
self-negativity or weakness stereotype, on body shame.
122 H.-L. CHENG

Table 2. Multiple regression analysis to test the moderator effect of ethnic identity strength on sexual
objectification, self-negativity, weakness stereotype, and appearance bias, with body shame as
criterion.
B SE B βa sr2 ∆R2 F
Step 1 .08 12.92***
BMI (T1) .11 .03 .29*** .08
Step 2 .07 4.23**
Sexual Objectification (T1) .22 .11 .16 .02
Self-Negativity (T1) .22 .13 .16 .02
Weakness Stereotype (T1) .11 .15 .08 .00
Appearance Bias (T1) −.12 .14 −.09 .00
Ethnic Identity Strength (T2) −.01 .11 −.01 .00
Step 3 .08 3.94**
Sexual Objectification x Ethnic Identity Strength −.08 .11 −.06 .00
Self-Negativity x Ethnic Identity Strength .10 .10 .09 .00
Weakness Stereotype x Ethnic Identity Strength −.22 .13 −.17 .02
Appearance Bias x Ethnic Identity Strength .45 .14 .29** .06
Note. N = 146. T1 = Time 1; T2 = Time 2. aThe pooled standardized beta coefficients were obtained by averaging the
standardized beta coefficients in the imputed data sets produced by SPSS. ∆R2 = change in multiple correlation
squared. sr2 = semipartial correlation squared.
*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

To further understand the significant interaction between Appearance Bias and Ethnic
Identity Strength, interaction graphs were plotted for the significant two-way interaction
using high (i.e. +1SD) and low (i.e. −1SD) values for Ethnic Identity Strength, following
procedures suggested by Aiken and West (1991). Figure 1 presents the significant two-
way interaction between Appearance Bias and Ethnic Identity Strength. Specifically, the
association between Appearance Bias and Body Shame was significantly different from
zero among Asian American college women reporting low levels of Ethnic Identity
Strength (B = −.43, p < .05), as well as among women reporting high levels of Ethnic
Identity Strength (B = .41, p < .05). However, the slopes were in opposite directions (see
Figure 1) such that at low levels (−1SD) of Ethnic Identity Strength, greater Appearance
Bias at Time 1 was significantly associated with lower Body Shame at Time 2, whereas at
high levels (+1SD) of Ethnic Identity Strength, greater Appearance Bias at Time 1 sig­
nificantly predicted higher Body Shame at Time 2. In other words, high Ethnic Identity
Strength exacerbated the effect of Appearance Bias on Body Shame over time, whereas
low Ethnic Identity Strength buffered the effect of Appearance Bias on Body Shame over
time.

Discussion
Informed by objectification theory’s tenet that sexual objectification and racism operate
as powerful sociocultural forces that perniciously impact women of color’s health
(Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997; Moradi, 2010, 2013), the present study examined the long­
itudinal links of sexual objectification, self-negativity, weakness stereotype, and appear­
ance bias, respectively, with body shame among Asian American college women. Ethnic
identity strength, which has been theorized as a protective factor in body image literature
(e.g. Croll et al., 2002), was examined as a moderator on the hypothesized links. The
present study filled an important gap because prior studies have not examined the roles
of sexual objectification or internalized racism in Asian American women’s body image
 COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 123

Figure 1. Two-way interactions between appearance bias and ethnic identity strength in association
with body shame.

