Academic achievement in Blacks and Whites: Are the developmental processes similar?

Genetic and environmental influences on academic achievement were investigated in four groups of siblings: (1) White full siblings, (2) White half-siblings, (3) Black full siblings, and (4) Black half-siblings. Our expectation was that the variances and covariances among three achievement tests would have the same structure across the four groups. This expectation was confirmed by a quantitative genetic model that imposed equal factor loadings across groups. This best fitting model had two factors: a Genetic factor representing genetic variation and a Shared Environment factor representing environmental differences among families. Reading recognition, reading comprehension, and mathematics tests all loaded on the Genetic factor, but primarily mathematics loaded on the Shared Environment factor. The quantitative genetic model was next fit to the achievement test means. Its successful fit suggested that the genetic and environmental influences involved in producing individual variation were the same as those producing the group-mean differences. In this sample, genes accounted for 66% to 74% of the observed group difference in verbal achievement and 36% of the difference in mathematics achievement. Shared environment accounted for the remainder, 34% to 26% of the difference in verbal achievement and 64% of that in mathematics achievement.     

General And Culturally Specific Factors Influencing Black And White Rape Survivors' Self-Esteem

Grounded in a culturally inclusive ecological model of sexual assault recovery framework, the influence of personal (e.g., prior victimization), rape context (e.g., degree of injury during last assault), and postrape response factors (e.g., general and cultural attributions, rape related coping) on self-esteem of Black and White college women, who were survivors of attempted and completed rape, were examined. As predicted, Black and White women identified similar general variables (e.g., general attributions) as important in the recovery process. Black women, however, identified a cultural factor (i.e., cultural attributions) as more important in influencing their reactions to the last rape compared to their White counterparts. Using path analysis, findings from this cross-sectional study indicated that severity of the last assault and prior victimization were related to lower self-esteem indirectly through avoidance coping strategies, and victim blame attributions for the latter. Results also suggested that the link between cultural attributions and self-esteem was explained through victim blame attributions, primarily for Black participants. The model accounted for 26% of variance in self-esteem.     

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale

This paper reports an examination of the factor structure of Orbach's Multi-Attitude Suicide Tendency Scale (MAST) utilizing confirmatory factor analytic techniques. Participants were 215 undergraduate students ranging in age from 18 to 20 who completed the MAST, the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale, the Suicide Ideation Questionnaire, and a self-harmful behavior scale. Support was found for the original factor structure, reliability, and validity of the MAST. A correlated model fit the data significantly better than an uncorrelated model. The results of this study indicate that the MAST is a valid and reliable measure appropriate for use with college-aged individuals for research purposes. Because the correlated model fit the data better than the uncorrelated, we suggest that future studies should attempt to replicate this finding, which would lead to a reexamination of the theory which underlies the MAST.     

THE PSYCHOSOCIAL WELL-BEING OF BLACK AND WHITE MOTHERS FOLLOWING MARITAL DISSOLUTION

This study proposed that African American cultural, social, and economic experiences would positively influence the psychosocial adjustment to marital dissolution of Black mothers as compared to White mothers. The study sample consisted of 235 Black and 662 White divorced or separated mothers from the National Survey of Families and Households. The mothers were not remarried and reported having at least one or more biological or adopted children, 18 years of age or younger, living in the home. Discriminant analysis (stepwise), after controlling for socioeconomic status and time since divorce or separation, indicated that Black mothers had higher levels of personal mastery and economic well-being and received greater formal support after divorce. Contrary to the hypotheses, White mothers received more informal support and evidenced earlier entry into dating than Black mothers. The findings document cultural variations in marital dissolution and the strengths of Black families in coping with this transition.     

Psychometric analysis of racial differences on the Maudsley Obsessional Compulsive Inventory

Black university students scored significantly higher than White students on the Maudsley Obsessional Compulsive Inventory (MOCI). They tended to endorse more Cleaning and Checking subscale items in the pathological direction. Subsequent analyses examined whether this finding is a reflection of valid group differences in the prevalence of OCD or a psychometric artifact. Structured interviews were conducted to determine the correspondence of MOCI scores with OCD diagnoses. The race difference in endorsement frequency on the MOCI did not extend to OCD diagnoses. The MOCI scores showed modest predictive validity in Whites, but they did not predict interview-based diagnoses in Blacks. Multivariate item response theory was then employed to examine race differences in the Cleaning and Checking subscales. Equivalent item discrimination parameters fit the data for Black and White participants for both subscales. A more restrictive model in which relative item difficulties were also constrained to be equal for Black and White participants did not fit. This interaction between race and item difficulty suggests that the items do not have equivalent psychometric properties in Blacks and Whites.     

