The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination

This study examined the role that dimensions of racial identity play regarding the antecedents and consequences of perceived racial discrimination among African Americans. A total of 267 African American college students completed measures of racial identity, perceived racial discrimination, and psychological distress at 2 time points. After controlling for previous perceptions of discrimination, racial centrality was positively associated with subsequent perceived racial discrimination. Additionally, perceived discrimination was positively associated with subsequent event-specific and global psychological distress after accounting for previous perceptions of discrimination and distress. Finally, racial ideology and public regard beliefs moderated the positive relationship between perceived discrimination and subsequent distress. The results illustrate the complex role racial identity plays in the lives of African Americans.     

Differentiation of self and racial identity

This study explored the relationship between personal identity development and in-group/out-group identities within the sociopsychological context of the USA. Specifically, the study examined the relationship between Bowen’s construct of differentiation of self and Helms’ construct of racial identity for an American sample of 309 undergraduate and graduate students. Insofar as both models refer to a progression from an externally defined sense of self to an internally defined sense of self, it was hypothesized that higher levels of more sophisticated racial identity statuses would be positively associated with higher levels of self-differentiation for both white participants and participants of color. Overall, the findings suggest that for white students, attitudes associated with a more differentiated sense of self are also associated with a more sophisticated racial identity statuses, increased awareness of how white privilege and racism operate, and less internal conflict about one’s own racial identity. The results of this study also indicated that, in general, participants of color who have a more differentiated sense of self endorse attitudes associated with higher statuses of racial identity development, more awareness of societal racism, and less ambivalence about their racial identity. Implications of the findings for the practice of counseling and the training of counseling psychologists are considered.     

Ethnic identity and racial attitudes in a minority group of mixed racial origin

Limited information exists on the racial attitudes and ethnic identities of groups of mixed racial origin. The present research tested the hypotheses that the construct of ethnic identity is valid among such groups and that ethnic identity is related to out-group prejudice, as predicted by social identity theory. The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, the Anti-White Scale, and the Subtle Racism Scale were administered to 70 South Africans of mixed racial descent, the so-called Coloureds. A factor analysis supported the structural validity of the 12-item measure of ethnic identity with this sample, but correlations between scales did not support the prediction that group identity would be positively associated with out-group prejudice. Group identity was positively related .27 to positive attitudes toward Whites consistent with the tenets of social dominance theory.     

Negational racial identity and presidential voting preferences

Previous research suggests that narrow identification with one’s own racial group impedes coalition building among minorities. Consistent with this research, the 2008 Democratic primary was marked by racial differences in voting preferences: Black voters overwhelmingly preferred Barack Obama, a Black candidate, and Latinos and Asians largely favored Hillary Clinton, a White candidate. We investigated one approach to overcoming this divide: highlighting one’s negational identity. In two experiments simulating primary polling procedures, Asians and Latinos randomly assigned to think of and categorize themselves in negational terms (i.e., being non-White) were more likely to vote for Obama than participants focused on their affirmational identity (i.e, being Asian or Latino), who showed the typical preference for Clinton. This shift in voting preference was partially mediated by warmer attitudes towards other minority groups. These results suggest that negational identity is a meaningful source of social identity and demonstrate that whether one thinks about “who one is” versus “who one is not” has far-reaching impact for real-world decisions.     

Ethos and identity: Expressions and changes in the Israeli Jewish society

Abstract

A fundamental condition for the evolvement of any society is the development of social identity, which confers a sense of belonging and identification. The meaning of social identity is influenced by the ethos that members of a society share. The ethos consists of shared, central societal beliefs that give the society a dominant orientation and characterize it. The societal beliefs that underlie the ethos can change as a result of new, prolonged experiences of the society. Israeli society presents an example of such a process.

During the years of intractable conflict, Israeli society developed societal beliefs of a conflictive ethos that were conducive to successful coping with the conflictive situation. The ethos included beliefs about the justness of the Jews' goals, about security, and about delegitimising the Arabs, together with motifs of positive self-image, patriotism, unity, and peace. These beliefs characterised Israeli Jewish society and contributed meaning to the Israeli social identity. As the peace process developed, the societal beliefs of the conflictive ethos began to change, at least among part of the society members. But as the violent conflict re-erupted in fall 2000, the ethos of conflict is strengthening its standing in the society. The present paper describes the changes in the conflictive ethos with regard to each of the societal beliefs and discusses the implications of these changes for the meaning of the Israeli Jewish identity. Finally, general conclusions regarding the presented conception of social identity are outlined.     

Effects of racial socialization and racial identity on acculturative stress in African American college students

The aim of this study was to determine if racial identity mediates the relation between racial socialization and acculturative stress in African American university students, once demographic factors are accounted for. In a sample of 84 participants, significant relations were found between racial socialization and acculturative stress, racial socialization and racial identity, and racial identity and acculturative stress. Partial support for a mediational model was found, with the best predictors of acculturative stress being immersion attitudes and internalization attitudes.     

