The Algorithmic Looking-Glass: A Predictive Model of How Digital Acculturation and Perceived Algorithmic Bias Impact the Well-being of Thailand’s Tai Dam Minority

In an era of digital proliferation, ethnic minorities face unique challenges in maintaining psychological well-being within algorithmically mediated environments that often reflect and amplify mainstream culture. This study addresses the urgent need to understand how interactions with technological systems, rather than just interpersonal contact, shape the mental health of minority individuals. This mixed-methods study examines the factors that influence the psychological well-being of Thailand’s Tai Dam ethnic minority. Drawing on acculturation and social identity theories, the research employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze survey data from 450 participants, recruited via purposive sampling, complemented by a one-year digital ethnography, to test a predictive model. The study introduces and validates a new construct, Perceived Algorithmic Bias (PAB), which refers to a user’s perception that a platform’s algorithm systemically suppresses or negatively represents their cultural content, measured using a newly developed scale based on preliminary qualitative work. The resulting model, which explained 53.8% of the variance in well-being, revealed a critical paradox. While a strong ethnic identity positively predicts psychological well-being (β = 0.258, p < 0.001), this benefit is significantly undermined by PAB, the model’s most potent negative predictor (β = -0.491, p < 0.001). The model demonstrates that a stronger orientation toward mainstream digital culture significantly increases PAB (β = 0.515, p < 0.001). This finding uncovers a “digital cost of engagement,” where participating in the dominant digital culture paradoxically exposes minorities to unique technological stressors, challenging traditional acculturation models. Qualitative findings of a “digital hearth” illustrate how online communities reinforce identity, while feelings of “algorithmic invisibility” confirm the distressing experience of PAB. The study presents a validated predictive framework for minority digital well-being, establishing PAB as a critical factor in global intercultural relations and providing clear implications for culturally aware platform design and mental health support.