Body Image and the Asian Experience: Asians, Asian Americans, and Asian Diasporas Across the Globe

Individuals of Asian descent are a demographic often overlooked in mainstream body image scholarship. Historically, body image concerns were thought to only affect white, upper-to-middle-class women in North America and Western Europe. However, empirical data accumulated in recent decades have subverted this myth. Contrary to popular belief and stereotypes that Asian Americans are a Model Minority in the United States, they experience significant body image concerns, as well as related disordered eating and mental health challenges. Asian diasporas in Western countries also face challenges similar to those faced by Asian Americans (e.g., racialized and objectified views of Asians). Asian nationals in Asia, on the other hand, are juggling between their collective and national standards of beauty/fitness and the body-image ideals propagated through commercialism and capitalization amidst the historical context of colonization and the contemporary atmosphere of globalization. Body Image and the Asian Experience: Asians, Asian Americans, and Asian Diasporas Across the Globe discusses the dearth of knowledge―and sometimes misinformation―about body image among people of Asian descent, including Asian nationals dwelling in Asia and those in the diaspora (Asian Americans, Asian immigrants in the United Kingdom, Australia, etc.).


The first section of the book reviews the applicability of existing theories in understanding the body image experiences of individuals of Asian descent and proposes a new theoretical framework that emphasizes both decolonizing and intersectional perspectives in conceptualizing Asian body image. The next section examines the current state of research on body image among Asians, Asian Americans, and Asian diasporas around the globe, including attending to some seriously neglected specific demographic and social identity groups. The last section explores mental health and psychosocial implications of body image in the aspects of mental disorders, interpersonal and social relationships, and identity development.

• Explores the body image of Asians, offering new theoretical insights to address their unique experiences globally
• Focuses on underrepresented groups, including Asian sexual and gender minority men, advancing understanding in body image research
• Examines how body image influences mental health, relationships, identity, and societal aspects

Hsiu-Lan Cheng, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of San Francisco. Her primary research interests include Asian American psychology, particularly in the areas of body image, disordered eating, racism and mental health; the multicultural contextualization of psychological concerns and help-seeking; attachment theory; and culturally-informed positive psychology. She has published prolifically in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Counseling Psychology, The Counseling Psychologist, and The American Psychologist. Her research has received both institutional and external recognition. She was awarded the Psychotherapy with Women Award from the Society for the Psychology of Women (Division 35) of the American Psychological Association for her research on body image and disordered eating issues among Asian American women. She also received the Best in Science Award from the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17) of the American Psychological Association. Before Dr. Cheng’s academic career, she worked as a practicing psychologist at the counseling center of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, where she specialized in working with clients on concerns related to body image and disordered eating, many of whom were from Asian or Asian American backgrounds. Her career profile illustrates her passions and strengths in both research and practice. She has served as a consulting editor on the editorial boards of several academic journals of the American Psychological Association and has served on the governing boards of several divisions and divisional sections of the American Psychological Association. She is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association, Division 17. Dr. Cheng is the Project Evaluator of a 1.5 million Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) grant award from the US Department of Education to support AAPI students’ social, emotional, academic, and career development.

Yuying Tsong, Ph.D., is a professor of Human Services and the Associate Vice President of Student Success and Academic Support at California State University, Fullerton. Their research, scholarship, and professional activities center on Asian American psychology and mental health, body image, disordered eating, and help-seeking and healing, especially in racial/ethnic/sexual/gender/immigrants and other minoritized communities. Dr. Tsong’s backgrounds also include clinical practices at community mental health organizations in the Los Angeles metro area and at the University of California Irvine Counseling Center, with a focus on Asian American mental health, body image, and disordered eating. Dr. Tsong is recognized nationally for their scholarship and professional activities, including the Su Rosenberg Zalk Award for distinguished service to the Society for the Psychology of Women, Fellow status by American Psychological Association (APA) Division 35 Society for the Psychology of Women, Division 45 the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race, and the Asian American Psychological Association, and an APA Presidential Citation in 2023. Dr. Tsong has served on editorial boards of several academic journals as a guest editor of two special issues of the journal Women & Therapy, “Activism as the Asian American Feminist Critical Race (AsianFemCrit) Praxis” and “Trauma and Well-being among Asian American women,” on APA Board of Convention Affairs, and as President of APA Division 35 the Society for the Psychology of Women. Dr. Tsong is the Principal Investigator of two Department of Education Title V grants totaling 7 million dollars to promote access to higher education and timely graduation for underserved undergraduate students.