The roles of racial discrimination and English in civic outcomes for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Objective: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) on average report higher rates of racial discrimination and lower levels of English proficiency than other racial and ethnic groups. Less clear is how these factors may shape AAPIs' civic outcomes. The current study explored the roles of racial discrimination and English proficiency in AAPIs' civic satisfaction and civic engagement. Method: Using data from a quality-of-life survey of 2,463 AAPIs from five ethnic subgroups in a large southwestern city, we analyzed (a) whether racial discrimination was associated with lower civic satisfaction but higher civic engagement and (b) whether English proficiency is associated with higher civic satisfaction and civic engagement. Results: Multivariate regression results indicated that racial discrimination was associated with lower levels of civic satisfaction for four AAPI groups (Asian Indian, Korean, Filipino, and Vietnamese) but not with higher civic engagement. English proficiency was not consistently associated with civic satisfaction or engagement across AAPI groups. Conclusions: Examining racial discrimination along civic outcomes brings attention to an important dimension of AAPIs' well-being and lived experiences. Although English proficiency was not associated with civic engagement, the findings on racial discrimination have implications for civic programs, services, and policies that are important for promoting a more inclusive democracy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).