Successful rural black adolescents: a psychosocial profile

The purpose of this study was to investigate important psychosocial variables associated with the educational development of black adolescents in a southern rural environment. The study explored factors related to academic and social success among rural black adolescents. The focus of the investigation was on identifying psychological and social variables which may successfully influence the transaction between black youth and the rural educational system. Such success variables are important for research because of the traditional emphasis in the social sciences on concepts of deficit in the person-environment interactions of black youth. This article presents a profile of successful black adolescents in a rural school system in the Southeast. The profile was developed from personal interviews with 68 black students identified by teachers as successful, often despite social or economic hardship. The implications for future research and rural educational policy and program from the profile are discussed.     

Culture,gender, and the first memories of black and white American students

A pattern of delayed offset of childhood amnesia in Asian cultures has been attributed to the influence of the collectivist orientation of these cultures. To explore the generality of this finding, black and white American students were compared in two studies. A culture X gender interaction was observed in both studies; black women were approximately 11-16 months older at the time of their first memory than were black men, white women, and white men. In the second study, analyses of memory content indicated that black women were least likely to report personal experiences and most likely to report experiences from family or wider social contexts. Overall, black participants rated their memories as more vivid, but there were culture X gender interactions for ratings of emotional intensity and coherence. We consider multiple influences on age at first memory, including distal influences, gender themes in self-construal, and proximal influences on search criteria.     

Hispanic and black American adolescents' beliefs relating to sexuality and contraception

Popular beliefs and level of scientific knowledge regarding sexuality and contraception were elicited from black and Hispanic inner-city adolescents. Significant differences were found: Hispanic males were the most knowledgeable, Hispanic females the least, and black males and females were intermediate. A cultural basis for the dramatic difference between Hispanic male and female scores is suggested and the need to design culturally appropriate sexuality education classes is discussed. In addition, the data depicted two conflicting beliefs that were held simultaneously by many of the adolescents: Contraception is "good" because it prevents pregnancy, and it is "bad" because the various birth control methods carry serious health hazards for users.     

Other race recognition: a comparison of black American and African subjects

The ability of black American and black African men to recognize previously seen white male faces was assessed. Relationships between recognition, performance scores and quality of interracial experience were also examined. Black American participants (n = 10) performed significantly better and made fewer false responses than the Nigerian participants (n = 10). Significant positive relationships were found between performance scores and interracial experience. Differential use of cues for discriminating white male faces by both groups was also found.     

The developmental profile.

We describe the Developmental Profile and the development of the instrument, the theory on which it is based, and the manner in which information is collected, interpreted, and used in clinical practice. We present the results of the psychometric research that has been performed to date. Finally, we examine the extent to which this method is in accordance with recent insights within the field of personality diagnostics.     

A latent profile analysis of Asian American men's and women's adherence to cultural values

The goal of this study was to identify diverse profiles of Asian American women's and men's adherence to values that are salient in Asian cultures (i.e., conformity to norms, family recognition through achievement, emotional self-control, collectivism, and humility). To this end, the authors conducted a latent profile analysis using the 5 subscales of the Asian American Values Scale-Multidimensional in a sample of 214 Asian Americans. The analysis uncovered a four-cluster solution. In general, Clusters 1 and 2 were characterized by relatively low and moderate levels of adherence to the 5 dimensions of cultural values, respectively. Cluster 3 was characterized by the highest level of adherence to the cultural value of family recognition through achievement, whereas Cluster 4 was typified by the highest levels of adherence to collectivism, emotional self-control, and humility. Clusters 3 and 4 were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms than Cluster 1. Furthermore, Asian American women and Asian American men had lower odds of being in Cluster 4 and Cluster 3, respectively. These findings attest to the importance of identifying specific patterns of adherence to cultural values when examining the relationship between Asian Americans' cultural orientation and mental health status.     

The structure of economic beliefs

Over 250 subjects completed nine questionnaires concerned specifically with economic issues such as work, saving, taxation etc. Five of the Attitude scales—attitudes to gambling, money, saving, social security (welfare) and taxation—were first submitted to factor analysis. In each case a meaningful and interpretable factor structure emerged. Thereafter the total of 38 variables were subjected to a VARIMAX factor analysis which yielded an interpretable two factor solution: individualist-collectivist, tough-minded/tender-minded. The implications of this two factor theory of economic ideology are discussed.     

The changing attitudes of black students

The racial attitudes of black college students were examined to determine changes in the acceptance or rejection of negative racial stereotypes. The results indicate that black students as a group accept more anti-white ideology and less anti-Negro ideology than a comparable group of students sampled in 1957. Students sampled in 1968 were significantly less authoritarian than the earlier group. The trend is explored in the context of the changing social and psychological milieu of today's black college student. Implications to the counseling and student personnel profession are obvious and perhaps ominous.     

The American Reincarnation of the Superfluous Experience

Abstract

The superfluous man became a prominent literary figure in Russia during the 19th century. This article makes a comparison of the superfluous experience to the “celebutante” phenomenon, as reflected in the media. It also includes a discussion on the impact that the celebutante influence may have on the dreams, values and meaning-making experience of members of Generation Y. A values clarification exercise is included.     

The American Luther

Abstract : This essay introduces important developments in recent Luther scholarship in America and argues for a specific retrieval of Luther for contemporary religious and theological issues, such as the problem of evil and the role of experience in theology. The essay describes how contemporary feminist and liberation theologies have recontextualized Luther in America. Also addressed is the current interest in historical investigations of Luther in relation to medieval thought that aligns with the American reception of Finnish scholarship on Luther. These developments show that the American Luther is moving beyond its fundamental shaping by German Protestantism.