concerns, and only two known studies (i.e. Phan & Tylka, 2006; Rakhkovskaya & Warren,
2016) have tested ethnic identity as a moderator in body image research with this group.
The use of longitudinal data was another contribution of the present study.
The present finding indicated that Asian American women who encountered more
experiences of sexual objectification in an earlier time were more likely to experience
greater levels of shame toward their bodies in a later time. This finding is consistent with
previous studies based on African American (Watson et al., 2013), Latina (Velez et al.,
2015), and predominantly European American (Moradi et al., 2005) women, and provided
the first known empirical evidence concerning Asian American women. Because sexual
objectification instances saturate women’s everyday environments (e.g. male gaze, sex­
ualized demeaning language) and communicate a less-than-human (i.e. objectified)
status of women’s worth (Kozee et al., 2007), experiencing such incidents routinely, over
time, may lead Asian American women to unwittingly identify with the objectified and
reduced notion of worth toward their physical bodies. This reduced sense of worth may
then manifest as body shame.
The present findings further indicated that Asian American college women who
internalized higher levels of racism in the form of racial self-negativity reported more
body shame at a later time. The other two dimensions of internalized racism, weakness
stereotype and appearance bias, however, were not associated with body shame over
time. It may be that self-negativity, defined as a global depreciation of one’s own Asian
American identity (Choi et al., 2017), is most associated with one’s overall self-concept,
including one’s body image, such that the longitudinal association of self-negativity
with body shame was more observable statistically than the potential associations of
the other two forms of internalized racism with body shame. Very limited empirical
research is available in this topic area, but research with African Americans indicates
124 H.-L. CHENG

similar results. Specifically, Maxwell et al. (2015) found that higher levels of internalized
negative racial stereotypes about one’s race were associated with lower skin color
satisfaction among African American college students. Furthermore, self-hatred of
African American racial identity (i.e. a construct similar to self-negativity), among
other racial identity attitudes (e.g. pre-encounter assimilation), was the only dimension
that was positively associated with body dissatisfaction among African American college
women (Flowers et al., 2012). This research with African Americans, together with the
present findings with Asian American women, suggest the utility of examining separate
dimensions of internalized racism to understand the nuances of their potentially differ­
ent associations with body image. Self-negativity may be the most pernicious, among
various forms of internalized racism, to link with body shame over time for Asian
American college women.
It should be noted that although the longitudinal bivariate associations of sexual
objectification and self-negativity, respectively, with body shame were significant
(Table 1), these two variables were not significant in predicting body shame in the
regression analysis when BMI was included as a covariate (Table 2). This finding suggests
that BMI appeared to play a critical role in the development of body shame among Asian
American college women so much that when it was considered, the potential longitudinal
influence of sexual objectification and self-negativity on body shame became statistically
negligible. It may be that because Asian American women tend to be smaller in body size
relative to women of other racial/ethnic backgrounds (Kawamura, 2011), having a larger
body size (i.e. a higher BMI) may make one feel as if one failed to meet the “standard”
body size (e.g. small stature) seen in many Asian American women. Thus, having a higher
BMI may serve as a constant reminder of one’s falling short of a cultural body image norm,
which may more readily foster feelings of shame and inadequacy about one’s body than
experiences of sexual objectification or racial self-negativity.
Concurring with the above speculation, a post-hoc analysis divided the current sample
into two groups by BMI (participants with a BMI higher than the sample mean vs.
participants with a BMI equal to or lower than the sample mean) and found that the
relationships among the primary research variables of interest differed across BMI groups.
Specifically, sexual objectification or internalized racism variables did not longitudinally
predict body shame among participants with a BMI greater than the sample mean, but
sexual objectification longitudinally predicted body shame (B = .45, p < .05) among
participants with a BMI equal to or less than the sample mean. Thus, for Asian American
women with a higher-than-average body size, BMI emerged as the only predictor of body
shame while the effects of other predictors (e.g. sexual objectification) faded. Conversely,
when having a larger body size was not a concern (i.e. an average or small BMI), the effect
of body size subsided and the effect of sexual objectification on body shame became
observable. It is possible that for participants with a higher BMI, sexual objectification was
not the primary influencing factor on their body shame because they were preoccupied
with having a larger body size; however, for participants with a lower BMI, sexual
objectification became more influential on their body shame because preoccupation
with a larger body size was not applicable to them. Nevertheless, given the preliminary
nature of this post-hoc analysis, no further inferences from the finding should be made; it
remains for future research to thoroughly examine the role of BMI in relation with sexual
objectification and internalized racism in body image research.
 COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 125