Testing Cognitive and Emotion-Focused Models of Worry in Black and White Samples

Several models have been proposed to conceptualize worry. Broadly, the models can be classified as cognitive (including the Avoidance Model, the Intolerance of Uncertainty Model, and the Metacognitive Model) and emotion-focused (including Emotion Dysregulation and Acceptance-Based models). Although these models have received strong empirical investigation in primarily non-Hispanic White samples, no known study has examined the applicability to racial and ethnic minority groups. The current study compared the proportion of variance explained by cognitive and emotion-focused models of worry in White and Black samples. Results indicated that cognitive and emotion-focused models significantly predicted worry in both Black and White samples. However, the overall amount of variance in worry explained by the models was less for Black samples. Specifically, controlling for gender, the cognitive models explained 53% of the variance in worry in the White sample compared with 19% in the Black sample. Similarly, the emotion-focused models explained 34% of the variance in worry in the White sample but only 13% in the Black sample. These findings suggest that well-established conceptual frameworks for worry failed to explain the bulk of the variance in worry in Black samples, leaving much unknown. Additional research is needed to identify key variables that may further explain worry in ethnic minority samples.     

Pain in the eye of the beholder: Variations in pain visual representations as a function of face ethnicity and culture

Pain experienced by Black individuals is systematically underestimated, and recent studies have shown that part of this bias is rooted in perceptual factors. We used Reverse Correlation to estimate visual representations of the pain expression in Black and White faces, in participants originating from both Western and African countries. Groups of raters were then asked to evaluate the presence of pain and other emotions in these representations. A second group of White raters then evaluated those same representations placed over a neutral background face (50% White; 50% Black). Image-based analyses show significant effects of culture and face ethnicity, but no interaction between the two factors. Western representations were more likely to be judged as expressing pain than African representations. For both cultural groups, raters also perceived more pain in White face representations than in Black face representations. However, when changing the background stimulus to the neutral background face, this effect of face ethnic profile disappeared. Overall, these results suggest that individuals have different expectations of how pain is expressed by Black and White individuals, and that cultural factors may explain a part of this phenomenon     

The New Color Complex: Appearances and Biracial Identity

Ethnic identity research has largely focused on the identity choices of White ethnics (Alba, 1990; Ignatiev, 1995; Waters, 1990). One key factor in these choices is bodily appearance. We extend this research to Black and White Biracial individuals and examine the role that physical appearance plays in their "choices" of racial identity. We test Rockquemore's (1999) taxonomy of Biracial identity using survey data from a sample of 177 Biracial respondents. The results indicate that Biracial individuals do make choices within circumscribed cultural contexts and these understandings are influenced not by skin color, but by an actor's assumption of how others perceive his or her appearance.     

Family Support and Mental Health in Pregnant Women Experiencing Interpersonal Partner Violence: An Analysis of Ethnic Differences

This study investigated the relationship between family support and mental health in a community sample of pregnant women experiencing interpersonal partner violence (IPV). This study also examined how family support may differentially affect mental health in Black and White women experiencing IPV. A total of 110 participants (32 Black and 78 White) were obtained from the first time period of a longitudinal study examining the effects of domestic violence on women. The model was supported (χ² = 142.55; df = 72, p > .001, RMSEA = .07). Black women had better mental health than White women. However, ethnicity was not a significant predictor of family support. Implications from this study highlight the need for further research on the role of family support in the lives of physically abused women as well as the need to incorporate cross cultural perspectives when examining this issue.     

Breast self-examination and cervical (Pap) smear test: attitudes and self-reported practices among South African women.

This study investigated the attitudes and practices of breast self-examination and cervical (Pap) smear test among South African women. The sample included 150 Black and 150 White women chosen by systematic random sampling from telephone directories. The Black women were within the age range of 18 to 80 years (M age 38.9 yr., SD = 4.7), and the White women were within the age range of 19 to 91 years (M age 41.8 yr., SD = 3.5). Analysis indicated that 97.1% of the White women and 44.9% of the Black women said that they know how to examine their breasts. Of those women, significantly more Black (56.1%) than White (8.9%) women examined with the recommended frequency of more than 10 times a year. Of the Black women 60.5% and 8.4% of White women had never had a cervical smear test. Logistic regression analysis indicated that attitudes were an independent predictor for these two tests.     

