Familial and Religious Ethnic-Racial Socialization in Promoting Activism Among Asian American Christians

The adversity faced by Asian Americans (AAs) due to discrimination is a testament to the ongoing fight for human rights. At the crux of social activism, familial and religious ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) instills cultural values, ethnic identity, belonging to one's racial group, and a meaningful outlook, navigating generations through these challenges. This study examined the role of family and religion in amplifying social advocacy among AAs by assessing the relationship between race-related stress and social activism, as well as the mediating role of familial and religious ERS via a parallel mediation. Our research, utilizing a cross-sectional, nonexperimental design, involved 254 AA emerging adults identifying as Christian (M-age = 29.06, SDage = 7.55), sourced from Prolific (n = 203) and community sampling (n = 51). Linear regression findings revealed significant positive associations between familial ERS and social action (beta = .226, p < .001), as well as religious ERS and social action (beta = .085, p = .033). Nevertheless, parallel mediation analysis through bootstrapping demonstrated that neither familial nor religious ERS fully mediated the effects of race-related stress on social activism. These results underscore the significance of applying culturally imbued insights from different contexts to address discrimination within the AA Christian community. Scrutinizing these pathways can safeguard AA Christians, while promoting the amalgamation of Christian theology and psychological science. Future research should address the spectrum of beliefs and practices within Christianity that intersect with AA families and culture, unraveling the foundations of the call for social action.