Multicultural Psychology Commons^™

Lives In Transition: Ethnic Identity And Psychological Well-Being In Adults With A Highly Mobile Global Upbringing, Sutharshini (Dharshi) V. Vasikaran

Theses : Honours

This study explored the nature of ethnic identity and its relationship to psychological wellbeing (PWB) in third culture kids (TCKs). Ethnic identity achievement in acculturating individuals (e.g., migrants) is known to furnish one with a sense of belonging to one's group together with desirable psychological outcomes. Ethnic identity construction can be more complex in TCKs because of exposure to multiple cultural contexts during developmental years. Seven TCKs currently residing in Australia were interviewed. Analysis proceeded according to Ricoeur's hermeneutic phenomenology. Two themes were elucidated: 'Making sense of identity' and 'sense of belonging and PWB'. Single and multiple (blended and alternating) …

Language Exclusionary Behavior And Attitudes Toward Immigrants, Christine L. Bennett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Immigrants often speak languages that natives do not understand, leading to intentional or inadvertent ostracism, which in turn may increase perceptions of threat. For example, English language participants excluded from a conversation in Spanish report more negative reactions than participants excluded in English (Hitlan, Kelly, & Zarate, 2010). Integrated threat theory (ITT) suggests that there are four threats that lead to prejudice toward outgroups such as immigrants: realistic threat, symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes (Stephan, Ybarra, & Bachman, 1999). The current study expanded upon prior research by ostracizing participants in English, Spanish, or Arabic and then measuring participants' …

Trust Differences Across National-Societal Cultures: Much To Do, Or Much Ado About Nothing?, Don Ferrin, Nicole Gillespie

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Does trust and its development, functions and meaning, differ between people from different national–societal cultures? There is considerable anecdotal evidence and some theoretical argumentation to suggest it does, but are these supported by empirical research? This chapter reviews the available empirical evidence on the effects of national–societal culture on interpersonal trust. It focuses largely on quantitative empirical evidence to consider the extent to which, and the ways in which, interpersonal trust differs across national–societal cultures. In every category of our review we found evidence of cross-cultural differences, particularly on generalized trust, and also evidence of trust universals across cultures. In …

Antecedents Of Supervisor Trust In Collectivist Cultures: Evidence From Turkey And China, S. Arzu Wasti, Hwee Hoon Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The premise of much research on dyadic trust building within organizations has been framed around the relationship as it emerges in the work context. Such models, including the seminal Mayer et al. (1995) model of dyadic trust, have been applied to contexts outside North America without a careful understanding of the distribution of social practices and everyday situations in such contexts. This chapter examines culture-specific workways as a starting point for understanding subordinates’ trust in their supervisors in collectivist cultures. Workways refer to the pattern of workplace beliefs, mental models and practices about what is true, good and efficient within …

Culture As Common Sense: Perceived Consensus Versus Personal Beliefs As Mechanisms Of Cultural Influence, Xi Zou, Kim-Pong Tam, Michael W. Morris, Sau-Lai Lee, Ivy Yee-Man Lau, Chi-Yue Chiu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The authors propose that culture affects people through their perceptions of what is consensually believed. Whereas past research has examined whether cultural differences in social judgment are mediated by differences in individuals’ personal values and beliefs, this article investigates whether they are mediated by differences in individuals’ perceptions of the views of people around them. The authors propose that individuals who perceive that traditional views are culturally consensual (e.g., Chinese participants who believe that most of their fellows hold collectivistic values) will themselves behave and think in culturally typical ways. Four studies of previously well-established cultural differences found that cultural …

Examining Adolescent Suicide: How To Identify The Risks, Kelsey Moellering

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Social Cognitive Predictors Of Diabetes Outcomes In Latinos And Whites, Diana Brown

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Investigating health care disparities in ethnic minority populations is an increasingly urgent issue as these disparities lead to higher morbidity and mortality in minorities (National Center of Health Statistics, 2000). There is clear evidence that Latino Americans, the fastest growing minority group in the United States, are more likely to be diagnosed with and experience more severe complications from type 2 diabetes than Anglo Americans. This study surveyed 38 White and 33 Latino diabetes patients from outpatient clinics in an academic medical center. Cultural values (individualism and collectivism), mental health (social support, mental health), and self-efficacy (diabetes and exercise) were …

