Are Americans Getting Sicker or Healthier?

The rising cost of healthcare causes many injustices, and is not sustainable. Cost inflation is partly caused by the nature of medicine. When doctors save lives, the lives we save are usually people with chronic illnesses. Decreases in the mortality rate often lead to increases in the prevalence rate of chronic diseases and duration of chronic diseases, which are expensive to treat. As a result of advances in medical sciences, more and more people live with chronic illnesses, and therefore healthcare costs are rising. This is consistent with the conclusion that the more money a society like the USA spends on medical care, the more expensive medical care becomes. This is the dark side of medicine, which counterbalances the well-known breakthroughs of medical science. Spiritual people seek a balanced view of health that includes both viewpoints. Jeffrey Boyd, MD MPH MDiv, is Chairman of the Department of Behavioral Health at Waterbury Hospital in Waterbury CT. He is the author of Being Sick Well: Joyful Living Despite Chronic Illness (reviewed in this journal 45:1)     

Explaining Muslim Americans’ Opinions on Salient Issues

Despite numerous individual success stories of living the American dream, the Muslim American community still remains one of the most misunderstood and underrepresented minorities in the United States. This study investigates the views of this community by mapping and explaining members' investigates on a number of issues of social and political import. It shows that the issue attitudes of Muslim Americans are rather uniform on some social and non-social issues but very diverse on others. Moreover, it also shows that the differences of opinion that were uncovered can be explained by a variety of factors including a respondent's ethnic or national origin and how committed a respondent is to the practice of Islam, defined by the frequency of mosque attendance. While these results are temporally limited, they do show that this is a very diverse community and set a strong foundation for further quantitative and qualitative investigations of how Muslim Americans' religious practices, ethnic backgrounds, and socio-economic characteristics affect their essential social and political beliefs.     

Europeans Work to Live and Americans Live to Work (Who is Happy to Work More: Americans or Europeans?)

This paper compares the working hours and life satisfaction of Americans and Europeans using the World Values Survey, Eurobarometer and General Social Survey. The purpose is to explore the relationship between working hours and happiness in Europe and America. Previous research on the topic does not test the premise that working more makes Americans happier than Europeans. The findings suggest that Americans may be happier working more because they believe more than Europeans do that hard work is associated with success.     

Cultural Dysthymia: An Unrecognized Disorder Among African Americans?

Many African Americans experience low‐grade depression, referred to as dysthymia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). After more than 250 years of enslavement, prejudice, and discrimination, dysthymia is reflected in chronic low‐grade sadness, anger, hostility, aggression, self‐hatred, hopelessness, and self‐destructive behaviors. To avoid misdiagnosis, counselors need to understand how cultural factors can elicit a collective psychological condition in an oppressed group. Muchos Afroamericanos experimentan depresión leve, llamada distimia en el Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4a ed., texto rev.; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Después de más de 250 años de esclavitud, prejuicio y discriminación, la distimia se refleja como tristeza crónica leve, ira, hostilidad, agresividad, odio a uno mismo, desesperanza y comportamientos autodestructivos. Para evitar un diagnóstico erróneo, los consejeros deben comprender cómo los factores culturales pueden acarrear una condición psicológica colectiva en un grupo oprimido.     

Expecting Stress: Americans and the “Midlife Crisis”

Despite frequent debunking of the inevitability of the midlife crisis in the research literature (e.g., D. A. Chiriboga, 1997; R. McCrae & P. Costa, 1990), the term remains a media staple, implying that midlife is a time of stress and difficulties brought about by turning 40. A recent review of midlife crisis research (O. G. Brim, 1992) concluded that midlife is not universally stressful and estimated that roughly only 10% of American men might undergo a midlife crisis. This paper examines the disjunction between popular and researcher views of midlife and its crisis. Using semistructured telephone survey techniques, this study of 724 participants explores the definitions that Americans hold of the midlife crisis and analyzes self-reports of midlife crises. Most Americans (over 90%) could provide a definition of the midlife crisis, and these definitions roughly coincide with the definitions used in psychological and psychoanalytic theories of the midlife crisis. Twenty-six percent of Americans reported that they had a midlife crisis. Qualitative analyses showed that Americans use a much wider definition of what constitutes a midlife crisis than that used by researchers. Despite the identification of this term with male personality development, women were as likely as men to report having had a midlife crisis. In addition, crises occurring well before age 40 and well after age 50 were frequently nominated as midlife crises. Most participants did not attribute their self-reported midlife crises to aging, but rather to major life events that posed a severe threat and challenge during a very broadly-defined period of midlife.     

