Asian Americans are incredibly diverse in terms of their ethnic compositions, yet we commonly see those with East Asian heritage (e.g., Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Americans) as the primary representation of Asian Americans. South Asian Americans (e.g., Indian and Pakistani Americans) are thus deemed non-prototypical despite their increasing representation in the US. This “East Asian prototype” pervades not only in lay Americans’ perceptions but also in social psychological theories and methods. By taking a sociohistorical approach, my talk will discuss how different Asian American subgroups are seen. In the first part of the talk, I will focus on how the perceived prototypicality of East Asians and the non-prototypicality of South Asians are limited to the US and not the UK, owing to different historical patterns of Asian migrations in the two countries. In the second part of the talk, I will discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of having an East Asian prototype. By acknowledging the rich history and heterogeneity of Asian Americans, we can see Asian Americans more clearly in our research and society.

Dr. Jin X. Goh is an assistant professor of psychology at Colby College. He received his PhD from Northeastern University and completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Washington. He did his undergraduate degree at Bard College. His lab focuses on perceptions of different social identities such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. In his free time, he likes to read, try out different restaurants, and watch a lot of Netflix.