Taking pride in identity may protect mental health against online hate, study about experience of Asian Americans finds
Feeling proud of your background is key to one’s mental health when dealing with online racism, a new study in the Journal of Applied Communication Research suggests. Identity affirmation was linked to better psychological health in Asian Americans who were faced by a rise in online hate speech at the start of the COVID pandemic. Being proud of who you are and what you stand for, a form of resilience, was also associated with better physical health, better personal relationships and greater satisfaction with living circumstances. “Online hate speech attacks deep components of human identity and so may have sparked people’s need to reaffirm core elements of who they are,” says researcher Stephanie Tom Tong, an associate professor of communication studies at Wayne State University in the US. “This may have offered them comfort, provided them with meaning or helped guide their behavior, making them more able to protect themselves against the damaging effects of online racial harassment.”