About

Rich Lee is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts. His research is driven by an ethnic studies and critical race perspective, focusing on the unique racial and ethnic experiences of minority youth and adults, and how these experiences relate to development, well-being, and mental health. His work explores aspects of culture, ethnicity, and race that serve as risk or protective factors, including acculturation, ethnic identity development, discrimination, parent-child conflicts, and cultural socialization. His current research projects are organized into three domains: advancing theory and measurement related to culture-specific risk and protective factors; examining the transracial and transnational experiences of Korean children adopted internationally by White families; and engaging in community-based research to improve engagement in evidence-based prevention programs for racial and ethnic minority populations. Rich Lee's educational background includes a PhD in Psychology (Counseling) from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BA in Psychology and Philosophy from Boston College. He has held various professional roles, including editor, chair of the Asian Caucus of the Society for Research on Child Development, and president of the Asian American Psychological Association. His contributions extend to teaching courses on race, multicultural psychology, and Asian American experiences, and he has been recognized with awards such as the Fellowships from the Asian American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association, as well as the Outstanding Contribution to Research Award from the Society for Research on Child Development.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Law
• Anthropology
• Linguistics
• Social psychology
• Psychology
• Gender studies
• Demography

Selected publications

• Racial–ethnic socialization in South Asian American families: Amixed methods exploration of parental influences.

  Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology · 2026-04-02

  article

  OBJECTIVES: Research on racial-ethnic socialization (RES) in Asian American families is growing, yet South Asian families and younger children remain understudied. Additionally, parents' race-related beliefs and RES decision making have been overlooked. Although model minority internalization (MMI) beliefs have been linked to developmental outcomes among Asian American youth and adults, their role in RES is not well understood. This partial mixed methods study examined how South Asian American parents' racial-ethnic identity, racial discrimination experiences, and MMI endorsement relate to their RES practices and explored parents' reasons for addressing or avoiding racism. METHOD: = 13) participated in interviews. RESULTS: Path analyses showed that racial-ethnic identity and MMI were positively associated with cultural socialization, whereas discrimination experiences and beliefs in Asian Americans' unrestricted mobility were linked to racial socialization. Qualitative findings highlight the complexity of RES and the various factors shaping parents' approaches. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that MMI may promote cultural maintenance by reinforcing "positive" Asian stereotypes and that some South Asian parents prepare their children for racism by minimizing its significance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Peer Ethnic-Racial Socialization on Ethnic Identity Development Among Korean Transracial Adoptees

  Open MIND · 2026-01-01

  otherOpen accessSenior author

  The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between peer ethnic-racial socialization and ethnic identity development. This study will test ethnic identity development through internal processes of ethnic identity development (i.e. identity exploration), and behavioral expressions/enactments of ethnic identity (i.e. learning Korean). Additionally, this study will qualitatively explore reasons behind engagement in ethnic identity enactments.

  PublisherDOI

• Dynamic, high-resolution poverty measurement in data-scarce environments

  Journal of Development Economics · 2025-11-24

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Dynamic, High-Resolution Wealth Measurement in Data-Scarce Environments

  Washington, DC: World Bank eBooks · 2025-02-06 · 2 citations

  bookOpen access

  Accurate and comprehensive measurement of household livelihoods is critical for monitoring progress toward poverty alleviation and targeting social assistance programs for those who most need it. However, the high cost of traditional data collection has historically made comprehensive measurement a difficult task. This paper evaluates alternative satellite-based deep learning approaches using detailed household census extracts from four African countries to accelerate progress toward comprehensive, fine-scale, and dynamic measurement of asset wealth at scale. The results indicate that transformer architectures solve multiple open measurement problems, by providing the most accurate measurement of local-level variation in household asset wealth across countries and cities, as well as changes in household asset wealth over time. Experiments that artificially restrict data availability show the model’s ability to achieve high performance with limited data. The proposed approach demonstrates the promise of combining satellite imagery, publicly available geo-features, and new deep learning architectures for hyperlocal and dynamic measurement of wealth in data-scarce environments.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A case for change in policy: An integrative conceptual framework to promote more conversations about race/ethnicity in school contexts.

  American Psychologist · 2025-06-23 · 1 citations

  article

  Since September 2020, a total of 206 local and state government entities across 43 states have adopted 301 measures, such as policies and resolutions, to prohibit teaching, curricula, and trainings about racism and critical race theory in K-12 education. Recent executive orders, including Executive Order No. 14190, have extended these measures at the federal level and originated from concerns that Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 seeded animosity and blame toward White youth for structural racism. These policies present challenges for culturally relevant education, which uses students' customs and lived experiences to improve classroom instruction and foster their critical consciousness. This opposition to critical race theory and culturally relevant education underscores the need to review and synthesize existing research on how different forms of school-based racial/ethnic socialization affect adolescent development. We present an integrative framework describing the cognitive, biological, and psychosocial mechanisms linking school racial/ethnic socialization with promotive and resilient outcomes among adolescents irrespective of their own race/ethnicity. School racial/ethnic socialization facilitates adolescents' identity development to understand and make meaning of their race/ethnicity, improves intergroup relationships, and supports their ongoing neurodevelopment that promotes executive functions. These interactions among mind, body, and context provide a comprehensive perspective on the multiple micro- and macropathways underlying the antecedents and consequences of school racial/ethnic socialization. This synthesis of multiple interrelated ecological processes provides concrete directions for future research and supports evidence-based arguments against educational policies that restrict racial/ethnic socialization in K-12 settings, as these restrictions may perpetuate existing racial/ethnic inequities in schools. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• A Cross-sectional Study on Asian Americans’ Race-based Perception Incongruence and Mental Health