Did Donald Trump’s presidency reshape Americans’ prejudices?

Did the presidency of Donald Trump affect Americans’ intergroup attitudes? Converging evidence from recent experimental and longitudinal studies suggests that Trump’s political rise led his supporters to increase their reported prejudice toward traditionally minoritized racial and religious groups in the USA.     

Cross-cultural similarities and differences in North Americans’ geographic location judgments

We examined some potential causes of bias in geographic location estimates by comparing location estimates of North American cities made by Canadian, U.S., and Mexican university students. All three groups placed most Mexican cities near the equator, which implies that all e influenced by shared beliefs about the locationthree groups wers of geographical regions relative to global reference points. However, the groups divided North America into different regions and differed in the relative accuracy of the estimates within them, which implies that there was an influence of culture-specific knowledge. The data support a category-based system of plausible reasoning, in which biases in judgments are multiply determined, and underscore the utility of the estimation paradigm as a tool in cross-cultural cognitive research.     

Does Happiness Predict Medication Adherence among African Americans with Hypertension?

Poor medication adherence is a leading cause of excessive cardiovascular morbidity among African Americans. Many adherence-promoting interventions have addressed economic barriers, improved the patient-provider relationship, simplified regimens, and used reminder systems; however, the problem of low adherence remains intractable. Meanwhile, positive psychological attributes that might serve to promote medication adherence have not been fully explored. To address this gap, we examined the association between happiness and medication adherence among low-income African Americans with hypertension treated in a safety-net setting. Data were obtained from the Alabama Collaboration for Cardiovascular Equality, 2007?C2008. Happiness was measured using the 4-item scale of Lyubomirsky and Lepper; low, moderate, and high happiness were defined by tertiles because of the non-normal distribution. Medication adherence was assessed with the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. Associations were quantified with ordinal logistic regression. Our sample of 573 African Americans was 71.6?% female and had an average age?±?SD of 53.6?±?9.7?years and a median happiness score of 5.2. Compared to participants with low happiness, the odds (OR; 95?% CI) of being in a better medication adherence category were greater for those with moderate (1.53; 1.02?C2.27) and high (2.26; 1.52-3.37) happiness, after adjusting for age, sex, income, education, and difficulty paying for medical care. Within this cohort of low-income African Americans with hypertension, participants with greater happiness exhibited better medication adherence. Although one interpretation of our study is that more adherent patients are naturally happier, our findings raise the possibility that adding happiness-boosting components may increase the effectiveness of more traditional adherence interventions.     

White Psychologists and African Americans’ Historical Trauma: Implications for Practice

This article reviews and synthesizes literature on the historical trauma of African Americans with an emphasis on how White psychologists can integrate awareness of historical trauma into clinical practice. Research supports that African Americans are affected by White racism in ways that parallel the effects of other interpersonal traumas. How African Americans are affected by racism depends on the individual, although the effects on the individual also occur within a shared cultural context. In addition to negative impacts, the literature also identifies African Americans’ core strengths and coping strategies that have a similarly historical basis. These strengths and coping strategies are discussed in their implications for White psychologists’ role in African Americans’ trauma recovery process.     

Do Americans Have a Preference for Rule‐Based Classification?

Six experiments investigated variables predicted to influence subjects’ tendency to classify items by a single property (rule‐based responding) instead of overall similarity, following the paradigm of Norenzayan et al. ( 2002 , Cognitive Science), who found that European Americans tended to give more “logical” rule‐based responses. However, in five experiments with Mechanical Turk subjects and undergraduates at an American university, we found a consistent preference for similarity‐based responding. A sixth experiment with Korean undergraduates revealed an effect of instructions, also reported by Norenzayan et al., in which classification instructions led to majority rule‐based responding but similarity instructions led to overall similarity grouping. Our American subjects showed no such difference and used similarity more overall. We conclude that Americans do not have a preference for rule responding in classification and discuss the differences between tasks that reliably show strong rule or unidimensional preferences (category construction and category learning) in contrast to this classification paradigm.     