Findings in Table 2 further indicated that ethnic identity strength moderated the effect
of appearance bias on body shame, above and beyond the effects of BMI and other
independent variables. Figure 1 showed that for women who endorsed high levels of
ethnic identity strength at Time 2, holding higher levels of internalized racist biases about
Asian appearance features at Time 1 was associated with reporting a greater extent of
body shame at Time 2. Conversely, for women who endorsed low levels of ethnic identity
strength at Time 2, holding higher levels of internalized racist biases about Asian appear­
ance features at Time 1 predicted less extent of body shame at Time 2. In other words,
high ethnic identity strength exacerbated the detrimental effect of appearance bias on
body shame, whereas low ethnic identity strength buffered this effect.
This pattern of findings contradicted the prevalent theoretical viewpoint (e.g. Croll
et al., 2002; Kempa & Thomas, 2000; Striegel-Moore & Smolak, 2000) that a strong ethnic
identity would protect racial/ethnic minority women from experiencing body image
concerns in Western societies where Eurocentric body ideals are propagated and privi­
leged. Only two previous studies (i.e. Phan & Tylka, 2006; Rakhkovskaya & Warren, 2016)
have tested the moderator role of ethnic identity in body image research with Asian
Americans. The relationship between overall sociocultural pressure for thinness and body
dissatisfaction did not significantly differ for women with high ethnic identity versus
women with low ethnic identity in Rakhkovskaya and Warren’s (2016) study. However,
in Phan and Tylka’s (2006) study, perceived sociocultural thinness pressure was strongly
associated with body preoccupation for Asian American college women with high ethnic
identity, but only moderately associated for women who reported low ethnic identity. As
such, findings from both the current study and Phan and Tylka (2006) disconfirmed widely
held – but infrequently tested – theories (e.g. Croll et al., 2002; Kempa & Thomas, 2000;
Striegel-Moore & Smolak, 2000) and showed that high ethnic identity strength may
worsen, rather than ameliorate, the effects of sociocultural stressors (e.g. internalized
racial appearance bias, pressure for thinness) on body image concerns among Asian
American college women. It should be noted that Phan and Tylka’s (2006) study used
cross-sectional data and found that the link between pressure for thinness and body
preoccupation was still positive, albeit to a moderate degree, when ethnic identity
strength was low. The current study, however, found that when ethnic identity strength
was low, the longitudinal link between appearance bias and body shame was negative. In
other words, low ethnic identity strength modified the otherwise longitudinal harmful
effect of appearance bias on body shame.
It may be that low ethnic identity strength – namely, little exploration of and
a weak attachment to one’s ethnic group (Phinney & Ong, 2007) at Time 2 – allowed
Asian American college women to psychologically detach themselves from, or dis-
identify with, the earlier (i.e. Time 1) internalized racist biases about Asian appearance
features such that they did not let the internalized racist appearance biases affect
their self-perceptions and, therefore, were protected from increased feelings of body
shame at Time 2. For example, because of their low identification with their co-ethnic
Asian peers or communities, women may not think of themselves as “typical Asians”
and may dismiss earlier internalized racist appearance biases as about other Asians
but not about themselves, which may, therefore, afford protective effects. However,
for women with high ethnic identity strength at Time 2, it may be difficult for them to
dismiss previously internalized racial biases as only about other Asians. Their high
126 H.-L. CHENG

