Perfectionism, Model Minority Myth, and the Psychological Flexibility for Korean Americans
Breaking free from perfectionism and the Model Minority Myth
Nari Yoo | PhD at NYU Silver School of Social Work
In the Korean and Korean American community, many of us are familiar with the relentless pursuit of excellence. From academic achievements to career success, the pressure to be perfect can feel overwhelming. This perfectionism often intertwines with the "Model Minority Myth" - a stereotype that characterizes Asian Americans as universally successful through hard work and determination. Today, we'll explore how these forces shape our mental health and how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can offer a path toward greater psychological flexibility and well-being.
Perfectionism and the Model Minority Myth
Understanding Perfectionism in the Korean Context
For many Koreans and Korean Americans, perfectionism isn't just a personal trait—it's deeply embedded in our cultural experience. Research shows that perfectionism among Korean Americans is often influenced by cultural factors rooted in Confucian values that promote discipline, hard work, and filial piety. Park (2011) found that Korean immigrant high school students who had adopted the role of model minority by being "hard working, uncomplaining, quiet Asian students" excluded peers who did not conform to this stereotype, highlighting how these expectations become internalized within the community.
A cross-cultural study (2021) on perfectionism in Korea found that Korean college students experience distinct perfectionism profiles that affect their emotional well-being differently. Using latent profile analysis, researchers identified four different perfectionism types among Korean young adults: adaptive perfectionists, maladaptive perfectionists, mixed perfectionists, and non-perfectionists. Adaptive perfectionists set high standards and goals for themselves as a way to challenge and grow, learning from failure and continuing to move forward. In contrast, maladaptive perfectionists set unrealistically high expectations and, when faced with failure, either become excessively fixated on their goals and engage in harsh self-criticism for perceived lack of effort, or withdraw entirely by avoiding activities altogether. Those with maladaptive perfectionism showed the highest levels of negative emotions and academic burnout, while adaptive perfectionists reported higher positive emotions and lower burnout.
The Weight of the Model Minority Myth
The Model Minority Myth portrays Asian Americans as a successful group that has achieved prosperity through hard work and determination. Historically, this myth emerged during the 1960s with publications in mainstream American media presenting Japanese and Chinese Americans as "examples of successful minorities" (Pew Research Center, 2023). Since then, this stereotype has characterized Asian Americans as "a polite, law-abiding group who have achieved a higher level of success than the general population through some combination of innate talent and pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps immigrant striving" (Learning for Justice, 2022).
This narrative has particularly significant implications for Korean Americans. Following the Los Angeles uprising in 1992, when many Korean-owned businesses were damaged, Korean Americans found themselves caught in a complex racial dynamic. Viet Thanh Nguyen (2020) describes this position as "what it means to be a model minority: to be invisible in most circumstances because we are doing what we are supposed to be doing... until we become hypervisible because we are doing what we do too well." This racialized visibility adds another layer of pressure to the perfectionism already prevalent in Korean culture.
For many Korean American families, these pressures are transmitted intergenerationally, shaping parenting practices and children's internalized expectations. The Model Minority Myth (MMM) not only influences how others perceive Korean Americans, but also how Korean Americans come to define success, failure, and belonging within their own families and communities. For a deeper discussion on how the MMM shapes Korean American parenting and family dynamics, please see the fireside chat on parenting under the influence of the Model Minority Myth.
The Mental Health Impact
The combination of perfectionism and the Model Minority Myth creates significant challenges for psychological wellbeing. A study from UCLA Health (2023) reported that 33% of Korean American adults experience symptoms of depression. The same research found that second-generation Asian Americans have higher rates of psychopathology than first-generation immigrants, suggesting that these pressures may intensify across generations rather than diminish. For Korean Americans, interdependence concerns and parental relations are significant factors in maladaptive perfectionism. Castro and Rice (2003) found that perfectionism differs in its impact across ethnic groups, with specific relationships to academic achievement and depression. A study by Yoon and Lau (2008) has shown that highly interdependent Asian American students appear more vulnerable to depression when demonstrating perfectionistic tendencies.
Psychological Flexibility
Through developing psychological flexibility, Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) offers a different approach to dealing with these challenges. Ong and colleagues (2019) defined psychological flexibility as "the ability to be present, open up to difficult thoughts and feelings, and engage in values-guided action even in the presence of challenging inner experiences."
Research has shown that ACT may be particularly well-suited for addressing perfectionism. A randomized controlled trial with 53 individuals with clinical perfectionism found that ACT was superior to a waitlist control condition on clinical perfectionism, psychological functioning, and processes of change (Ong et al., 2019). This study specifically examined psychological inflexibility and self-compassion as mediators, finding that reduced psychological inflexibility mediated improvements in quality of life, while increased self-compassion mediated decreases in concern over mistakes.
In ACT, two widely used metaphors—the unwelcome party guest and the passengers on the bus—help illustrate this idea of psychological flexibility. Difficult thoughts and emotions are treated not as problems to eliminate, but as unwelcome party guests: uncomfortable, perhaps, but manageable if we stop struggling to throw them out. Likewise, in the bus driver metaphor, we are reminded that while distressing thoughts—like fear, shame, or self-doubt—may ride along, they don’t get to control the route. These metaphors capture a lesson from ACT: we don’t have to wait for our minds to be clear of discomfort before moving forward. Especially for Korean Americans navigating the layered pressures of perfectionism and the model minority myth, ACT offers a path not to feel better, but to live better—with discomfort, not despite it. The next post will take a closer look at how ACT works in practice—specifically, what it means to cultivate psychological flexibility and how this approach aligns with the lived experiences of Korean Americans.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nari Yoo is an incoming Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Her research bridges community-based approaches and technological innovations to improve mental health and social service delivery for racial/ethnic minorities and immigrant populations in both the U.S. and Asia. She is particularly interested in language access, culturally grounded care models, and the ethical use of AI in social work practice. Her long-term goal is to develop technology-assisted and community-rooted interventions that are linguistically and culturally responsive. Beyond her academic work, she enjoys exploring cross-cultural perspectives through travel, literature, and documentaries.
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