Asian communities’ well-being in Aotearoa during Covid-19
The mitigating role of sense of belonging in the relationship between racism and life satisfaction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11157/anzswj-vol35iss1id1027Keywords:
Racism, Sense of belonging, Life satisfaction, COVID-19, Asian communities in Aotearoa New Zealand, Migrant health and well-beingAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Anti-Asian racism was a feature of the social response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and its impact on the well-being of Asian communities warrants closer examination. The current study aimed to gauge whether the sense of belonging mitigated the adverse effects of racism on life satisfaction for self-identified Asian New Zealanders.
METHODS: This analysis included 1341 responses to a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 2021. Descriptive analyses outline how components of a sense of belonging were distributed among participants and those who experienced racism during the Covid-19 pandemic. We used linear regression to examine the role of a sense of belonging as a potential pathway variable in the association between experiencing racism and life satisfaction.
FINDINGS: In this survey, four out of 10 participants reported experiencing racism in the first 18 months of the pandemic. Participants’ life satisfaction decreased slightly since January 2020 (p<0.001). Experiencing racism was associated with decreased life satisfaction. All the components of sense of belonging reduced the magnitude of this negative association between racism experience and life satisfaction, in particular, expressing one’s own ethnic identity and belonging in Aotearoa.
CONCLUSIONS: Given that anti-Asian racism is currently a feature of life and a significant stressor during the pandemic, this study provides empirical evidence of the protective role of a sense of belonging against anti-Asian racism. This study focused on Asian members in Aotearoa New Zealand, but its practical implications have the potential to support other minoritised ethnic communities who also experience racism during the pandemic and beyond.
References
Asia Media Centre. (2020). New Zealand Census: The country’s growing diversity. Asia Media Centre. https://www.asiamediacentre.org.nz/news/nz-census-new-zealands-growing-diversi/
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 479–529. https://doi.org/doi:10.1037/0033- 2909.117.3.497
Branscombe, N. R., Schmitt, M. T., & Harvey, R. D. (1999). Perceiving pervasive discrimination among African Americans: Implications for group identification and well- being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(1), 135–149. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.77.1.135
Brewer, M. B. (1999). The psychology of prejudice: Ingroup love or outgroup hate? Journal of Social Issues, 55(3), 429–444. https://doi.org/10.1111/0022-4537.00126
Brock-Petroshius, K., Mikell, D., Washington, D. M., & James, K. (2022). From social justice to abolition: Living up to social work’s grand challenge of eliminating racism. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 31(3–5), 225–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.20 22.2070891
Chavez, N. (2020). 2020: The year America confronted racism. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2020/12/us/america-racism-2020/
Chen, A. (2017). The language of immigration. In H. D (Ed.), Fair orders? Migration policy in the twenty-first century
(pp. 111–132). Bridget Williams Books Texts.
Cho, E. D. (2021). From the yellow peril to the model minority and back again: Unraveling the Orientalist representations of Asian Americans in the age of Covid-19. Journal of Pastoral Theology, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10649867.2021.1929711
Choi, S., Weng, S., Park, H., Lewis, J., Harwood, S. A., Mendenhall, R., & Huntt, M. B. (2021). Sense of belonging, racial microaggressions, and depressive symptoms among students of Asian descent in the United States. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 91(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/00377317.2021.1882922
Clent, D. (2020, April 11). Coronavirus: Dozens of complaints to Human Rights Commission about Covid-19 racism.
Cobb, C. L., Meca, A., Branscombe, N. R., Schwartz, S. J., Xie, D., Zea, M. C., Fernandez, C. A., & Sanders, G. L. (2019). Perceived discrimination and well-being among unauthorized Hispanic immigrants: The moderating role of ethnic/racial group identity centrality. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 25(2), 280–287. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000227
Daley, A., Phipps, S., & Branscombe, N. R. (2018). The social complexities of disability: Discrimination, belonging and life satisfaction among Canadian youth. SSM - Population Health, 5(May), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.05.003
Diaz, T., & Bui, N. H. (2017). Subjective well-being in Mexican and Mexican American women: The role of acculturation, ethnic identity, gender roles, and perceived social support. Journal of Happiness Studies, 18(2), 607–624. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9741-1
Elias, A., Ben, J., Mansouri, F., & Paradies, Y. (2021). Racism and nationalism during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(5), 783–793. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1851382
Evans, M. K., Rosenbaum, L., Malina, D., Morrissey, S., & Rubin, E. J. (2020). Diagnosing and treating systemic racism. The New England Journal of Medicine, 383(3), 274–276. https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMe2021693?articleTools=true
Garner, S. (2017). Racisms: An introduction. SAGE.
