New data reveal that Asian Americans are the group most likely to worry about being the victim of a mass shooting

In the next two weeks, Asian American communities face two major milestone moments pertaining to mass gun violence. March 16 is the anniversary of the 2021 Atlanta spa shootings, when a 21-year old white man murdered eight people—including six Asian American women. March 21 marks the two-month commemoration of a mass shooting in Monterey Park, where an elderly Asian American man killed 11 people, including 10 Asian Americans. New data from AAPI Data and Momentive, the maker of SurveyMonkey, offers a revealing look at Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander attitudes and experiences with gun violence, hate incidents, and more general experiences at work and in their communities.

In the wake of mass shootings in California, Asian Americans are more likely than all other groups to worry about being the victim of a mass shooting and are most supportive of stricter gun control laws.

• Less than two months removed from the mass shootings in Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park in California, an overwhelming 84% of Asian Americans say they worry about being the victim of a mass shooting. This is higher than the 74% reported by Blacks, Hispanics/Latinos, and NHPIs, and 59% of whites.
• 75% of Asian Americans say that gun violence is a bigger issue in their community now compared with a year ago, similar to Blacks (75%) but higher than whites (56%), Hispanics/Latinos (65%), NHPIs (65%), and Native Americans/Alaskan Natives (52%).
• Only 27% of Asian Americans say that someone in their household owns a gun of any kind, compared with 37% of Blacks, 51% of whites, 31% of Hispanics/Latinos, 49% of NHPIs and 57% of American Indian/Alaskan Natives.
• Nearly three in four Asian Americans support a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons (73% vs. 67% of Blacks, 55% of whites, 53% of Hispanics/Latinos, 61% of NHPIs, and 47% of Native Americans/Alaskan Natives), as well as tougher gun laws in the US (73% vs. 73% of Blacks, 57% of whites, 61% of Hispanics/Latinos, 59% of NHPIs, and 49% of Native Americans/Alaskan Natives).

In terms of hate crimes, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Americans have one of the highest rates among racial groups, with 10% of NHPI and 6% of Asian Americans reporting experiencing physical violence based on their race or ethnicity within the last year.

• Nearly one in four (23%) NHPIs, 26% of Blacks, and 28% of Native American/Alaska Natives have ever been a victim of a hate crime, compared with 17% of whites, and 19% of Hispanics/Latinos and Asian Americans.
• Asian Americans and NHPIs remain hesitant to report hate crimes to law enforcement authorities, unchanged from prior years. 29% of Asian Americans say they are ‘very comfortable’ reporting a hate crime, compared to 30% in 2022 and 2021. 37% of NHPIs are ‘very comfortable’ reporting a hate crime in 2023, compared to 34% in 2022, and 35% in 2021. Other racial groups, including 51% of Blacks, 53% of whites, and 49% of Hispanics/Latinos, are very comfortable reporting a hate crime to law enforcement.
• Asian Americans, however, are increasingly trusting toward the justice system. Over three in five (63%) say that they are confident that justice will be served if they reported a hate crime, up from 57% in 2022 and 53% in 2021, and 70% of Asian Americans believe that law enforcement and police do enough to keep their community safe, on par with whites (71%) and Hispanics/Latinos (70%) and higher than Blacks (57%), NHPIs (61%), and Native Americans/Alaskan Natives (64%).

Asian Americans, NHPIs, and other individuals of color are less likely than white Americans to seek out support from mental health professionals.

• Mental health among Asian Americans, NHPIs, and Native Americans/Alaskan Natives are worse off than that of other ethnic or racial groups; only 21% of NHPIs individuals, 30% of Asian Americans (interviewed in English only), and 29% of Native Americans/Alaskan Natives rate their mental health as ‘excellent’, compared with 38% of Americans overall, and 38% of Blacks, whites, and Hispanics/Latinos.
• There is also less support finding mental health support, with only slightly more than one in three Asian American individuals (36%), NHPIs (34%), and Native American/Alaskan Natives (37%) saying that others around them ‘strongly support’ seeking out mental health support, compared with 47% of Americans overall, 47% of Blacks, 49% of whites, and 42% of Hispanics/Latinos.

Asian American workers, feeling unsupported and underrepresented in leadership positions at their workplaces, seek out employee resource groups as vital spaces for connection.

• Asian American workers are less likely to feel represented in leadership positions at work: only 26% ‘strongly agree’ that there are others like them in leadership positions at their workplace or that they feel supported in pursuing leadership opportunities, compared with 41% and 43% among workers overall.
• Additionally, Asian American workers report skewed perceptions about their roles from others at work: 3 in 10 (30%) say others have made assumptions about the type of work they do based on their race or ethnicity, a comparable rate to Black workers (31%), but higher than white (15%), Hispanic/Latino (22%), NHPI (25%), and Native American/Alaskan Native (26%) workers.
• Some 16% of Asian American workers (and 18% of NHPI workers) participate in employee-led groups or employee resources groups (ERGs) based on their racial or ethnic background, twice the rate of workers overall (8%), exceeding the participation among white (6%), Black (13%), and Hispanic/Latino workers (10%), and on par with Native American/Alaskan Native workers (18%).

Support for abortion rights is higher among Asian American, NHPI, and Black individuals than white or Hispanic Americans.

• Support for access to abortion is higher among Asian Americans, NHPIs, and Blacks than white or Hispanic/Latino Americans: 68% of Asian Americans and 67% of NHPIs say that abortion should be legal in most or all cases, compared to 70% of Blacks, 63% of whites, 61% of Hispanics/Latinos, and 60% of Native Americans/Alaskan Natives.

“This data shows the importance of gathering fresh insights on how Asian Americans, NHPIs, and other communities of color are faring with respect to challenges and opportunities at work, home, and in their communities,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and co-director of AAPI Data. “We are thrilled to partner with Momentive to be able to track diversity in American life, particularly with respect to timely concerns such as gun control, reproductive rights, and workplace mobility.”

“As our nation continues to grapple with ever-changing concerns, getting insights directly from Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders is crucial to understanding the lived experience of individuals in America,” said Laura Wronski, director of research at Momentive. “We’re proud to partner with AAPI Data for the third year in a row and uncover trends and new insights that can shape our understanding of what individuals think, feel, and experience.”

Methodology: This Momentive poll was conducted online February 21-28, 2023 among a total sample of 19,686 adults ages 18 and over, including 2,363 Asian or Asian Americans and 239 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders living in the United States. Respondents for these surveys were selected from more than two million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. Momentive used a third-party panel provider to obtain additional samples with quotas for Asian or Asian American and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander respondents. The modeled error estimate for the full sample is plus or minus 1.0 and for the following subgroups: +/- 3.0 percentage points for Asian or American American, and +/- 6.0 for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, citizenship status, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 18 and over. Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 18 and over.

Complete results of the survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/aapi-data-2023/.

About Momentive

Momentive (NASDAQ: MNTV), maker of SurveyMonkey, empowers people with the insights they need to make business decisions with speed and confidence. Our fast, intuitive experience and insights management solutions connect millions of users at 340,000 organizations worldwide with AI-powered technology and up-to-the-minute insights, so they can shape what’s next for their products, industries, customers, employees, and the market. Ultimately, our vision is to raise the bar for human experiences by amplifying individual voices. Learn more at momentive.ai.

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