The experience of being a victim of prejudice: An experimental approach1

Most research on prejudice has followed the unidirectional orientation of investigating why majority-group members become prejudiced toward minorities without considering the effects of prejudice and discrimination upon its victims, the members of minority and subordinate groups. Taking a bidirectional perspective, it is argued that comprehending prejudice will also require knowing how minority members respond to prejudice and defend themselves against it. Various methods for exploring the phenomenon of prejudice from the perspective of the minority member are surveyed. In particular, a recently devised technique for experimentally manipulating perceived prejudice and assessing its psychological consequences is presented along with the findings from several studies using members of different minority groups as subjects. After considering the impact of perceived prejudice upon stereotypic self-evaluations, self-esteem, and affect, some directions for further research into the “victimology” of prejudice are discussed.     

Chronic, low-grade depression in a nonclinical sample: depressive personality or dysthymia?

Depressive personality disorder (DPD) is being considered for inclusion in future editions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). However, there is substantial conceptual and empirical overlap between DPD and dysthymic disorder (Dysthymia) criteria, suggesting that these two constructs may not be distinct. Confirmatory factor analysis of the DPD traits and dysthymia symptoms in a large, nonclinical sample (N = 368) indicated that a two-factor model was a better fit than a one-factor model. However, binary diagnostic analysis revealed that over half of the individuals meeting criteria for DPD also met criteria for dysthymia and that the best-fitting model allowed the psychological symptoms of dysthymia to load on both DPD and dysthymia latent factors. All of the individuals with DPD alone failed to meet criteria for dysthymia because they did not report chronic depressed mood. Our results suggest that although DPD is not synonymous with Dysthymia, it may be a milder subtype.     

GENDER AND ETHNOCULTURAL COMPARISONS IN STYLES OF LOVE

Ethnocultural background and gender were investigated as correlates of love styles in an ethnically diverse sample of university students in Toronto. Women viewed love as more friendship oriented, more pragmatic, but less permissive than did men, findings consistent with previous research with American college students. Ethnocultural differences or Gender x Ethnocultural Background interactions were also found. In line with an expected contrast between Asian and Western cultural traditions regarding love, Chinese and other Asian respondents of both sexes were more friendship oriented in their love relationships than were respondents of Anglo-Celtic or European ethnocultural backgrounds. Expectations of greater gender role differentiation among Asians were partly supported by finding that women from Asian ethnocultural backgrounds other than Chinese were less likely to view "love as a game" than were either their female or male counterparts. Women from Asian ethnocultural backgrounds other than Chinese also expressed a more altruistic view of love than did Anglo-Celtic women.