identification with their ethnic community may inadvertently facilitate the incorpora­
tion of collective ethnic beliefs (including unconsciously internalized appearance
biases) into their self-concept. As such, high ethnic identity strength at Time 2 may
make it difficult for women to separate their current self-perceptions from their
previously (i.e. Time 1) internalized biases about Asian appearance. Having high
ethnic identity strength at a later time may, thus, inadvertently worsen the effects
of the earlier internalized racist appearance biases on one’s sense of body shame.
Additionally, a high ethnic identity may indicate connection to Asian countries of
origin or adherence to their popular cultures where females are not only expected to
attain a slender body type but also to conform to culturally collective preferences of
certain appearance styles and facial features (e.g. preference of a small face size; Kim,
Seo, & Baek, 2014). Moreover, it is also known that body shaming of individuals falling
short of cultural body image norms tends to be rather rampant among Asian com­
munities (Li, 2021), which presents extra pressures for body image conformity. As
such, Asian American college women with higher ethnic identity strength may inad­
vertently subject themselves to more Asian cultural body image expectations and
conformity stress than women with lower ethnic identity strength. In other words,
Asian American college women with high ethnic identity may experience double or
added pressures on attaining body image ideals, including pressures from both the
mainstream (i.e. European American) and the Asian ethnic communities that they
belong to (Wong et al., 2017). Consequently, having a high ethnic identity may be
a risk, rather than a resource, factor that worsen the effects of sociocultural stressors
(e.g. internalized racial appearance bias) on body shame as indicated in the present
study findings.
A strong ethnic identity has also been postulated to protect against the effects of
sexual objectification (Velez et al., 2015) and, indeed, has gained support in research
with African American college women (Watson et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2009) and
Latina girls (Schooler & Daniels, 2014). However, the present study did not find
a moderator effect of ethnic identity strength on the longitudinal link between sexual
objectification and body shame. Although scholars believe that the resilience afforded
through a solid ethnic identity may function as a fortress for women of color to resist
and disrupt the harmful influence of many forms of oppression, including sexual
objectification, on their body image (Velez et al., 2015; Watson et al., 2013; Zhang
et al., 2009), the current study suggests that it may not be the case for Asian
American college women. Additionally, it is observed that the current sample reported
lower levels of sexual objectification (M = 2.17; SD = .65) but higher levels of body
shame (M = 3.91; SD = 1.37) than Watson et al.’s study with African American women
(M = 2.93; SD = .69 for sexual objectification; M = 2.69; SD = 1.25 for body shame) and
Velez et al.’s study with Latinas (M = 2.47; SD = .71 for sexual objectification; M = 3.30;
SD = 1.43 for body shame). It is unknown whether these descriptive characteristics
contributed to the nonsignificant moderator effect of ethnic identity strength on the
link between sexual objectification and body shame. Given that previous studies have
not examined sexual objectification, ethnic identity, and body image issues with Asian
American women, it remains for future studies to further clarify and advance this
research area with Asian Americans.
 COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 127

Limitations
Several limitations should be acknowledged before exploring the implications of the
present findings. First, the sample was recruited from a mid-sized, racially/ethnically
diverse university on the U.S. west coast, thus the findings may not be generalizable to
Asian American college women in other geographic regions or institutions (e.g. less
racially/ethnically diverse). Second, the attrition rate from Time 1 to Time 2 was substan­
tial, but it should be noted that a significant proportion of the attrition was due to student
graduation (see Procedures section). In terms of the survey response rate from those
available for contact at Time 2, 52% is notably higher than previous longitudinal studies
using similar incentives (e.g. lottery prizes) with college student samples (e.g. 30% after
5 months in Wei, Russell, & Zakalik, 2005; 22.7% after 13 months in Wang et al., 2012).
Furthermore, quite a few potential participants left the entire questionnaires blank.
Although the actual reason for this is unknown, it may be that the questionnaires had
come across as demanding to them or that they may have opened the survey link with the
primary goal of being included in the lottery drawing (i.e. they were informed that survey
completion was not required for eligibility for lottery enrollment). Additionally, as
described in the Results section, students who completed only the Time 1 assessment
reported higher levels of sexual objectification than students who stayed in both the Time
1 and Time 2 assessments (i.e. the current sample). It may be that answering questions
about sexual objectification had triggered discomfort in some students such that those
students with higher levels of sexual objectification at Time 1 were less likely to partici­
pate at the Time 2 survey. Consequently, the current sample’s mean score of sexual
objectification may not be representative of Asian American college women and may
have biased some of the study findings (e.g. restricted variability to allow statistical
detection of meaningful relationships, such as the prediction of body shame in Table 2).
Third, the current sample size was enough to discern a medium effect of moderation, but
not a small effect (Soper, 2021), and may have contributed to the null findings concerning
the moderator role of ethnic identity strength on some of the hypothesized links.
Relatedly, the current sample size did not allow an examination of sub-group differences
(e.g. by Asian ethnicity, generation status in the U.S.) to inform potential nuanced group
differences within the broader population of Asian Americans. Slightly over two-thirds of
the sample reported they were second generation in the U.S., and most participants
identified as Chinese or other East/Southeast Asian ethnicities, which suggests that the
present findings may have limited generalizability to South Asian American women and
women of other generation statuses.
Another limitation is that data were collected entirely from participants’ self-report,
which may be prone to issues of social desirability and mono-method bias that may
potentially inflate associations among research variables (Heppner, Wampold, Owen,
Thompson, & Wang, 2015). On the other hand, the relatively low score means of inter­
nalized racism variables in the current sample could suggest flooring effects and may
have weakened the longitudinal links of these variables with body shame, including
reducing the chance of detecting moderator effects of ethnic identity strength on these
links. Another potential limitation is that both ethnic identity strength and body shame
were assessed at Time 2, which prevents a clear understanding of the temporal relation­
ship between these two variables. Finally, although a significant interaction was observed,
128 H.-L. CHENG

