What happens after anti-Asian racism at work? A moral exclusion perspective on coworker confrontation and mechanisms

Despite Americans' recent heightened awareness of racial inequality, anti-Asian racism at work remains underrecognized and largely unaddressed. In this research, we aim to understand why White bystander coworkers may fail to confront anti-Asian racism. Integrating the moral exclusion perspective and research on racial positions, we propose that due to perceiving Asian Americans as more foreign than other non-White coworkers, White coworkers are less likely to feel anger and engage in confrontation when witnessing anti-Asian racism at work. We first conducted a survey study (Study 1), demonstrating the external validity of the phenomenon that White coworkers are less likely to confront racism when the victim is Asian American versus Black. We then conducted two experiments (Studies 2 and 3) with a realistic, interactive design and behavioral measures of confrontation, supporting our hypothesized mechanisms (i.e., perceived target foreignness and anger). Study 3 further generalized our theory by including Hispanic/Latinx American targets as an additional comparison group and showing that the relative perceived foreignness among Asian American, Hispanic/Latinx American, and Black targets reduced White coworkers' anger and confrontation. We then conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications of our work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).