Interracial roommate relationships: A mechanism for promoting sense of belonging at university and academic performance

The current study investigated whether intergroup contact through roommate assignment in college dormitories affects the academic well-being of minority and majority students at a predominantly White university. Participants were first-year students randomly assigned to either a majority or minority group roommate. During the beginning and end of their first semester at college, participants completed a questionnaire packet which included ratings of their sense of belonging and identification with their university. At the end of the school year, participants’ official grade point averages (GPA) were also recorded. In general, students randomly assigned to an interracial roommate relationship reported an increased sense of belonging at university at the end of the first semester at college. Specifically for minority students, those randomly assigned to a majority group roommate reported a stronger sense of belonging at university and received a higher GPA than minority students randomly assigned to a minority roommate. Analyses suggested that sense of belonging partially mediated the effect of room type on minority students’ GPA. Room type did not affect majority students’ GPA. These findings have implications for improving academic satisfaction, performance, and retention.     

The relation between polyculturalism and intergroup attitudes among racially and ethnically diverse adults

Research on intergroup ideologies (colorblindness, multiculturalism) has increased our understanding of intergroup attitudes. This article reports empirical tests of the relation between a newly studied ideology, polyculturalism (ideology focusing on interactions and connections among racial/ethnic groups), and intergroup attitudes. Across four studies (with racially/ethnically diverse U.S. undergraduates, and Black and White American adults), greater endorsement of polyculturalism was related to greater equality beliefs; appreciation for and comfort with diversity; willingness for intergroup contact; and endorsement of liberal immigration and affirmative action policies. Polyculturalism explained unique variance after controlling for colorblindness, multiculturalism, assimilation ideology, social dominance orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism. Implications and future directions of studying polyculturalism are discussed.     

Validation of the Black Community Activism Orientation Scale with racially and ethnically diverse college students

This study fills a methodological gap in racial justice research by assessing the utility and validity of the Black Community Activism Orientation Scale (BCAOS) in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of college-going young adults (N = 624, M = 19.4 years, SD = 1.89) from 10 colleges in the United States. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to estimate the goodness of fit of the proposed three-factor model and assess the validity of the BCAOS. Findings from the confirmatory factor analysis provide statistical support for use of the BCAOS as a measure of racial justice activism in support of Black communities among racially and ethnically diverse college-going young adults. Findings from the study also suggest that White college students and men are less oriented toward racial justice activism than women and racially marginalized students. Convergent and discriminant validity were established through bivariate correlations of the BCAOS factors with other civic development measures. As more and more young people consider the importance of standing against racial oppression, the BCAOS has utility as an assessment instrument in future racial justice research, education, intervention, and youth programming efforts.     

Amae as seen in diverse interpersonal interactions

The word amae is generally used in the Japanese language with a variety of emotions depending on different interpersonal interactions. (1) When an adult identifies with an infant or a child and directs appropriate emotional availability, the affect of dependence and attachment that the adult recognizes in the child is called amae (the prototype of the word). (2) When an adult has little empathy with the dependency or attachment shown by the child, the adult negatively perceives that the child is “amaeru-ing.” Experiencing such discommunications, the child begins to test adults to see if they have empathy with him or her. In other words, he or she begins to formulate certain psychological functions linked with amae such as reading other people's expressions—hitomishiri (stranger anxiety) or enryo (hesitation or reserve). (3) When the child is good at actively manipulating the emotions of adults and creates such a state of affect as to satisfy his or her dependence or attachment, he or she is said to be an amaeru-ing child. (4) When the child, although he or she is actually dependent on or loved by adults, denies the fact and behaves innocently or defiantly, the child is said to be in a state of amae. The usage of the word amae described above can be observed in exactly the same manner in interactions between adults.     

Self-help for binge eating disorder in primary care: A randomized controlled trial with ethnically and racially diverse obese patients

Objective

The objective was to examine the effectiveness of a self-help treatment as a first line primary care intervention for binge eating disorder (BED) in obese patients. This study compared the effectiveness of a usual care plus self-help version of cognitive behavioral therapy (shCBT) to usual care (UC) only in ethnically/racially diverse obese patients with BED in primary care settings in an urban center.

