Research on intergroup bias usually focuses on a single dimension of social categorization. In real life, however, people are aware of others' multiple group memberships and use this information to ...form attitudes about them. The present research tests the predictive power of identification, perceived conflict, and perceived symbolic threat in explaining the strength of intergroup bias on various dimensions of social categorization in multiple categorization settings. We conduct a factorial survey experiment, manipulating 9 dimensions of social categorization in diverse samples from 4 countries (n = 12,810 observations, 1,281 participants representing 103 social groups). The dimensions studied are age, gender, ethnicity, religion, place of residence, education, occupation, income, and 1 country-specific dimension. This approach allows exploring the generalizability of established determinants of bias across dimensions of categorization, contexts, and target groups. Identification and symbolic threat showed good generalizability across countries and categorization dimensions, but their effects varied as a function of participant and target groups' status. Identification predicted stronger bias mainly when the participant belonged to a higher status and the target belonged to a lower status group. Symbolic threat predicted stronger bias mainly when the target was a minority group member. Conflict predicted bias only in few cases, and not only the strength but also the direction of the effects varied across countries, dimensions, and target and participant groups. These findings help to clarify the limits of generalizability of established determinants of intergroup bias and highlight the need for new explanations of social-cognitive processes among minority group members.
Responses to norm violators are poorly understood. On one hand, norm violators are perceived as powerful, which may help them to get ahead. On the other hand, norm violators evoke moral outrage, ...which may frustrate their upward social mobility. We addressed this paradox by considering the role of culture. Collectivistic cultures value group harmony and tight cultures value social order. We therefore hypothesized that collectivism and tightness moderate reactions to norm violators. We presented 2,369 participants in 19 countries with a norm violation or a norm adherence scenario. In individualistic cultures, norm violators were considered more powerful than norm abiders and evoked less moral outrage, whereas in collectivistic cultures, norm violators were considered less powerful and evoked more moral outrage. Moreover, respondents in tighter cultures expressed a stronger preference for norm followers as leaders. Cultural values thus influence responses to norm violators, which may have downstream consequences for violators’ hierarchical positions.
The present study, part of the development of the South African Personality Inventory (SAPI), explores the implicit personality structure in the 11 official language groups of South Africa by ...employing a mixed‐method approach. In the first, qualitative part of the study, semistructured interviews were conducted with 1,216 participants from the 11 official language groups. The derived personality‐descriptive terms were categorized and clustered based on their semantic relations in iterative steps involving group discussions and contacts with language and cultural experts. This analysis identified 37 subclusters, which could be merged in 9 broad clusters: Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Facilitating, Integrity, Intellect, Openness, Relationship Harmony, and Soft‐Heartedness. In the second, quantitative part, the perceived relations between the 37 subclusters were rated by 204 students from different language groups in South Africa and 95 students in the Netherlands. The outcomes generally supported the adequacy of the conceptual model, although several clusters in the domain of relational and social functioning did not replicate in detail. The outcomes of these studies revealed a personality structure with a strong emphasis on social‐relational aspects of personality.
The present study is concerned with cultural diversity climate at school and how it relates to acculturation orientations and psychological school adjustment of early adolescent immigrants. ...Specifically, the distinct role of two types of diversity policy is investigated, namely (a) fostering equality and inclusion and (b) acknowledging cultural pluralism. Longitudinal multilevel analyses based on 386 early adolescent immigrant students (Mage = 10.49 years) in 44 ethnically heterogeneous classrooms in Germany revealed that the manifestations of both types of policies promote psychological school adjustment (i.e., better well-being and fewer psychological and behavioral problems) at the individual level. However, they differ in their effects on acculturation orientations. At the classroom level, equality and inclusion promote assimilation. Implications for research and educational practice are discussed.
In this article I define and describe the current state of internationalization in psychology. Internationalization refers here to the approach in which existing or new psychological theories, ...methods, procedures, or data across cultures are synthesized so as to create a more culture-informed, inclusive, and globally applicable science and profession. This approach is essential to advance psychology beyond its Euro-American context of development and to achieve a more global applicability of its theories and professional procedures. Internationalization already has led to a better integration of cultural aspects in various psychological theories, to more insight into how to deal with methodological aspects of intact group comparisons (such as bias and equivalence), and to the development of guidelines in areas such as test development, test adaptations, ethics codes, and Internet testing. I review systemic and scientific climate factors in psychology that thwart the progress of internationalization, and conclude by suggesting methods of enhancing internationalization, which is essential for developing a truly universal psychology.
Abstract Background Very little research has examined the relationship between resilience, risk, and the service use patterns of adolescents with complex needs who use multiple formal and mandated ...services such as child welfare, mental health, juvenile justice, and special educational supports. This article reports on a study of 497 adolescents in Atlantic Canada who were known to have used at least 2 of these services in the last 6 months. It was hypothesized that greater service use and satisfaction with services would predict both resilience, and better functional outcomes such as prosocial behavior, school engagement and participation in community. Methods Youth who were known to be multiple service users and who were between the ages of 13 and 21 participated in the study. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire administered individually. Path analysis was used to determine the relationship between risk, service use, resilience, and functional outcomes. MANOVA was then used to determine patterns of service use and service use satisfaction among participants. Results Findings show that there was no significant relationship between service use history and resilience or any of the three functional outcomes. Service use satisfaction, a measure of an adolescent's perception of the quality of the services received, did however show a strong positive relationship with resilience. Resilience mediates the impact of risk factors on outcomes and is affected positively by the quality, but not the quantity, of the psychosocial services provided to adolescents with complex needs. Conclusions Results show that resilience is related to service satisfaction but not the quantity of services used by youth. Coordinated services may not increase resilience or be more effective unless the quality of individual services is experienced by an adolescent receiving intervention as personally empowering and sensitive to his or her needs.
