A Relational Approach to Perceived Discrimination: The Case of South Asian Indians

Author:

Adem Muna1ORCID,Rao Shelley1ORCID,Marrow Helen B.2ORCID,García Melissa J.1,Okamoto Dina G.1

Affiliation:

1. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

2. Department of Sociology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

Abstract

Perceived discrimination is often theorized within a bounded social context, and much of this literature focuses on how structural and socioeconomic factors shape minorities’ perceptions of discrimination. However, immigrants exist in varied social contexts given their exposure to both home and destination countries. In this study, we propose a relational framework to understand how stratification systems in one's country of origin and relative group evaluations in new social contexts interact to shape experiences with perceived discrimination for immigrant groups. As a case study, we draw on an original, representative survey ( N = 501) and follow-up interviews ( N = 58) with Indian immigrants living in Atlanta and Philadelphia. Although respondents report a range of explicit to subtle discriminatory experiences, they often downplay or minimize them. We argue that interpreting these experiences relationally—in relation to Indians’ perceptions of discrimination abroad and toward other U.S. minority groups—is key to explaining this puzzle.

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Social Psychology

Reference69 articles.

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2. Atlanta Regional Commission. 2015. “A Regional Snapshot of Ethnic Populations: Foreign-Born, Hispanic-Latinos & Asians.” New Voices, Global Atlanta Snapshots, Atlanta, GA. https://33n.atlantaregional.com/wpcontent/uploads/2018/02/RegionalSnapshot_HispanicPop_February2018_topost_final.pdf.

3. Badrinathan Sumitra, Kapur Devesh, Kay Jonathan, Vaishna Milan. 2021. Social Realities of Indian Americans: Results From the 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/09/social-realities-of-indian-americans-results-from-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey-pub-84667.

4. The Opportunity Trap

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