  2025-03-06

  preprintOpen access

  Objectives: The stereotype content model posits that Asian Americans are viewed by outgroups as competent but lacking warmth. Little research has examined how Asian Americans perceive their ingroup (self-perception) and perceive society’s views of their ingroup (metaperception). This study examined whether incongruence between self- and metaperception in terms of warmth and competence has mental health implications. We hypothesized that perception incongruence would predict poorer mental health. Methods: Asian American participants (N = 249, 78.7% women, 44.6% East Asian, 73.1% second or later generation) completed an online survey assessing self- and metaperceptions of warmth and competence dimensions as well as depression, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, and affect. Results: Participants reported perceiving that society views Asian Americans as more competent and less warm than they perceived their own ingroup. Self- and metaperception of high competence and self-perception of low warmth predicted worse mental health and affect. Perception incongruence was unrelated to mental health symptoms and affect. Conclusions: Asian Americans are aware that their own group is perceived as high competence and low warmth, but they view their own group differently. While self- and metaperception consistent with racial stereotypes were related to mental health outcomes, perception incongruence was not. Future research should examine why incongruence may not influence mental health and identify protective factors against stereotype-related harm for Asian Americans.Keywords: Stereotype content model; self-perception; metaperception; perception incongruence; mental healthPublic significance statement: Asian Americans are cognizant of societal stereotypes but perceive their ingroup differently. The perception incongruence-distress association appeared complex.

  PublisherDOI

• Ambiguous Loss, Continuing Bonds, and Post-Separation Growth in North Korean Defector Women

  Journal of Loss and Trauma · 2025-06-26

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Engaging or waiting: Variations in Asian American parents’ motivations and approaches to racial socialization during middle childhood and early adolescence.

  Developmental Psychology · 2025-03-20 · 1 citations

  article

  = 5.0; 78% mothers) with children between the ages of 6 and 12, residing across the United States. About two thirds of the parents were second generation and one third were first generation. Data were coded and thematically analyzed using a hybrid inductive-deductive approach. The results indicated that many parents were motivated to engage in conversations about race and racism with their children because they believed knowledge of racism and the ability to cope with and respond to racial discrimination would benefit their children's development. However, some parents reported waiting to have such conversations because they believed talking about race and racism with their children would be detrimental to their children's well-being. Qualitative differences by generational status and family racial-ethnic makeup (i.e., monoracial, multiracial) suggest that parents' racial socialization decisions are reflective of their acculturation experiences and that racial socialization engagement among parents of multiracial children is sometimes dependent on their children's racialized experiences. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Parenting Regulatory Focus--Chinese Version

  PsycTESTS Dataset · 2025-01-01

  datasetSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Parental Racial‐Ethnic Socialization and Competence in Asian Families

  Journal of Marriage and the Family · 2025-12-24

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT Objective This study examined how Asian parents' racial‐ethnic socialization (RES) content with their younger children coalesces with their confidence in providing messages about managing discrimination. Background The COVID‐19 pandemic and ensuing rise in anti‐Asian discrimination in the United States prompted Asian parents to talk more about race, ethnicity, and discrimination with their children. Asian parents' discrimination experiences and internalization of the model minority myth may be associated with variation in the content of parents' RES and their confidence in RES with children. Method This study employed a person‐centered approach to identify subgroups of Asian parents of children (ages 6–12) based on their RES content and confidence, and how these patterns are associated with parental discrimination experiences and internalization of the model minority myth. Results Latent profile analyses revealed four profiles: High Confidence, Race Avoidant, and Integrated; High Confidence, Race Hesitant, and Asian‐Centric; Low Confidence, Race Hesitant, and Separated; and Low Confidence, Race Avoidant, and Low Engagement. Parents reporting higher discrimination experiences and internalization of the model minority myth were more likely to be in profiles that provide messages raising awareness of anti‐Asian discrimination while minimizing race and trying to imbue their child with cultural pride. Conclusion The largest profile promoted integration with the mainstream culture and other racial/ethnic groups; despite reporting discrimination experiences and higher confidence, these parents may have avoided discussion of race in an effort to protect their youth.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant K01MH070740

  NIH · $783k · 2010

Frequent coauthors

• Xiang Zhou

  Purdue University West Lafayette

  49 shared

• Alison W. Hu

  28 shared

• Christine S. Wu

  Oberlin College

  27 shared

• Adam Y. Kim

  Elon University

  26 shared

• Linda M. Chalk

  University of Notre Dame

  25 shared

• Alisia G. T. T. Tran

  Arizona State University

  25 shared

• Anthony Jannetti

  American Psychological Association

  25 shared

• Tracy LaRue

  University of California, Davis

  25 shared

Labs

• Rich Lee LabPI

Education

• PhD, Psychology

  Virginia Commonwealth University

  1996

Awards & honors

• Fellow, Asian American Psychological Association
• Fellow, Division 17 (Counseling Psychology) and 45 (Psycholo…
• President, Asian American Psychological Association, 2011-20…
• Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of…
• McKnight Distinguished University Professor, University of M…