Elaine Lu
HED 722: College Student Development II
Tamara N. Hamilton, M.A., Doctoral Candidate
Theory Exploration Paper
March 4, 2022
 Before reading this paper, it is important to acknowledge that the White majority has

historically been on top of the racial hierarchy. Till this day the White majority still has

possession of power and the highest level of privilege in American society. This racial hierarchy

causes oppression for minority groups and affects their identity development. Like other minority

racial groups, Asian Americans go through a form of racial identity development.

The Asian American Identity Development (AAID) Model demonstrates how Asian

Americans develop their racial identity and resolve conflicts in a predominately White society.

Jean Kim (2001) found that Asian Americans view themselves as to how others view or think of

them. In this paper, I will explain the AAID Model along with how it connects to the system of

power, oppression, and privilege. As an Asian American, I will also be sharing my personal

experience and how I can utilize this theory to apply to my work with students as a higher

education practitioner.

Asian American Identity Development Model

Jean Kim was the first to introduce an Asian American Identity Development (AAID)

Model in 1981. She conducted a qualitative study on ten Japanese American women born in the

United States. The AAID Model has five stages that are sequential, and the process is not linear

or automatic (Kim, 2001). An individual can remain on a stage and never progress to the next.

The first stage of the AAID Model is Ethnic Awareness. The Asian American is mainly

interacting with family members or relatives. This happens before they enter the school system.

The child’s level of exposure to their Asian heritage plays a major role on their negative and

positive views of their cultural heritage (Museus, 2014). Being in a predominantly Asian

community will lead to more exposure to the cultural heritage and increase the child’s level of
pride. This can create a sense of security and positive ethnic awareness compared to a child who

lives in a predominately white neighborhood (Museus, 2014).

The second stage is White Identification. This stage often begins when the Asian

American attends school. They are no longer surrounded by their family members, people who

share the same cultural values, or people who look like them. The individual begins to recognize

the difference between White people and themselves as well as racial prejudice (Museus, 2014).

“The Asian cultural tendency toward groups or collective orientation has taught them to attend to

the reactions of others in their social circle and try to fit in rather than stick out. The significance

of shame in Asian cultures may influence Asian Americans to try at all costs to fit into White

society to avoid publicly embarrassing themselves” (Kim, 2001). Because of their new social

environment and acknowledgement of the racial differences, they begin to experience self-blame,

adopt White values, and eliminated their Asian identity (Museus, 2014).

The third stage is Awakening to Social Political Consciousness. At this stage, Asian

Americans realize that they are not personally responsible for their experience with racism (Kim,

2001). They begin to acknowledge that they are a racial minority and White privilege exists.

These individuals also begin to develop an increased awareness of racial oppression and political

consciousness (Museus, 2014).

The fourth stage is Redirection to an Asian American Consciousness. Individuals in this

stage begin to embrace their Asian American heritage and develop a sense of pride for their

culture. They may also begin to develop anger towards the White majority as they begin to

realize that White oppression is the cause of their negative experience as an Asian American

(Museus, 2014).
 The fifth stage is Incorporation. At this point, the individual can balance their own

identity and have appreciation for others. They begin to feel confidence in their own Asian

American identity and because of this, they can relate and appreciate other underrepresented

group’s identities. In a way, they no longer allow White culture to dictate their views and values.

(Kim, 2001).

Throughout Kim’s (1981) research, she utilized Erikson’s Identity Development theory

as a source to compare. She focused primarily on stages four and five of Erikson’s theory.

Erikson’s stage four focuses primarily on grade-schoolers and stage five focuses on adolescents.

She focuses on stage four because grade school is the period where a child notices the difference

between themselves and others. They are also more exposed to the dominate White culture.

Erikson’s stage five, which is Identity Confusion, aligns with Kim’s stage two White

Identification. At both stages, the individual’s primarily concern is “what they appear to be in the

eyes of others much more than what they feel inside themselves” (Kim, 1981). This may cause

them to feel insecure and attempt to fit in by seeking social acceptance.   

Although Kim’s study focused on women and one ethnic group, many people claimed her

model to be applicable to the entire Asian population (Torres et al., 2003, as cited in Museus,

2014). Her model was utilized to create other models or frameworks catered to other Asian

identified groups such as Multiracial Asian American Identity Typology, South Asian Immigrant

Identity Model, Filipino American Identity Development Model, Southeast Asian American

Identity Model, etc. (Museus, 2014).

