Sex -role orientation, gender role attitudes, and acculturation as predictors of psychological well -being among Asian American and European American women

Under the framework of the masculinity model and Gender Schema theory, this study examined gender and culture variables in relation to the psychological well-being of Asian American women. Specifically, sex-role orientation, gender role attitudes, and acculturation were predicted to influence the level of depression and self-esteem. The study further investigated possible mediating effects of masculine sex-role orientation on the relationship between acculturation and psychological well-being. Additionally, group differences in sex-role orientation, gender role attitudes and psychological well-being were explored among Asian American and European American women. Participants included 176 Asian American and 118 European American women who were recruited to complete an online survey via listservs, websites, and web mailings. The survey consisted of demographic information, The Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), The Attitudes Toward Women Scale (ATWS), The Asian American Multidimensional Acculturation Scale (AAMAS), The Asian Values Scale (AVS), The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Results supported the Masculinity model and Gender Schema theory in that masculine sex-role orientation was able to predict self-esteem and Asian American women espoused masculine sex-role orientation and egalitarian gender role attitudes significantly less than European American women. Acculturation was also found to predict psychological well-being, while gender role attitudes failed to demonstrate any relationship. The study further demonstrated that masculine sex-role orientation was a significant partial mediator between behavioral acculturation to European culture and self-esteem. The results however provided no support for racial group differences in psychological functioning. Implications for theory, research, and practice were discussed.