Latino/as, Asian Americans, and the Black–White Binary

This paper aims to contribute toward coalitionbuilding by showing that, even if we try tobuild coalition around what might look like ourmost obvious common concern – reducing racism –the dominant discourse of racial politics inthe United States inhibits an understanding ofhow racism operates vis-à-vis Latino/as andAsian Americans, and thus proves more of anobstacle to coalition building than an aid. Theblack/white paradigm, which operates to governracial classifications and racial politics inthe U.S., takes race in the U.S. to consist ofonly two racial groups, Black and White,with others understood in relation to one ofthese categories.I summarize and discuss the strongestcriticisms of the paradigm and then develop twofurther arguments. Together these argumentsshow that continuing to theorize race in theU.S. as operating exclusively through theblack/white paradigm is actuallydisadvantageous for all people of color in theU.S., and in many respects for whites as well(or at least for white union households and thewhite poor).     

"Where are you really from?": Asian Americans and identity denial

Five studies investigate identity denial, the situation in which an individual is not recognized as a member of an important in-group. Asian Americans are seen as less American than other Americans (Study 1) and realize this is the case, although they do not report being any less American than White Americans (Studies 2A and 2B). Identity denial is a common occurrence in Asian Americans' daily lives (Study 3). They react to instances of identity denial by presenting American cultural knowledge and claiming greater participation in American practices (Studies 4 & 5). Identity denial furthers the understanding of group dynamics by capturing the experience of less prototypical group members who desire to have their common in-group identity recognized by fellow group members.     

How Many Americans Attend Worship Each Week? An Alternative Approach to Measurement

Opinion polls indicate that over 40 percent of Americans attend worship services each week. However, attendance counts in several North American counties and Roman Catholic dioceses suggest that worship attendance may be much lower. In this article a new measurement strategy is used to estimate total weekly worship attendance. First, using a variety of resources we develop an estimate of the total number of religious congregations in the United States by religious family. Contrary to many published sources, the total number of congregations is estimated at just over 330,000. Second, using known population values and sample-based attendance counts we develop estimates of average weekly worship attendance for religious congregations by religious family. The resulting totals suggest that fewer than 22 percent of Americans attend worship services each week. This lower level of attendance provides further evidence that Americans tend to overreport worship participation and are less religiously active than the polls show.     

The intelligence–religiosity nexus: A representative study of white adolescent Americans

The present study examined whether IQ relates systematically to denomination and income within the framework of the g nexus, using representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY97). Atheists score 1.95 IQ points higher than Agnostics, 3.82 points higher than Liberal persuasions, and 5.89 IQ points higher than Dogmatic persuasions. Denominations differ significantly in IQ and income. Religiosity declines between ages 12 to 17. It is suggested that IQ makes an individual likely to gravitate toward a denomination and level of achievement that best fit his or hers particular level of cognitive complexity. Ontogenetically speaking this means that contemporary denominations are rank ordered by largely hereditary variations in brain efficiency (i.e. IQ). In terms of evolution, modern Atheists are reacting rationally to cognitive and emotional challenges, whereas Liberals and, in particular Dogmatics, still rely on ancient, pre-rational, supernatural and wishful thinking.     

Positive and Negative Religious Beliefs Explaining the Religion–Health Connection Among African Americans

Theory and literature suggests that the reason religiously involved people tend to have good health outcomes is because they have healthy lifestyles and behaviors in accord with religious beliefs. Other literature suggests that religious involvement may play a negative role in health outcomes due to beliefs about illness originating as punishment for sins. These ideas were tested as part of a theoretical model of the religion–health connection in a national sample of African Americans. Outcomes included a variety of health-related behaviors. Study participants (N = 2,370) randomly selected from a U.S. national call list completed a telephone survey assessing religious involvement, health behaviors, and demographic characteristics. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze study data. Findings indicate that perceived religious influence on health behavior mediated the relationship between religious beliefs and behaviors and higher fruit consumption and lower alcohol use and smoking. Belief that illness is the result of punishment for sin mediated the relationship between (a) religious beliefs and higher vegetable consumption and lower binge drinking and (b) religious behaviors and lower vegetable consumption and higher binge drinking. These findings could be applied to health education activities conducted in African American faith-based organizations, such as health ministries, in the effort to eliminate health disparities.     