Understanding Asian American Through Chickering’s Seven Vectors

The Chickering’s seven vectors for identity development include developing competence,

managing emotions, moving through autonomy toward interdependence, developing mature

Kodama et al. (2002) found that Chickering’s identity theory does not take culture into account

to an individual’s identity development.

Asian Americans face two different cultural values, which are the dominate Western

culture and the traditional Asian cultural values. The traditional Asian cultural values contradict

the dominate values of Western society. As the Asian cultures emphasizes on interdependence,

filial piety, and collectivism, the Western society focuses their values on independence and the

development of autonomy (Museus, 2014). It is important for student affairs practitioners to

remember that the original student development theories were based on European Americans and

their values. A different level of understanding must be made when utilizing these models with

underrepresented student (Museus, 2014).

Stage 2-4 of the AAID Model explains how Asian Americans have trouble identifying

their identities and their views on themselves because of the two culture flux. An individual can

go through the seven vectors in any order and be in multiple stages at a time. Because Asian

Americans have trouble deciphering their identities from stages 2-4 of the AAID Model, this

may affect the other vectors (Museus, 2014).   

Kodama et al. (2002) referenced Chickering’s seven vectors and made an alternative

model based on Asian American psychosocial development. They developed a model named

Asian American: Negotiating Identity and Developmental Tasks. They utilized Erikson’s seven

vectors but place them in a specific format. Identity and purpose are in a concentric circle at the

center, with identity being inside of purpose, because both vectors are closely connected. The

five remaining vectors, emotions, competency, interdependence, relationships, and integrity are

branched off outside of the concentric circle because those are closely connected to purpose and
identity. Kodama et al. (2002) noted that the purpose is identified by family/culture and identity

is identified by society. Family and culture include deferment to authority, guilt, shame, humility,

educational values, language, generational status, and gender roles, whereas society includes

perpetual foreigner, model minority, homogenization, gender stereotypes, and invisibility

(Kodama et al., 2002). As the purpose focuses more on the Eastern cultural values and the

identity is towards the Western cultural values, this shows that Asian Americans are in the

constant flux on how they view their own identity on what is right and wrong.

Viewing Oppression Through an Asian American Identity Lens

“Race tends to be seen in Black and White terms, and we are most familiar with racial

prejudices directed against Black Americans. We are less aware of the experiences of other

groups of color (Asian, Latino, and American Indian)” (Museus, 2014, p. 68). As a higher

education practitioner, it’s important to acknowledge the different sets of stereotypes each racial

minority group faces because stereotypes affect an individual’s identity development.

Kodama et al. (2002) explains how Asian American’s are personally and socially

challenged with their identity with the combination of being exposed to their Asian family

heritage and the dominate White culture. Because of this stage and feeling of in between two

cultures, they often undergo processes of internal and external racism (Museus, 2014). These

individuals desire the feeling of acceptance which causes them to alter their identities in a way of

how they believe they would seek societal approval. As mentioned in the introduction, Kim

(2001) found that Asians Americans view themselves as to how others view or think of them.

Since the 1960s, the media begun utilizing the team “model minority” to express that

Asian Americans, a minority group, made it in American through hard efforts and with high
academic achievements as well as respectable wages (Kim, 2001). Although the term may seem

“positive,” it is not. This expectation can impair an individual’s development especially if they

are not able to fulfill the expectations that others have on them and what they have for

themselves. The positive stereotypes describe Asians as hard workers, technical nerds, proficient

in mathematics, etc. and the negative stereotypes are being a foreigner, lacking communication

skills and leadership, etc. (Kim, 2001).

Till this day, Asian Americans are still going through intense discriminations, denial of

citizenship, random acts of violence, forms of unfair treatment in employment or social settings,

etc. (Kim, 2001). As Museus (2014) stated, it is reasonable to assume that these individuals are

not aware of racial oppression and once they realize it, they may either become conformist

resistance or transformative resistance.

Connecting the AAID Model with My Personal Experience

I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I lived in a neighborhood named

Bensonhurst my whole life, until I moved to Buffalo, New York for my undergraduate degree.

My family still lives in the same house till this day, and we were one of the first Asian families to

move to Bensonhurst. It is now known as one of the most heavily populated Asian communities

in Brooklyn, but before that, it was known as Little Italy due to its large Italian American

population.