Goodman, L. A. (2011). Comment: On respondent-driven sampling and snowball sampling in hard-to-reach populations and snowball sampling not in hard-to-reach populations. Sociological Methodology, 41(1), 347–353. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9531.2011.01242.x
Hagerty, B. M. K., Lynch-Sauer, J., Patusky, K. L., Bouwsema, M., & Collier, P. (1992). Sense of belonging: A vital mental health concept. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 6(3), 172–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-9417(92)90028-H
Harris, R. B., Stanley, J., & Cormack, D. M. (2018). Racism and health in New Zealand: Prevalence over time and associations between recent experience of racism and health and wellbeing measures using national survey data. PLoS ONE, 13(5). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196476
Harris, R., Cormack, D., Tobias, M., Yeh, L. C., Talamaivao, N., Minster, J., & Timutimu, R. (2012). The pervasive effects of racism: Experiences of racial discrimination in New Zealand over time and associations with multiple health domains. Social Science and Medicine, 74(3), 408–415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.004
Harris, R., Tobiasb, M., Jeffreysc, M., Waldegraved, K., Karlsene, S., & Nazroo, J. (2006). Racism and health: The relationship between experience of racial discrimination and health in New Zealand. Social Science and Medicine, 63(6), 1428–1441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.04.009
Huang, L. (2020). Peer victimization, teacher unfairness, and adolescent life satisfaction: The mediating roles of sense of belonging to school and schoolwork-related anxiety. School Mental Health, 12(3), 556–566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-020-09365-y
Hudson, K. D., Azhar, S., Rahman, R., Matthews, E. B., & Ross, A. M. (2022). Dual pandemics or a syndemic? Racism, COVID-19, and opportunities for antiracist social work. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 31(3–5), 198–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2022.2070895
Human Rights Commission. (2019). It happened here—A snapshot of hate crime in New Zealand. E-Tangata. https://e-tangata.co.nz/comment-and-analysis/it-happened-here-a-snapshot-of-hate-crime-in-new-zealand/
Humpage, L. (2001). Systemic racism: Refugee, resettlement, and education policy in New Zealand. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 33–44. https:// doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.21237
Hunt, E. (2015). New Zealand Labour defends claim that foreign Chinese are buying up houses. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/13/new-zealand-labour-defends-claim-that-foreign-chinese-are-buying-up-houses
Huynh, Q.-L., Devos, T., & Smalarz, L. (2011). Perpetual foreigner in one’s own land: Potential implications for identity and psychological adjustment. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30(2), 133–162.
Jasinskaja-Lahti, I., Liebkind, K., & Solheim, E. (2009). To identify or not to identify? National disidentification as an alternative reaction to perceived ethnic discrimination. Applied Psychology, 58(1), 105–128. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.14640597.2008.00384.x
Jaung R., Park, L.S., Park J.J, Mayeda, D., &,Song, C. (2022). Asian New Zealanders’ experiences of racism during the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with life satisfaction. New Zealand Medical Journal 135(1565):60–73. https://journal.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/asian-new-zealanders-experiences-of-racism-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-and-its-association-with-life-satisfaction
Karan, A., & Katz, I. (2020). There is no stopping Covid-19 without stopping racism. The BMJ, 369(June). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2244
Kitchen, P., Williams, A. M., & Gallina, M. (2015). Sense of belonging to local community in small-to-medium sized Canadian urban areas: A comparison of immigrant and Canadian-born residents. BMC Psychology, 3(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1186/S40359-015-0085-0
Kukutai, T., & Rata, A. (2017). From mainstream to manaaki: Indigenising our approach to immigration. In H. D (Ed.), Fair borders? Migration policy in the twenty-first century (pp. 26–45). Bridget Williams Books Texts.
