Flourishing through heritage: Instilling heritage culture as a pathway to Asian American men's positive mental health.

Abstract

The extant literature on Asian American men (AAM) highlights the negative outcomes of facing gendered racism, emasculation, and conflicting Western and Asian sociocultural ideals. However, few studies have explored sources of affirmative socialization that challenge these gendered racist stereotypes and White hegemonic masculine ideals. Thus, the present study sought to examine maintenance of heritage culture as a potential key factor in dismantling internalized racism and promoting positive body image, ultimately cultivating positive mental health among AAM. Using a cross-sectional survey and latent variable path analysis, the study investigated whether maintenance of heritage culture socialization was indirectly linked to positive mental health through decreased internalized racism (self-negativity, appearance bias, and weakness stereotypes) and increased pride in Asian American appearance among a sample of AAM (N = 876; Mage = 30.83, SD = 9.601). Higher frequency of maintenance of heritage culture messaging was associated with greater positive mental health through lower levels of self-negativity and higher levels of pride in Asian American appearance and appearance bias. The findings demonstrate the key role of maintenance of heritage culture as a socialization strategy to foster flourishing outcomes for AAM. Future studies should continue examining socialization strategies and additional key sociocultural factors that facilitate healthy masculinity, identity, and body image among AAM. Practice implications include promoting ethnic-racial pride in the family, educational, and therapeutic contexts and utilizing culturally sensitive interventions to bolster various sources of affirmative experiences for AAM. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).