(STUDY CLOSED)

Body image concerns are a growing issue among Asian American young adult women and emerging evidence suggests that they experience distinct socio-cultural stressors that might heighten risk. Particularly, the intersection of gender and race may pose unique challenges for how Asian American women navigate hierarchies of beauty and perceive their bodies in comparison to others. This study synthesized two prominent qualitative methods, Grounded Theory (GT) and Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR), to explore how systems of inequality (e.g. racism, sexism) intersect with societal and familial beauty norms, and gender and racial identity to influence body image among Asian American undergraduate women (N=20). Participants completed a one hour semi-structured interview describing their understanding of their femininity, racial, and ethnic identity; their shifting feelings, attitudes, and perceptions of their bodies; beliefs of Western and cultural beauty norms; and body image management strategies. The core category Body Image was comprised of attitudes and perceptions about body weight, shape, and size, facial features (e.g. eye size) and skin complexion/tone. Numerous contextual, interpersonal, and identity conditions, including experiences of racism and sexism, awareness of biologically unattainable features, parental body criticism, upward social comparisons to peers, and self-appreciation, emerged to produce a range of positive and negative body image beliefs. Results can advance etiological understanding of prominent socio-cultural factors that may attenuate or heighten risk for body image concerns as well as honor diverse body image beliefs that are often minimized in the literature.