Image and identity: Religious symbols and symbolic representation on European Masonic nineteenth-century certificates

Masonic certificates have a fascinating and unique iconography. Many of the documents possess great artistic value. Other certificates, like the one drawn during the Napoleonic wars by a French prisoner of war in Okehampton, Devon, testify to how readily the language of Masonic symbolism was used and understood during this time. The spiritual, mystical and extremely eclectic character of Freemasonry presented a challenge for artists who tried to give the ideas of the Craft artistic form. It became their charge to develop a whole new iconographic system in order to present the unique social and moral identity of this fraternal society, and they drew their inspiration from sources as varied as Egyptian, Jewish, Christian, Greek and Roman mythology, religion and architecture.     

Ethiopian immigrants' racial identity attitudes and depression symptomatology: an exploratory study

The relationship between depression and racial identity attitudes of Ethiopian immigrants in the United States was investigated. A total of 101 participants completed the Tedla-Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-15 (a depression measure) and the Racial Identity Attitudes Scale-Amharic and gave demographic information, including a brief measure of their reference group. A positive correlation was found between preencounter attitudes of racial identity (in which one denies oneself membership into one's race) and depression and between preencounter attitudes and reference group identification. Depression was best predicted by education level. Individuals who endorsed preencounter attitudes of racial identity, in which one denies oneself membership into the Black race (pro-White/anti-Black attitudes), were not only more likely to identify Europeans as their reference group but were also significantly more likely to be depressed.     

Race and the construction of Jewish identity in French and American Jewish fiction of the 1920s

In both the United States and France, Jewish-fiction writers of the 1920s often invoked the idea of Jewish racial unity as a non-rational, uncontrollable force separating Jews from mainstream society irrespective of their desire for integration. This genre of fiction reveals an ambivalent attitude towards race-thinking. The notion that there are intractable physical differences between groups threatened the Jews status as fully privileged co-citizens. Yet a racialized self-understanding provided them with a way to articulate the intangible bonds of community, which their official status as a purely religious group normally held them back from expressing openly. The common trope of the failed Jewish-Gentile romance best expresses the dual desire of French and American Jews for acceptance and distinctiveness. A sense of racial identity often leads protagonists to reject a non-Jewish lover or spouse and draw strength from a renewed sense of connection with the Jewish people. More often than not, however, these figures are left with feelings of ambivalence and regret, as they realize that their universalist dream of uniting with someone from a different racial background is not possible in the real world, where their Jewish particularism inevitably dooms such relationships to failure.I would like to thank Hasia Diner, Laura Lee Downs and Bonnie S. Anderson for reading and commenting on previous versions of this article.     

Symbols of Diaspora Jewish identity: An international survey and multi-dimensional analysis

Symbols are important in representing religious and ethnic identity, particularly in the postmodern age. Using a case study of Jewish adolescents, this article explores the use of symbols in expressing identity. A structural typology of symbols is developed, based on responses to a list of 20 symbols of Jewish identity by over 40,000 Jewish youth from around the world, who were surveyed during educational tours to Israel. The multi-dimensional smallest space analysis (SSA) technique is used to develop the typology by graphically representing the correlations between the symbols. Symbols representing the struggle of the weak against the strong are at the core of the typology. This core is surrounded by sets of symbols related to religion, family, Israel, the Holocaust, justice, and contribution to world culture. A parallel centre–periphery structure indicates that people are more central symbols than places or objects. Sub-populations of self-defined “religious” and “non-religious” Jewish youth are compared in relation to this typology of symbols by introducing them into the SSA as “external variables”. Applications of the typology of symbols to other ethnic and religious groups are explored.     

Jewish identity and intentions to obtain breast cancer screening

This study explored the associations between 2 dimensions of Jewish identity (cultural identification and religious practice) and intentions to perform breast cancer screening. Ashkenazi Jewish women (N = 220) completed surveys as part of an ongoing study of breast cancer risk counseling. Multiple regressions examined the relationships between the 2 identity measures and intention to follow routine recommendations for mammography, intention to perform monthly breast self-exam, and interest in genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility. Cultural identity positively predicted interest in testing, whereas religious identity was inversely related. Religious identity was a significant predictor of intention to adhere to mammography recommendations. Findings show that culture and religion, although correlated, may have different associations with health attitudes.     

Transmission: From Experience to Awareness: Jewish Children Hidden in France and Their Children

The purpose of this research was to attempt to understand how the experience of having been a Jewish child hidden in France during the Occupation was transmitted to offspring. This analysis is based on research carried out among former hidden Jewish children, and the therapeutic follow-up provided in the setting of our clinical activities. The psychopathology of the first generation plays a role in the transmission process. The transmission of their history is also a source of ambivalence. This study shows how important it is to consider the complexity of personal histories and the distortions attendant on the transmission of these histories.