Discrimination Experiences Shape Most Asian Americans’ Lives
Most Asian adults in the U.S. have been treated as a foreigner or experienced incidents where people assume they are a “model minority.”
We explore the diverse experiences and opinions of Asian Americans and immigrants of Asian origin with in-depth surveys and other research. Our work focuses on capturing the attitudes and experiences reflecting the diverse cultures and origins represented in the Asian population living in the U.S., around topics like identity, the economy, politics and social mobility. This work is part of our wider race and ethnicity research portfolio.
Hannah Klein
hklein@pewresearch.org
202.419.4567
Most Asian adults in the U.S. have been treated as a foreigner or experienced incidents where people assume they are a “model minority.”
About one-in-four Black households and one-in-seven Hispanic households had no wealth or were in debt in 2021, compared with about one-in-ten U.S. households overall.
Most Asian adults in the U.S. have been treated as a foreigner or experienced incidents where people assume they are a "model minority."
A rising share of Asian Americans say they have no religion (32%), but many consider themselves close to one or more religious traditions for reasons such as family or culture. Christianity is still the largest faith group among Asian Americans (34%).
Read about some of the ways focus group participants with ties to different faith traditions explain the complex relationship of religion and culture in their lives.
97% of Asian Americans registered to vote say a candidate’s policy positions are more important than their race or ethnicity when deciding whom to vote for.
32% of U.S.-born Asian adults have hidden a part of their heritage, compared with 15% of immigrants.
Around three-quarters of Asian Americans (78%) have a favorable view of the United States. Majorities of Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Vietnamese adults in the U.S. have a favorable view of their own ancestral homeland. By contrast, fewer than half of Chinese Americans say they have a favorable opinion of China.
About one-in-four Asian Americans (24%) consider themselves extremely or very informed about the history of Asian people in the United States.
About half of Asian adults who have heard of affirmative action (53%) say it is a good thing, 19% say it is a bad thing, and 27% say they don’t know whether it is good or bad. However, about three-quarters of all Asian adults (76%) say race or ethnicity should not factor into college admissions decisions.
About six-in-ten Asian American registered voters are Democrats or lean Democratic, but 51% of Vietnamese American voters tilt Republican.