the effect size (6% additional explained variance in body shame) was not large (Cohen,
1992). However, this interaction effect size is notably greater than moderator effects
typically found (i.e. 1% to 3% of the variance in the criterion variable) in non-
experimental studies (McClelland & Judd, 1993). As such, the current significant interac­
tion, though not large in effect size, may inform practitioners of when (e.g. in what
conditions of ethnic identity strength) internalized racist appearance biases could long­
itudinally link to increased body shame.

Future research directions

Given the foregoing limitations, future research may replicate the current study with more
diverse and larger samples of Asian American women to include consideration of geo­
graphic location, community or campus racial/ethnic diversity, acculturation level, gen­
eration status, and Asian ethnicity. This may fill in gaps in the understanding of potential
sociodemographic differences within the Asian American population. Future studies, with
larger samples, may also clarify how sexual objectification and internalized racism vari­
ables may associate with body shame differently across diverse BMI cohorts (e.g. under­
weight, normal weight, overweight ranges) of Asian American women. Building upon the
current two-wave longitudinal investigation, future studies with data across three or more
time points are necessary to replicate the current findings concerning the moderator role
of ethnic identity strength; future studies could include ethnic identity strength as a Time
2 moderator on the link between Time 1 predictors (e.g. appearance bias) and Time 3
outcome (i.e. body shame). Finally, other research methodologies, such as qualitative
investigations, may complement the current study by illuminating more nuanced parti­
cipant cognitive and affective processes related to experiences of sexual objectification,
internalized racism, ethnic identity strength, and body shame. For example, qualitative
exploration of Asian American women’s subjective views on weight, body image, and
related eating behavior (when applicable) in the cultural environments of college (e.g.
large portion meals and drinks served in dining halls; potential sexually objectified
remarks about women; racism-related encounters) may further shed light on their body
image related experiences and concerns. Qualitative research could also explore whether
Asian American college women are actually and actively aware of their BMI in everyday
life and how this awareness is related to their body image or, perhaps, reflective of
concerns beyond body image (e.g. health and wellness).

Implications for practice

The present study findings suggest that when working with Asian American college
women clients on body image-related concerns, it may be important to attend to possible
concerns of body shame. The significant bivariate longitudinal associations from sexual
objectification and self-negativity, respectively, to body shame (Table 1) suggest that it
may be useful to explore the client’s experience with sexual objectification and their
subjective beliefs and feelings about their racial identity. Exploration into potential sexual
objectification and internalized racism, however, may be better embedded in the process
of attending to the client’s thoughts and feelings about their body size. Specifically, the
present finding indicated that in the presence of BMI, the longitudinal effects of sexual
 COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY 129