Cultural Adjustment and Social Justice Behaviour: The Role of Individual Differences in Multicultural Personality

The present study examined altruistic behaviour using broad personality traits (the Big Five) and the narrow personality trait of cultural adjustment (multicultural personality) while controlling for social justice attitudes and other demographic variables. Using an analogue version of a modified dictator game, 153 participants were required to divide a variable amount of money between themselves and a hypothetical recipient who was treated unfairly in a prior dictator game (based on results from a separate sample). We varied the race (Black and White) and gender (male and female) of the fictional recipient to present the individual as either advantaged or disadvantaged in society. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions with the recipient presented as (i) a White man, (ii) a White woman, or (iii) a Black man. A separate sample of 71 participants rated recipients as treated unfairly and as representing a marginalized group. Results showed that subscales of the Multicultural Personality Inventory predicted giving behaviour above and beyond the variance accounted for by broad personality traits and attitudes towards social justice. The discussion focuses on implications for research in social justice based on cultural adaptation and personality. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology     

RATER-RATEE RACE EFFECTS IN DEVELOPMENTAL PERFORMANCE RATINGS OF MANAGERS

The effects of rater and ratee race on performance ratings of managers were examined. Ratings were obtained from peers, subordinates and bosses as part of a multirater, developmental feedback program for managers. Two data sets were created for purposes of this study. The between-subjects data set consisted of ratings from over 20,000 bosses, over 50,000 peers, and over 40,000 subordinates. The repeated measures data set was substantially smaller because it included only those Black and White managers who were rated by both a Black and White rater from each of the three perspectives. Results for rater race indicated that Black raters from all perspectives (peers, subordinates, and bosses) assigned more favorable ratings to ratees of their own race. Results for White raters differed according to the particular rating source. White bosses assigned more favorable ratings to ratees of their own race, but White subordinates did not. White peers assigned more favorable ratings to Whites in the repeated measures analysis, but not in the between-subjects analysis. Results for ratee race indicated that both White and Black managers received higher ratings from Black raters than from White raters, and the effect was more pronounced for ratings assigned to Black managers.     

Masculinities and ethnicities: Ethnic differences in drive for muscularity in British men and the negotiation of masculinity hierarchies

Although relatively little is known about ethnic differences in men's drive for muscularity, recent theoretical developments suggest that ethnic minority men may desire greater muscularity to contest their positions of relative subordinate masculinity. This study tested this hypothesis in a sample of 185 White, 180 Black British, and 182 South Asian British men. Participants completed self‐report measures of drive for muscularity, need for power, adherence to traditional cultural values, and ethnic group affiliation. Taking into account between‐group differences in body mass index, results indicated that White men had significantly lower drive for muscularity than Black and South Asian men, who were not significantly different from each other. In addition, greater need for power was significantly associated with higher drive for muscularity in ethnic minority, but not White, men. Greater adherence to traditional cultural values, but not ethnic group affiliation, was associated with lower drive for muscularity in all ethnic groups. These results suggest that ethnic minority men may desire greater muscularity as a means of negotiating masculinity and attendant ideals of appearance.     

Empirical testing of the Satisfaction With Life Scale: a South African pilot study

To explore applicability of the Satisfaction With Life Scale in a different racial and cultural context (South Africa), a questionnaire containing items on basic demographic characteristics, the 5-item Satisfaction With Life Scale, and the 10-item Rosenberg Self-esteem scale, was administered to a small convenient sample of 34 Black (13 men and 21 women) and 20 White (9 men and 11 women) South Africans aged between 17 and 70 years. As expected, Black respondents were less likely to have completed high school than White respondents and were more likely to be unemployed. Factor analysis of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (coefficient alpha of .92) yielded a single factor, accounting for 76% of the variance. Mean differences of the two groups were not significant when education and employment status were controlled. As anticipated, Life Satisfaction scores were correlated .86 with rated Self-esteem. Given the very small convenient sample, results are consistent with robust findings in western countries and encourage replication on a larger, representative sample.     