As schools are becoming more culturally diverse, it is crucial to understand how they can approach this diversity in ways that allow all students to feel included and do well. We focus on the ...manifestation of two related but distinct approaches to cultural diversity, namely equality and inclusion (i.e., promoting positive intergroup contact) and cultural pluralism (i.e., embracing students' diverse cultural backgrounds as a resource), in the perceived classroom climate. Specifically, we test a model in which the link of cultural diversity climate at school and student outcomes (achievement, academic self-concept and general life satisfaction) is mediated by sense of school belonging, both at the individual and classroom level. Analyses are based on 1,971 students (61% of immigrant background; Mage = 11.53, SDage = 0.73, 52% male) in 88 culturally diverse classrooms in southwest Germany after their first year at secondary school. Individual- and classroom-level results suggest that both perceived equality and inclusion as well as cultural pluralism are positively associated with outcomes and this link is mediated by school belonging. There were no differences in the effects of (perceived) cultural diversity climate and school belonging between students of immigrant and nonimmigrant background, suggesting that dealing with cultural diversity in a constructive way is beneficial for all students attending multiethnic schools.
Educational Impact and Implications Statement
As schools are becoming more culturally diverse, it is crucial to understand how they can approach this diversity in ways that allow all students to feel included and do well. Schools may prevent ethnic discrimination and promote good relations between students from different cultural groups (e.g., by encouraging mixed seating arrangements and diverse work groups in class). Also, schools may communicate the value of diversity to students (e.g., by providing opportunities for students to learn about different cultures and ethnic groups). We found that students at culturally diverse schools in Germany who perceived that both approaches were followed at their school experienced a greater sense of belonging at school, had better grades and were more satisfied with their lives. Interestingly, this was true both for students of immigrant background and for students from the cultural majority. So, dealing with cultural diversity in a constructive way may help all students to feel and do well, regardless of their cultural background. Raising awareness among teachers and educational decision-makers about the benefits of these constructive approaches, and discussing with them how to implement these is an important step to promote student well-being and achievement in culturally diverse schools.
The impracticality of using the confirmatory factor analytic (CFA) approach in testing measurement invariance across many groups is now well known. A concertedeffort to addressing these encumbrances ...over the last decade has resulted in a new generation of alternative methodological procedures that allow for approximate, rather than exact measurement invariance across groups. The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to describe and illustrate common difficulties encountered when tests for multigroup invariance are based on traditional CFA procedures and the number of groups is large, and (b) to walk readers through the maximum likelihood (ML) alignment approach in testing for approximate measurement invariance.
Data for this example application derive from an earlier study of family functioning across 30 cultures that include responses to the Family Values Scale for 5,482 university students drawn from 27 of these30 countries. Analyses were based on the Mplus 7.4 program.
Whereas CFA tests for invariance revealed 108 misspecified parameters that precluded tests for latent mean differences, noninvariant results were well within the acceptable range for the alignment approach thereby substantiating the trustworthiness of the latent mean estimates and their comparison across groups.
The alignment approach in testing for approximate measurement invariance provides an automated procedure that can overcome important limitations of traditional CFA procedures in large-scale comparisons.
This study examines ethnic, national, familial, and religious identity and well-being of 632 Roma minority and 589 majority adolescents (age: M = 15.98 years, SD = 1.34) in Bulgaria, the Czech ...Republic, Kosovo, and Romania. Results indicated that Roma showed lower endorsement of national identity but stronger religious identity than their majority counterparts. Path models showed positive associations of familial and religious identities with well-being, whereas Roma identity was negatively associated with well-being, particularly for Roma in Bulgaria and Kosovo (countries with a less active policy toward improving conditions of Roma). In the latter countries, Roma ethnic identity is less relevant and weakly associated with psychological well-being of youth.
To explore parents' and professionals' perceived causes and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) on the Kenyan Coast.
In-depth interviews and focus group discussions using guiding questions ...were utilized in data collection. One hundred and three participants, who included parents of children with ASD, special needs teachers, clinicians, and social workers from diverse cultural background, participated in this study. The interviews and focus groups were recorded, transcribed verbatim and then translated to English. Themes were generated using content analysis.
Preternatural causes were mentioned and included evil spirits, witchcraft, and curses. Biomedical causes comprised infections, drug abuse, birth complications, malnutrition, and genetic related problems. Treatment varied from traditional and spiritual healing to modern treatment in health facilities, and included consultations with traditional healers, offering prayers to God, and visits to hospitals.
The results suggest that regardless of cultural backgrounds, people on the Kenyan Coast have similar views on perceived causes and treatment of ASD. These findings provide valuable conceptual understanding for professionals when planning and implementing community based rehabilitation interventions targeting children with ASD within a local context.
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