Lee, R.M. (2003). Do ethnic identity and other-group orientation protect against discrimination for Asian Americans? Journal of Counseling Psychology. 50(2):133–141. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.50.2.133
Lee, E., & Johnstone, M. (2021). Resisting the politics of the pandemic and racism to foster humanity. Qualitative Social Work, 20(1–2), 225–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325020973313
Lei, L., & Guo, S. (2022). Beyond multiculturalism: revisioning a model of pandemic anti-racism education in post- Covid-19 Canada. International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41257-021-00060-7
Lewis, J. A., Mendenhall, R., Ojiemwen, A., Thomas, M., Riopelle, C., Harwood, S. A., & Browne Huntt, M. (2021). Racial microaggressions and sense of belonging at a historically white university. American Behavioral Scientist, 65(8), 1049–1071. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764219859613
Manying Ip. (2015). Chinese. Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/chinese
Ministry of Health. (2021). COVID-19 Health and Wellbeing Survey. https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-resources-and-tools/covid-19-health-and-wellbeing-survey
Ministry of Social Development. (2016). The Social Report 2016. In The Social Report 2016 Te pūrongo oranga tangata. http://socialreport.msd.govt.nz/documents/2016/msd-the-social-report-2016.pdf
Mok, T. M. (2019). Inside the box: Ethnic choice and ethnic change for mixed people in the United Kingdom (Issue December). London School of Economics and Political Science.
Moradi, S., Jang, K., Pehrson, S., Boden, H., Arahanga- Doyle, H., Hunter, J. A., Saleem, N., & Scarf, D. (2019). Express yourself? Ease to express one’s identity mediates the relationship between national belonging and mental health. Kotuitui, 14(2), 290–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/1177083X.2019.1632907
Morrison, M., Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2011). Subjective well-being and national satisfaction: Findings from
a worldwide survey. Psychological Science, 22(2), 166–171. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610396224
Ng, E. (2017). Old Asian, new Asian. Bridget Williams Books.
Nguyen, T., Croucher, S. M., Diers-Lawson, A., & Maydell, E. (2021). Who’s to blame for the spread of COVID-19 in
New Zealand? Applying attribution theory to understand public stigma. Communication Research and Practice, 7(4), 379–396. https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2021.1958635
Nielsen. (2021). Racism and xenophobia experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand during COVID-19: A Focus on Chinese and Asian Communities.
Paine, S. J., & Stanley, J. (2020). Caregiver experiences of racism are associated with adverse health outcomes for their children: a cross-sectional analysis of data from the New Zealand Health Survey. Critical Public Health, 30(5), 509–520. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2019.1626003
Reicher, S. D., Spears, R., & Postmes, T. (1995). A social identity model of deindividuation phenomena. In
W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 161–198). https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779443000049
Reid, P., Cormack, D., & Paine, S. J. (2019). Colonial histories, racism and health—The experience of Ma ̄ori and Indigenous peoples. Public Health, 172, 119–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2019.03.027
Salami, B., Salma, J., Hegadoren, K., Meherali, S., Kolawole, T., & Diaz, E. (2019). Sense of community belonging among immigrants: Perspective of immigrant service providers. Public Health, 167, 28–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2018.10.017
Sengupta, N. K., Luyten, N., Greaves, L. M., Osborne, D., Robertson, A., Armstrong, G., & Sibley, C. G. (2013). Sense of community in New Zealand neighbourhoods: A multi-level model predicting social capital. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 42(1), 36–45.
Siddiqi, A., Chung, R., Ansloos, J., & Paulette, S. (2021). Addressing economic racism in Canada’s pandemic response and recovery. https://physicians.nshealth.ca/sites/default/files/2022-03/Addressing_Economic_Racism_in_Canada’s_Pandemic_Response_and_ Recovery_-_Report.pdf
Simon-Kumar, R. (2015). Neoliberalism and the new race politics of migration policy: Changing profiles of the desirable migrant in New Zealand. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41(7), 1172–1191. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2014.936838
Simon-Kumar, R., Lewycka, S., Clark, T. C., Fleming, T., & Peiris-John, R. (2022). Flexible resources and experiences of racism among a multi-ethnic adolescent population in Aotearoa, New Zealand: an intersectional analysis of health and socioeconomic inequities using survey data. The Lancet, 400(10358), 1130–1143. https://doi.org/10.1016/s01406736(22)01537-9
Smith, C., Tinirau, R., Rattray-Te Mana, H., Tawaroa, M., Barnes, H. M., Cormack, D., & Fitzgerald, E. (2021). Whakatika: A survey of Māori experiences of racism. Te Atawhai o Te Ao Charitable Trust.
Statistics New Zealand. (2018a). 2018 Census ethnic group summaries: Asian ethnic group. Statistics New Zealand. https://www.stats.govt.nz/tools/2018-census-ethnic-group-summaries/asian
Stats NZ. (2018b). General Social Survey 2018: Final content. https://www.stats.govt.nz/methods/general-social-survey-2018-final-content
Straiton, M. L., Aambø, A. K., & Johansen, R. (2019). Perceived discrimination, health and mental health among immigrants in Norway: The role of moderating factors. BMC Public Health, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6649-9
Sue, D. W., Bucceri, J., Lin, A. I., Nadal, K. L., & Torino, G. C. (2007). Racial microaggressions and the Asian American experience. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 13(1), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/1948-1985.s.1.88
Tajfel, H. (1981). Human groups and social categories: Studies in social psychology. Cambridge University Press.
Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel & W. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (2nd ed., pp. 7–24). Nelson-Hall Publishers.
Talamaivao, N., Harris, R., Cormack, D., Paine, S. J., & King, P. (2020). Racism and health in Aotearoa New Zealand: A systematic review of quantitative studies. The New Zealand Medical Journal, 133(1521), 55–68.
Te, M. (2020, July 26). The new, convenient symbol of racism against Asians in New Zealand is Covid-19. Stuff, 1–14. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/122110939/the-new-convenient-symbol-of-racism-against-asians-in-new-zealand-is-covid19
Te, M. (2021, February 8). Our truth, tā mātou pono: Migrants of colour seen as “forever foreigners.” Stuff. https://www. stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/our-truth/123894902/our-truth-t-mtou-pono-migrants-of-colour-seen-as-forever-foreigners
Teddlie, C., & Yu, F. (2007). Mixed methods sampling: A typology journal of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(1), 77–100. https://doi. org/10.1177/1558689819844638
van de Mortel, T. F. (2008). Faking it: Social desirability response bias in self report research. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25(4), 40–48.
Wang, Q., Liu, J. K. K., & Walsh, C. A. (2021). Identities: Experiences and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspectives of older Chinese immigrants in Canada. China Journal of Social Work, 14(2), 153–171. https://doi.org/10.1080/17525098.2021.1923544
Ward, C. (2009). Acculturation and social cohesion: Emerging issues for Asian immigrants in New Zealand. In C.-H. Leong & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Intercultural relations in Asia: Migration and work effectiveness. World Scientific Publishing Company.
Watt, S. K., Mahatmya, D., Coghill-Behrends, W., Clay, D. L., Thein, A. H., & Annicella, C. (2021). Being with anti-racism organizational change efforts: Using a process-oriented approach to facilitate transformation. Journal of College Student Development, 62(1), 130–133. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2021.0011
Young, A. F., Russell, A., & Powers, J. R. (2004). The sense of belonging to a neighbourhood: Can it be measured and is it related to health and well being in older women? Social Science and Medicine, 59(12), 2627–2637. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.05.001
Zdrenka, M., Yogeeswaran, K., Stronge, S., & Sibley, C. G. (2015). Ethnic and national attachment as predictors of wellbeing among New Zealand Europeans, Maori, Asians, and Pacific Nations peoples. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 49, 114–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.07.003
Zhao, K., O’Connor, C., Lenz, T., & Fang, L. (2022). Conceptualizing anti-Asian racism in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: A call for action to social workers. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 31(3–5), 302–312. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.20 22.2070892
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
By completing the online submission process, you confirm you accept this agreement. The following is the entire agreement between you and the Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) and it may be modified only in writing.
You and any co-authors
If you are completing this agreement on behalf of co-authors, you confirm that you are acting on their behalf with their knowledge.
First publication
By submitting the work you are:
- granting the ANZASW the right of first publication of this work;
- confirming that the work is original; and
- confirming that the work has not been published in any other form.
Once published, you are free to use the final, accepted version in any way, as outlined below under Copyright.
Copyright
You assign copyright in the final, accepted version of your article to the ANZASW. You and any co-authors of the article retain the right to be identified as authors of the work.
The ANZASW will publish the final, accepted manuscript under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This licence allows anyone – including you – to share, copy, distribute, transmit, adapt and make commercial use of the work without needing additional permission, provided appropriate attribution is made to the original author or source.
A human-readable summary of the licence is available from http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, which includes a link to the full licence text.
Under this licence you can use the final, published version of the article freely – such as depositing a copy in your institutional research repository, uploading a copy to your profile on an academic networking site or including it in a different publication, such as a collection of articles on a topic or in conference proceedings – provided that original publication in Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work is acknowledged.
This agreement has no effect on any pre-publication versions or elements, which remain entirely yours, and to which we claim no right.
Reviewers hold copyright in their own comments and should not be further copied in any way without their permission.
The copyright of others
If your article includes the copyright material of others (e.g. graphs, diagrams etc.), you confirm that your use either:
- falls within the limits of fair dealing for the purposes of criticism and review or fair use; OR
- that you have gained permission from the rights holder for publication in an open access journal.