The applicability of familism to diverse ethnic groups: a preliminary study

The author examined the extent to which familism, which is generally regarded as a Hispanic cultural value, is applicable to other ethnic groups as well. An ethnically diverse sample of 318 Hispanic, non-Hispanic White, and non-Hispanic Black young adults completed measures of attitudinal familism, collectivism, and interdependence. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the scoring algorithm for the familism measure fit the data well, both overall and across ethnic groups. The author conducted analyses to ascertain (a) differences in the factor structure of familism, (b) mean differences in endorsement of familism, and (c) differences in associations of familism with collectivism and interdependence between Hispanics and the other ethnic groups. Few significant or noteworthy differences emerged in any of these analyses, suggesting that familism may be applicable to and may operate similarly within diverse ethnic groups. The author discussed findings in terms of convergence between familism and other collectivist and interdependent value orientations.     

"Outsider Within" the Firehouse: African American and White Women Firefighters

Prior findings regarding (a) the subordination of African American women firefighters through imposed exclusion, (b) expanded definitions of tokenism and workgroup composition, and (c) the omnirelevance of race/ethnicity in Black women's perceptions of work experiences are extended to White women firefighters. A nationwide sample of 24 White women firefighters completed a 20-page survey and 1 hr interview developed from these previous findings. Both groups experienced insufficient instruction, hostility, silence, hyper-supervision, lack of support, and stereotyping and supportive as well as strained relationships with coworkers. Specific enactments of these global commonalties often varied along racial/ethnic lines. The present data, which start with the experiences of Black women then examine the experiences of White women, model an important methodological approach for understanding difference.     

An Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Womanist Identity Attitudes Scale

Responses from 101 African American/Black and 100 White women were used to examine the psychometric properties of the Womanist Identity Attitudes Scale (WIAS; Ossana, 1986; Ossana, Helms, & Leonard, 1992). First, internal consistency reliabilities suggested the need for further development of 3 of the 4 WIAS subscales. Second, links between WIAS scores and (a) sexist, (b) hostile sexist attitudes toward women, (c) benevolently sexist attitudes toward women, and (d) egalitarian attitudes toward women's rights and roles provided mixed support for the convergent validity of the WIAS. Third, consistent with theoretical conceptualization, the intercorrelations among WIAS subscales were similar for African American/Black and White women. These intercorrelations, however, were not entirely consistent with the theorized developmental process of the womanist identity model. Finally, the structural validity of the WIAS was examined using confirmatory and exploratory factor-analytic procedures. Both sets of analyses challenged the fit of the theorized womanist identity development model with data produced by the WIAS.     

Vicarious Experiences of Major Discrimination and the Life Satisfaction of Black and White Adults from a Community Sample

The racism-related stress framework argues that racism can influence the well-being of individuals through personal and vicarious experiences of discrimination, but studies on racism and health have primarily focused on understanding how personally experienced discrimination shapes these outcomes. Using data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (N?=?1,252) the present study examines the racial differences in vicarious experiences of major discrimination among Black and non-Hispanic White adults from a community sample. Additionally, given longstanding evidence of racial disparities in life satisfaction, this study assesses whether the effects of vicarious experiences of discrimination influence overall life satisfaction of both Black and White adults. Results reveal significant racial differences in the types of vicarious discrimination that both groups are exposed to, and that Black adults are more exposed to vicarious experiences of major discrimination relative to White adults. Furthermore, findings indicate that vicarious experiences of discrimination, in addition to personal experiences of discrimination, are associated with lower levels of overall life satisfaction among Black adults, but not for White adults. This study extends the broader literature on racism-related stress and offers new insights for understanding racial differences in overall life satisfaction and well-being.

     

Race and Girls’ Self-Evaluations: How Mothering Matters

Research conducted in the United States shows that Black adolescent girls have higher self-esteem and, to a lesser extent, a higher sense of control than White girls. However, few studies conducted with representative samples of Black and White girls systematically examine why Black girls may have higher self-esteem and sense of control. Drawing on Black feminist thought, we posit that Black mothers’ socialization of their daughters may explain Black girls’ higher self-esteem and sense of control. Using survey data collected in 1994 from a nationally representative sample of U.S. Black (N?=?1,330) and White (N?=?3,797) girls and their mothers, we examine racial differences across two key components of the self-concept: self-esteem and sense of control. We ask: 1) Do Black girls have higher self-esteem and sense of control than White girls? 2) Do Black girls have more positive relationships with their mothers and receive more encouragement of academic achievement and independence from their mothers than White girls? and 3) Do more positive mother-daughter relationships and mothers’ encouragement help to explain Black girls’ higher self-esteem and sense of control in comparison to White girls? Findings indicate that Black girls have higher self-esteem and sense of control than White girls, and Black mothers’ relationship with their daughters and stronger encouragement of daughters’ independence in part explain race differences in self-evaluations.