Method

48 obese patients with BED were randomly assigned to either shCBT (N = 24) or UC (N = 24) for four months. Independent assessments were performed monthly throughout treatment and at post-treatment.

Results

Binge-eating remission rates did not differ significantly between shCBT (25%) and UC (8.3%) at post-treatment. Mixed models of binge eating frequency determined using the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) revealed significant decreases for both conditions but that shCBT and UC did not differ. Mixed models of binge eating frequency from repeated monthly EDE-questionnaire assessments revealed a significant treatment-by-time interaction indicating that shCBT had significant reductions whereas UC did not during the four-month treatments. Mixed models revealed no differences between groups on associated eating disorder psychopathology or depression. No weight loss was observed in either condition.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that pure self-help CBT did not show effectiveness relative to usual care for treating BED in obese patients in primary care. Thus, self-help CBT may not have utility as a front-line intervention for BED for obese patients in primary care and future studies should test guided-self-help methods for delivering CBT in primary care generalist settings.     

Admissions interviews at university as counselling tools

Little research has been conducted on the university admissions interview, and with increasing selection ratios there has been a tendency for universities to dispense with interviews altogether. This paper argues for a re-assertion of the interview as a valuable component of the admissions procedure, not necessarily to improve institutional decision-making but for the guidance and personal decision-making of candidates. The rationale for treating admissions interviews as opportunities for counselling are reviewed, and the advantages for both candidates and institutions are outlined.     

Epistemological transformation for a sustainable and transdisciplinary university: The experience at the university of veracruz

This article presents a brief history of the development of the Western university and the individuation of disciplines. It discusses the phenomenal specialization that has occurred since the 19th century, and the lack of correlative synthesis of the disparate fields of knowledge, which increasingly has come under critique. We explore the transdisciplinary experience that has been developing over the last few years in the University of Veracruz, in particular with regards to the Program for Transdisciplinarity, Dialogue of Knowing Styles and Sustainability, a co-construction of a set of actions that foster a transformation of university academics by means of deep dialogue and a transdisciplinary re-learning process.     

Loneliness among adolescent college students at a midwestern university

The extent of loneliness of late adolescents in a midwestern university was studied in relation to selected variables and in comparison to other groups. It was found that women were lonelier than men, and that there was a relationship between loneliness and ease of making friends and loneliness and happiness during the past year. A difference also was found in loneliness scores among those with self-perceptions of loneliness. These adolescents were the sixth most lonely group out of thirteen previously studied groups.     

Turnover intentions of the faculty at a teaching-focused university

Research on turnover in academia suggests faculty primarily resign to obtain higher salaries and for personal reasons; however, the samples of most such studies have been from research institutions. Correlates were examined for turnover intentions among 190 faculty members at a university that emphasized teaching. Although current turnover intention was low, seven measures of satisfaction explained 31.5% of the variability in turnover intent, and satisfaction with pay, work itself, and teaching/service load together explained 26% of the variance. Findings support the hypothesis that salary is an important element in explaining turnover consideration at teaching institutions. Although satisfaction with collegial relations was related significantly to turnover intent, it was not as important as some of the other characteristics.     

Prevalence of smokeless tobacco consumption at a southwestern university

265 students attending a southwestern university were surveyed about their use of smokeless tobacco products. 27% of 84 male respondents indicated they consumed smokeless tobacco. The women did not report routine use of smokeless tobacco.     

Social support at university scale, a brief index

A brief, 3-item index of social support among college students, the Social Support at University Scale, is introduced. Its psychometric properties are examined in a sample of 90 college students (51 women, 39 men) and compared with those of an equivalent scale distributed among 100 university staff (67 women, 33 men). The Short-Form Social Support Questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were also administered to each participant. The data suggest that the Social Support at University Scale possesses internal consistency reliability suitable for research (alpha = .68), external validity as indicated by comparisons between the student and staff samples, concurrent validity as indicated by correlations with measures of generic social support, and criterion validity as indicated by associations with known correlates of social support, namely, perceived stress, anxiety, and depression.