The Effects of Education on Americans’ Religious Practices,Beliefs, and Affiliations

I challenge the scholarly contention that increases in education uniformly lead to declines in religious participation, belief, and affiliation. I argue that education influences strategies of action, and these strategies of action are relevant to some religious beliefs and activities but not others. Analysis of survey data shows that (1) education negatively affects exclusivist religious viewpoints and biblical literalism but not belief in God or the afterlife; (2) education positively affects religious participation, devotional activities, and emphasizing the importance of religion in daily life; (3) education positively affects switching religious affiliations, particularly to a mainline Protestant denomination, but not disaffiliation; (4) education is positively associated with questioning the role of religion in secular society but not with support for curbing the public opinions of religious leaders; and (5) the effects of education on religious beliefs and participation vary across religious traditions. Education does influence Americans’ religious beliefs and activities, but the effects of education on religion are complex.     

Mother–infant interactions with firstborns and secondborns: A within-family study of European Americans

Given the large numbers of families with more than one child, understanding similarities and differences in siblings’ behaviors and in parents’ interactions with their sibling infants is an important goal for advancing more representative developmental science. This study employed a within-family design to examine mean-level consistency and individual-order agreement in 5-month-old sibling behaviors and maternal parenting practices with their firstborns and secondborns (ns = 61 mothers and 122 infants). Each infant was seen independently with mother. Firstborn infants were more social with their mothers and engaged in more exploration with objects than secondborn infants; firstborn and secondborn infants’ behaviors were correlated for smiling, distress communication, and efficiency of exploration. Mothers engaged in more physical encouragement, social exchange, didactic interaction, material provisioning, and language with their firstborns than with their secondborns. Notably, only maternal nurturing (e.g., feeding, holding) did not differ in mean level when mothers were with their two infants. However, mean differences in mothers’ social exchange and material provisioning with their two children attenuated to nonsignificance when controlling for differences in siblings’ behaviors. Individual-order agreement of mothers’ behaviors with firstborn and secondborn infants (across an average of almost 3 years) was only moderate. These findings suggest that mother–firstborn interactions may differ from mother–secondborn interactions. Future research should move beyond studying mother–firstborn dyads to understand broader family and developmental processes.     

Enhanced Religiosity Following Illness? Assessing Evidence of Religious Consolation Among Black and White Americans

This study assesses variation among Black and White Americans in the impact of ill-health on public and subjective religiosity. It is the first longitudinal assessment of race-based variation in “religious consolation.” The under-explored consolation thesis anticipates ill-health influencing religiosity rather than the reverse, with religiosity functioning as a coping resource marshaled by the ill. Effects across races of physical ill-health indicators (chronic illnesses and impaired functioning) on religiosity outcomes are the main focus; but across-race variation in psychological distress-induced “consolation” is also assessed. Findings yield only limited evidence of consolation in each race, and restricted variation across races: Change in impaired functioning slightly enhances Whites’ subjective religiosity; but that effect does not significantly eclipse the impact among Blacks. There is no evidence of physical illness-induced consolation among Blacks; and the proposition that Blacks are more inclined toward consolation than Whites is affirmed only for psychological distress. There are no signs in either race that consolation is intensified by aging or higher religiosity, and no significant across-race differentials in effects of these illness-age and illness-religiosity interactions on subsequent religiosity. The multi-population model utilizes Americans’ Changing Lives data.     

Do pieces of the self-puzzle fit? Integrated/fragmented selves in biculturally-identified Chinese Americans

Individual differences in integrated/fragmented selves were examined among 179 biculturally-identified Chinese Americans. Although 58% reported multiple selves that felt truly integrated, as bicultural acculturation would assume, 42% reported self-fragmentation. Integration/fragmentation was differentially associated with adjustment and relationship quality. Those with integrated selves reported the most adaptive outcomes, those who were distressed about their self-fragmentation reported the least adaptive outcomes, and those who felt comfortable with self-fragmentation fell somewhere in between. Results caution against assuming that bicultural individuals are homogenously well-adapted, and speak to the utility of bridging acculturation and self research to better understand sociocultural adaptation processes.