Objective
This article investigates whether gains in ethnic identity reduce pan‐ethnic identity among Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).
Methods
Ordered logit regression using data from the 2016 National Asian American Survey (NAAS).
Results
Gains in ethnic identity do not reduce pan‐ethnic identity among AAPI. As importance of ethnic identity moves from “not at all” to “extremely,” log odds of reporting higher levels of pan‐Asian identity are about three to four times higher. Furthermore, AAPI who value both ethnic and pan‐Asian identities show similar support for AAPI political candidates as those who identify in only ethnic or only pan‐Asian terms.
Conclusion
Identity politics and disaggregated AAPI data are not inherently divisive.