Although most of my neighbors were Italian, I was surrounded by many of my family

members when I was growing up. My dad and two of his siblings decided that they wanted to

stay close after they got married and had their own children, so they decided to buy properties

close to each other. His oldest sister lives next door to us with her family. The house that my
parents live in is a multifamily residential. My dad’s younger brother and his family lives on the

second floor while my family lives on the first floor. My grandparents, who raised me while my

parents were at work, lived in the back end of the house. Although I went to a predominantly

white elementary school as a child, I was still exposed heavily to my family’s cultural heritage

by my grandparents, parents, and other family members.

As I am reflecting on my experience and connecting it to Kim’s AAID Model, I was

ethnically aware of my Asian heritage as a child. While my parents were away for work, I spent a

lot of time with my grandparents. I remember smelling my grandparent’s stir-fry dishes, listening

and watching the Chinese Opera singers on television with them, and playing with my older

brother.

I entered stage two, White Identification, of the AAID Model when I started elementary

school. In kindergarten, I sat in a table with two Caucasian boys. I remember watching them pull

their eyes and saying they’re Chinese while laughing. As a six-year-old, I did not know how to

respond or what to say so I kept it to myself but that was the first time I did not feel comfortable

being Chinese. Throughout my elementary school experience, I was relieved to have access to

school lunch because I did not have to bring what I ate at home to school. If I had to bring food

from home, I would always plan and beg my parents to buy me “Lunchables,” because all my

classmate had them. I also felt pressure to exceed in mathematics because I was not the best at

reading or writing. My parents were not able to practice reading and writing with me, at the time,

because they did not know English. They were only able to help me with mathematics.

My junior high school experience felt different from elementary school because there

were more Asian Americans in my school. I didn’t feel pressured to fit in as much because there

were probably at least 3-6 Asian American students in each class. It was the first time I felt more
comfortable and had the ability to relate my Asian heritage with my peers. I remember I had a

classmate, named Joey, who was the exact opposite of the “Model Minority Myth.” She was

never afraid to speak about what was on her mind, be ashamed of speaking in Cantonese across

the cafeteria to communicate to another peer and bring Asian snacks to school to share with

everyone in our classes. Joey was one of my first friends in junior high school and becoming

friends with her made me realize that not all Asian Americans are under the “Model Minority”

umbrella. She also made me realize that it’s okay to speak up for yourself. This myth does harm

on how Asian American identifies themselves. Because of her, I was able to enter stage three of

AAID Model which is awakening to social political consciousness.

Although I developed an increased awareness of racial oppression and political

consciousness in junior high school, I do not think I fully embraced my Asian American identity

till recently. I remember in undergrad and while I was working at Amazon, people always asked

me where I was from, and my first response was always Brooklyn or New York City. I was also

always quick to say, “I am American” instead of, “I am American born Chinese.” I believe my

boyfriend, Silas, has a huge impact on my redirection to an Asian American consciousness,

which is stage four of the AAID Model. He was born in Germany and moved to New York when

he was four. Silas loves food and learning about different cultures. Because of his adventurous

personality and open-mindedness, he wanted me to introduce him to all the foods that I grew up

eating and other Asian cultural foods that I grew to love throughout the years. His enthusiasm for

the Asian culture made me prouder of my ethnic and racial background. I think it’s the fact that

he’s not of Asian descent and his enthusiasm for my culture or any other Asian culture is what

makes me feel safe in my own skin or be excited about.

current courses within Master’s in Higher Education program puts me in the fifth stage of the

AAID Model, which is Incorporation. Being exposed to literature, research, and engaging in

meaningful discussions of different and intersecting identities allowed me to appreciate others

more and their background.

Developing a better understanding of the Asian American Identity Development Model

and the theories that connects to it gives me the opportunity to reflect on my own personal

identity development. This reflection helped me understand the different dynamics of identity

development one may or may not have depending on their level of exposure to their ethnic or

racial background, how oppression may impair one’s behavior, and how one begins to embrace

their ethnic or racial identity. These topics are beneficial and valuable to me as I am bringing

what I am learning to the diverse group of students who I work with. I have a better sense of

their identity development and I can even challenge them to see which stage of development they

are currently in.

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women's perceptions of their struggle to achieve positive identities as americans of asian

ancestry.

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III, B. W. (Eds.), New perspectives on racial identity development: A theoretical and

practical anthology (pp. 67-90). New York University Press.

Kodama, C., McEwen, M. K., Liang, C. T. H., & Lee, S. (2002). An asian american perspective

on psychosocial student development theory. New Directions for Student Services,

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Museus, S. D. (2014). Asian American identity in college (pp. 70-90) In Asian American students

in higher education. Routledge.