objectification and self-negativity became non-observable (Table 2). This suggests that
having a larger body size may be at the forefront of Asian American college women’s
attention and may render experiences of sexual objectification and internalized racism
relatively unimportant in their distress of body shame. It is, thus, important that the
therapist explores topics related to BMI.
Therapists may respectfully approach topics related to body size in the context of
exploring sociocultural appearance pressures and media messages on thinness that their
Asian American college women clients likely have endured given the societal emphasis on
appearance and the thin ideal (Striegel-Moore & Bulik, 2007). Addressing topics of body
size in this context may disrupt the psychological connection between BMI and body
shame because it may facilitate the client’s recognition of, and thus opportunities to
repudiate, the previously taken-for-granted and unquestioned taboos about body sizes
that do not resemble the thin ideal. Along the process of discussing sociocultural thinness
messages, therapists may naturally expand to the assessment of experiences of sexual
objectification and racism, including the client’s thoughts and feelings about being Asian
American. An increased understanding of how sociocultural environments and oppressive
forces have shaped how one views oneself and feels about one’s body can bring
psychological empowerment and enable one to break free from internalized guilt and
shame, including body shame (Szymanski, Carr, & Moffitt, 2011). Disrupting the BMI to
body shame link may not only prevent body image distress but also prevent disordered
eating behaviors as BMI (e.g. Cheng, 2014) and body shame (e.g. Cheng et al., 2017) have
been respectively linked to eating disorder symptomatology. Additionally, given the
salient role of BMI indicated in the current study findings, therapists working with Asian
American women clients with higher BMIs may consider helping their clients rechannel
concerns about body size or body shame into mobilizing levels of body image dissatisfac­
tion that can motivate healthy lifestyle change, including exercise and increased physical
activities (Heinberg, Thompson, & Matzon, 2001).
The current finding that low ethnic identity strength protects against the harmful
longitudinal effect of internalized racist appearance biases on body shame while high
ethnic identity strength exacerbates this effect also holds important practice implications.
Specifically, practitioners should not automatically apply to their Asian American college
women clients the commonly known, but insufficiently tested, theories (e.g. Croll et al.,
2002; Kempa & Thomas, 2000; Striegel-Moore & Smolak, 2000) that high ethnic identity
protects racial/ethnic minority women from experiencing body image concerns. As
suggested by the present study and Phan and Tylka (2006), ethnic identity strength
appears to function differently for Asian American women from its protective effect for
other groups of women of color on body image concerns (e.g. African American women,
Watson et al., 2013; Latinas, Schooler & Daniels, 2014). When working with Asian American
college women presenting with body shame issues who hold high levels of internalized
racist biases about Asian appearance, practitioners may need to consult other approaches
than strengthening ethnic identity. Recently, scholars have asserted the utility of critical
consciousness (i.e. critical reflection on systemic oppression, one’s place in it, and actions
to confront systems of oppression, Freire, 1970) in mitigating the influence of internalized
racism (Cheng et al., 2021; Hwang, 2021). Specifically, practitioners may gently invite their
clients to conversations about internalized racism and help the clients critically attribute it
to systemic racism (i.e. externalization), as well as facilitate the development of critical
130 H.-L. CHENG

consciousness among their clients to prevent clients’ adoption of White socialized biases
about their race or ethnicity (Cheng et al., 2021; Hwang, 2021). Finally, practitioners and
educators may be able to prevent body shame in Asian American women (and other
women of color) by engaging in structural level anti-oppression work, including through
community-level outreach, education, advocacy, and organizing, to reduce the occur­
rence of sexual objectification, racism, weight and size stigma, and other oppressive
biases and ideologies (Velez et al., 2015; Watson et al., 2016).

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor
Hsiu-Lan Cheng, Ph.D., is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling
Psychology at the University of San Francisco. Dr. Cheng’s primary research interests include multi­
cultural issues in mental health, Asian American psychology, and body image and eating concerns
among minoritized groups.

Practical implications
Sexual objectification and internalized racism are minority-identity stressors relevant for body
shame among Asian American college women; however, concerns about body size (BMI) may
render experiences of sexual objectification and internalized racism relatively unimportant.
Additionally, for those college women with high levels of internalized racial bias about Asian
features, high ethnic identity may worsen body shame. Therapists should not automatically assume
that enhancing ethnic identity would protect their Asian American clients from experiencing body
shame.

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