Multiracial Identity Integration: Perceptions Of Conflict And Distance Among Multiracial Individuals, Chi-Ying Cheng, Fiona Lee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines how multiracial individuals negotiate their different and sometimes conflicting racial identities. Drawing from previous work on bicultural identity integration (see Benet-Martinez and Haritatos, 2005), we proposed a new construct, multiracial identity integration (MII), to measure individual differences in perceptions of compatibility between multiple racial identities. We found that MII is composed of two independent subscales: that describes whether different racial identities are perceived as disparate, and that describes whether different racial identities are perceived as in conflict. We also found that recalling positive multiracial experiences increased MII, while recalling negative multiracial experiences decreased MII. These findings have …

Toward A More Complete Understanding Of The Link Between Multicultural Experience And Creativity, William W. Maddux, Angela K.-Y. Leung, Chi-Yue Chiu, Adam D. Galinsky

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Responds to G. J. Rich's comments on the current author's original article which presented evidence supporting the idea that multicultural experience can facilitate creativity. Rich has argued that our review, although timely and important, was somewhat limited in scope, focusing mostly on smaller forms of creativity ("little c": e.g., paper-and-pencil measures of creativity) as well as on larger forms of multicultural experience ("Big M": e.g., living in a foreign country). We agree with many aspects of Rich's assessment. The issue of whether different forms of multicultural experience can affect Big C creativity is of interest to both scholars and laypeople …

Testing A Multiple Mediation Model Of Asian American College Students’ Willingness To See A Counselor, Paul Youngbin Kim, Irene J. K. Park

SPU Works

Adapting the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the present study examined help-seeking beliefs, attitudes, and intent among Asian American college students (N = 110). A multiple mediation model was tested to see if the relation between Asian values and willingness to see a counselor was mediated by attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help and subjective norm. A bootstrapping procedure was used to test the multiple mediation model. Results indicated that subjective norm was the sole significant mediator of the effect of Asian values on willingness to see a counselor. The findings highlight the importance of social influences on help-seeking …

Perceptions Of Mental Health Stigma And Discrimination In A Mexican American Sample, Jeff D. Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The stigma of mental health problems between Mexican Americans and White non-Hispanic European Americans was investigated and measured by attitudes toward seeking help and the amount of social distance desired from individuals with mental health problems. The stigma of mental health has been identified as a barrier to accessing mental health services among Mexican Americans and men in general. Men from both groups access mental health services at a significantly lower rate than women from both groups. This study contributed to research and practice by examining the possible differences in the level of stigma toward mental health problems between Mexican …

Depression In Korean Immigrant Women, Darin Lee Rorrer

Theses Digitization Project

This study found that the depression levels of Korean immigrant women in the U.S are affected by their education and/or income levels, often stemming from their inability to successfully navigate in the American culture.

Creating A Safe Learning Space For The Discussion Of Multicultural Issues In The Classroom, Katherine M. Helm

Psychology Department Faculty Articles

This paper reviews best pedagogic practices for creating a safe environment in which to hold courses on race, racism, and multicultural issues. Inherent in these courses are student feelings of angst, vulnerability, guilt, trepidation, and sometimes anger and hostility. The sensitive educator must manage and acknowledge these feelings so that learning can occur without diminishing the power and impact issues of race have on our collective and individual psyches and experiences. Strategies for managing and incorporating students' strong emotions into the dialogue on multiculturalism will be reviewed.

Patterns And Challenges Of Parenting School-Age Children Among Selected Sub-Saharan African Immigrant Parents In Southwest Michigan: A Multiple-Case Study, Israel M. Kafeero

Dissertations

Problem. Parenting among immigrants presents unique challenges to parents whose cultural orientation is different from the host culture. Because of the meager research literature on immigrant families in the USA, little is known about the phenomenon of parenting among sub-Saharan African immigrant parents. This study investigated the patterns related to the parenting practices of selected sub-Saharan African immigrant parents, how they conduct corrective discipline to their children, and the challenges they face rearing children in Southwest Michigan.

Method. Qualitative research methods including interviews, observations, focus group discussions, and artifact collection were used in this dissertation to generate data. A snowball …

Anglo-Australians' Attitudes Towards Asylum Seekers And Egalitarianism, Antonietta Matrone Faulkner

Theses : Honours

Research has found that generally Australians hold negative attitudes towards asylum seekers. These negative attitudes appear to be influenced by perceptions of threat and false beliefs. The current study explored the attitudes of Anglo-Australians towards asylum seekers and how attitudes are related to the concept of Australian egalitarianism and fair go. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted for this study. Three main themes were identified through thematic content analysis: characterising asylum seekers, responses to asylum seekers in Australia, and constructing fairness.' Characterising asylum seekers represented the informants' constructs of asylum seekers as being genuine asylum seekers, or boat people …

