Flourishing and Positive Mental Health among Asian American Men: Development and Validation of the Affirmative Socialization for Asian American Men Measure

We developed and evaluated the Affirmative Socialization for Asian American Men Measure (ASAMM), a 50-item scale assessing positive social actions that counteract gendered racism and comprise affirmative gendered racial socialization for Asian American men (AAM). Gendered racial socialization, positive male socialization, and positive social action theories informed our construct conceptualization. A targeted literature review, expert feedback, and community-based anecdotes substantiated our iteratively generated item pool and its content and face validity. Exploratory ( N = 488) and confirmatory ( N = 388) factor analysis yielded a psychometrically robust correlated 10-factor model representing the multidimensional and multilevel nature of affirmative socialization for AAM: (a) Positive Regard and Identity Validation, (b) Positive Intimacy, (c) Body Positivity, (d) AAM Emotional Connection, (e) Critical Education, (f) Affirmative Media Representation, (g) Community Representation, (h) AAM Mentors, (i) AAM Community Engagement, and (j) Cross-Racial Friendships and Male Solidarity. The ASAMM evinced strong internal consistencies (.90 to .97) and explained considerable variance (73.22%). We established criterion validity evidence by testing theoretically expected relations with indices of general racial–ethnic socialization and racial identity empowerment, racialization (gendered racism, internalized racism), behavioral health problems (depressive symptoms, loneliness), and psychological flourishing (positive mental health, resilience). The ASAMM is a promising new scale for advancing strength-based scholarship that supports identity integration and positive masculinity among AAM. Implications include advancing systemic interventions to institutionalize affirmative socialization for AAM.