We’re All So Red! The Alcohol Flush Reaction and Asian Ethnic Identification

• In Event: 392 - Section on Asia and Asian America Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 02. Asians, Asian Americans, and Health

Abstract

Although the biomedical processes of the alcohol flush reaction are well understood, no research has investigated its subjective meanings or social reactions to it. Interviews and focus groups with college students show that Asians and Asian Americans are acutely aware that flushing raises the specter of racial stereotyping, as in the colloquial term “Asian glow.” White American drinkers seem oblivious, however, both to their own flushing and that of others. Most Asian flushers develop positive interpretations of the alcohol flush reaction, internalizing it as an identity marker of a pan-ethnic Asian community. Moreover, many also understood their flushing as a positive “ability” that allows them to better control their drinking than non-flushers. These findings suggest that flushing must also be understood through a sociocultural lens of ethnic identification, with specific implications for interventions against alcohol abuse and broader conceptions of ethnicity in health research.

Authors

• Alexandra Hamada, Oberlin College

• Han Guel Jung, Oberlin College

• Karl H. Orozco, Oberlin College

• Greggor Mattson, Oberlin College