Attitudes Toward Asylum Seekers: The Role Of Beliefs In Procedural Fairness, Lisa Palamountain

Theses : Honours

This study investigated the relationship between beliefs in procedural fairness, humanitarian values, and attitudes toward asylum seekers amongst a sample of first year university students in Western Australia (N = 148). Beliefs in procedural fairness were measured in terms of beliefs in the fairness of decision making and beliefs in the fairness of treatment. Findings supported the hypotheses, in that beliefs in procedural fairness were significantly related to attitudes and humanitarian values. Regression analyses revealed that beliefs in the fairness of treatment and humanitarian values made unique contributions in predicting attitudes. However beliefs in the fairness of decision making did …

Health Issues And Aging In American Indian Older Adults: Resilience Through Adversity, Ennis F. Vaile

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The average life expectancy of American Indian (AI) older adults has paralleled mainstream aging trends and is set to continue growing as global increases in longevity continue to improve (Jervis, Boland, & Fickenscher, 2010). However, the disproportionately high levels of chronic health conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, cerebrovascular diseases) observed in this group may outstrip the coping resources of some individuals, potentially leading to unsuccessful aging outcomes such as adverse mental health outcomes (specifically depression). As described in Goins and Pilkerton (2010, p. 346), comparatively higher rates of chronic health conditions have created an “expansion of morbidity,” where American Indians are …

Palpable Pedagogy: Expressive Arts, Leadership, And Change In Social Justice Teacher Education (An Ethnographic/Auto-Ethnographic Study Of The Classroom Culture Of An Arts-Based Teacher Education Course), Lucy Elizabeth Barbera

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Palpable Pedagogy: Expressive Arts, Leadership, and Change in Social Justice TeacherEducation is an arts-informed ethnographic study of the pedagogy and culture engendered when the expressive arts are employed in social justice teacher education. Palpable Pedagogy is a qualitative study that examines the power of the expressive arts to identify, explore, and address issues of inequity in the context of a social justice teacher education course that I taught over three consecutive years. The literature in the field outlines the essential components for effective social justice teacher education (identity, reflection, and dialogue) and neatly explores them. However, with the exception of …

Psychological Distress And Change In A Pediatric Obesity Population, Amy Rebecca Beck

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Pediatric overweight and obesity is a growing national epidemic with 15 percent of children ages 6-19 considered obese and at least 22 percent considered overweight. While there is considerable research pointing to contributing factors of obesity, there is a paucity of research which elucidates what contributes to successful intervention. Considering that by the year 2050, nearly 50 million Americans may be obese, understanding the factors delineating success of weight loss and prevention is a necessity. The purpose of this study was to utilize archival data from the LLU Growing Fit Program to evaluate the levels of psychological distress experienced by …

The Role Of Racial Attitudes And Identity In Black Client-White Counselor Dyads, Tara Michelle Ferguson

Dissertations

The therapeutic alliance has become an important area of investigation in the psychotherapy literature due to its demonstration of a moderate and consistent relationship with therapy outcomes. Some researchers have suggested that barriers to alliance formation may exist in cross-ethnic dyads due to different worldviews, race related socialization experiences, and racial attitudes. Although past research has indicated that racial identity and attitudes played a role in predicting various counseling processes, no studies in this area have examined their influence in actual counseling dyads. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of Black racial identity and attitude …

Interactive Effects Of Multicultural Experiences And Openness To Experience On Creativity, Angela K.-Y. Leung, Chi-Yue Chiu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Extensiveness of multicultural experiences and Openness to Experience were used to predict European American undergraduates' performance on two measures of creative potential: (a) generation of unusual uses of garbage bags and (b) retrieval of nonprototypical or normatively inaccessible exemplars in the conceptual domain of occupation. The results showed that having extensive multicultural experiences predicted better performance on both measures of creative potential only among participants who were open to experience. Among those who were not open, having more extensive multicultural experiences was associated with a lower level of creative potential. Implications of these findings for promoting creativity in schools are …

Racial Or Ethnic Minority Students' Experiences Of The Multicultural Climate In Counseling Psychology Doctoral Programs, Allison K. Bradshaw

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current research is a qualitative study in which the researcher used semistructured interviews to examine the lived experiences of racial or ethnic minority students in Counseling Psychology doctoral programs with the purpose of determining the barriers and supports that these students encounter during their doctoral training. Participants were 11 women from APA-accredited Counseling Psychology doctoral programs from across the United States. The researcher used a grounded theory-based approach to identify a model of the students' experiences. Overarching themes included personal struggles, struggles in or with the participants' programs, supporters, specific ways that support was provided, and positive experiences in …

Multicultural Experience Enhances Creativity: The When And How, Angela K. Y. Leung, William W. Maddux, Adam D. Galinsky, Chi-Yue Chiu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Many practices aimed at cultivating multicultural competence in educational and organizational settings (e.g., exchange programs, diversity education in college, diversity management at work) assume that multicultural experience fosters creativity. In line with this assumption, the research reported in this article is the first to empirically demonstrate that exposure to multiple cultures in and of itself can enhance creativity. Overall, the authors found that extensiveness of multicultural experiences was positively related to both creative performance (insight learning, remote association, and idea generation) and creativity-supporting cognitive processes (retrieval of unconventional knowledge, recruitment of ideas from unfamiliar cultures for creative idea expansion). Furthermore, …

Sibling Relationships Across Cultures: A Comparison Of United States And Egyptian Sibling Relations, Sarah Janet Sabet

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to gain a more complete understanding of sibling relations (and therefore family dynamics) in individualistic and collectivist cultures. Sibling relationships among U.S. and Egyptian cultures are examined.

Information Gathering And Culture Shock: Mediating The Effect Of Individual Characteristics Of International Adjustment, Jeremiah James Mcfarland

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect that information gathering and culture shock have on the relationship between individual characteristics and international adjustment. Participants for this study consisted of 95 international students within the California State University system.

Self-Stereotyping And Vocational Choice Among Asian Americans, Tzuting Chang

Theses Digitization Project

The underlying purpose of this study was to examine how the social portrayal of Asian Americans, with social identity as the moderator, may impact their career preferences for Investigative/Realistic professions. The role of Asian Americans' self-efficacy in math/science was also explored in the self-stereotyping process. Asian American undergraduate students of all majors were recruited electronically. Professors of Engineering and other science departments from the University of California, Riverside, Irvine, and Los Angeles were contacted via email and were asked to assist with recruitment by forwarding the message to students. In total, 162 Asian American students clicked on the web link …

Efecto Específico Del Hablante En El Reconocimiento Auditivo De Palabras Con Acento Extranjero, Conor T. Mclennan, Julio Alvarez Gonzalez

Psychology Faculty Publications

A pesar de la enorme variabilidad de la señal del habla, reconocemos las palabras de forma rápida y acertada. Si escuchamos la palabra "teléfono", en seguida surge en nuestra mente la idea de un aparato que sirve para comunicar a distancia. Y esto ocurre con cientos de hablantes distintos, a diferentes velocidades de habla, entonaciones, acentos, estados afectivos, etcétera. Aparentemente la información superficial del estímulo no forma parte de su contenido lingüístico.
La mayoría de los modelos actuales sobre el reconocimiento

Understanding Seychelles Students' Social, Academic And Cultural Experiences During Transition To University, Sophia A. Harryba

Theses : Honours

University transition is a form of change from the familiar to unfamiliar (Hellsten, 2002). According to a literature review, international students (IS) go through both positive and negative experiences due to cross- cultural learning (Grey, 2002). Findings from previous research can be broadly categorised into academic and/or socio-cultural difficulties. Academic issues included getting used to a different learning and teaching environment, a heavier study load coupled with language barriers and academic procedures (Mcinnis, 2001). Socio-cultural issues included culture shock (Townsend & Wan, 2007), language difficulties (Cannon, 2002), discrimination (Poyrazli & Lopez, 2007) and financial issues (Forbes- Mewett et al., 2007). …

Host Community Acculturation Expectations Toward Immigrant Groups; An Evaluation Of Theoretical Models, Perspectives, And Factors Encouraging The Development Of Multicultural Societies, Carmen Vakis

Theses : Honours

The ability of immigrants to integrate into a new society is dependent on a number of factors including the strength of an immigrant's ethnic identity, willingness of the immigrant to accept the beliefs, values, and cultural practices of the host society, and attitudes of members of the host society toward immigrants. This paper reviews research on attitudes toward immigration, in relation to theoretical approaches including Berry's (2003) model of acculturation expectations. Factors discussed throughout this review as contributing to host community acceptance of immigrants include cultural awareness and understanding, preconceived misconceptions and stereotypes, and perceptions of threat to resources and …

Science Fiction And Postmemory Han In Contemporary Korean American Literature, Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

In this essay, Seo-Young Chu explores representations of a specifically Korean American type of postmemory that she calls "postmemory han."