Ethnocultural identification and naturally occurring interethnic social interactions: Muslim minorities in Europe

This study examined relationships between ethnic identification and ethnic minority members' interactions with majority group members. Members of Muslim minority groups, ethnic Turks and Moroccans in the Netherlands and Chechens in Poland, described the social interactions they had for two weeks using a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record (RIR). They also completed measures of ethnocultural identification that distinguished involvement with and attachment to their ethnic minority culture and to the majority culture. Relationships between ethnic identification and contact with the majority group varied as a function of the dimension and source of identification and the aspect of interaction (quantity or quality) being considered. Across the samples, involvement with the ethnic minority culture was negatively related to the quantity of contact with majority group members, whereas emotional attachment to the majority culture was positively related to the quality of interactions with majority group members. Attachment to the ethnic minority culture was not related to either the quantity of interaction with majority group members or to the quality of these interactions. These results suggest that when studying interethnic contact, it is important to distinguish different dimensions and sources of ethnic identification and different aspects of interethnic contact. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Relation of Severity and Comorbidity to Treatment Outcome with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Childhood Anxiety Disorders

The present study investigated the impact of comorbidity over and above the impact of symptom severity on treatment outcome of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for children with anxiety disorders. Children (aged 8–12, n = 124) diagnosed with an anxiety disorder were treated with a short-term CBT protocol. Severity was assessed with a composite measure of parent-reported behavior problems. Two approaches to comorbidity were examined; “total comorbidity” which differentiated anxiety disordered children with (n = 69) or without (n = 55) a co-occurring disorder and “non-anxiety comorbidity’ which differentiated anxious children with (n = 22) or without a non-anxiety comorbid disorder (n = 102). Treatment outcome was assessed in terms of Recovery, represented by post-treatment diagnostic status, and Reliable Change, a score reflecting changes in pre- to post-treatment symptom levels. Severity contributed to the prediction of (no) Recovery and (more) Reliable Change in parent-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms and self-reported depressive symptoms. Total and non-anxiety comorbidity added to the prediction of diagnostic recovery. Non-anxiety comorbidity added to the prediction of Reliable Change in parent reported measures by acting as a suppressor variable. Non-anxiety comorbidity operated as a strong predictor that explained all of the variance associated with severity for self-reported depressive symptoms. The results support the need for further research on mechanisms by which treatment gains in children with higher symptom severity and non-anxiety comorbidity can be achieved.     

Relationships, communication, and career in the parent-adolescent projects of families with and without challenges

Parent-adolescent joint actions that address the adolescent’s future were examined for their connection to the parent-adolescent relationship and communication goals and the steps taken to reach those goals. Nineteen parent-adolescent dyads, from families with and without family challenges such as chronic illness, unemployment, or divorce, identified a joint project that represented of goal-directed actions undertaken by the parents and adolescent together. Each dyad’s project was followed for a six-month period and data analyzed using the action-project method. Three groups of projects pertinent to career, the parent-adolescent relationship and communication emerged from the data: projects that were wholly concerned with the parent-adolescent relationship, projects that shifted from career development goals and actions to explicit relationship goals and actions, and projects in which parent-adolescent communication was used as a means to facilitate career and other developmental goals. The family challenges were evident in the construction of these projects as goals, ways to steer the projects, or reflected in the meaning attached to them.     

Exclusion,intergroup hostility,and religious fundamentalism

The goal of the present study was to examine whether exclusion leads to increased intergroup hostility and stronger fundamentalist religious beliefs. Using Cyberball, we examined how adolescents from different ethnic groups in the Netherlands (of Moroccan, Turkish, and Dutch descent with either Muslim, Christian, or secular beliefs) responded to being included or excluded by ethnic in- and outgroup members. We expected that exclusion by ethnic outgroup members would represent a categorization threat and would result in greater hostility. We hypothesized that exclusion by ethnic ingroup members would represent an acceptance threat and would result in responses that reduce uncertainty and increase one's chances of being accepted by others (e.g., a stronger endorsement of fundamentalist religious beliefs). The results revealed that among all ethnic groups, exclusion by ethnic outgroup members led to more hostility toward the co-players and the co-players' ethnic group than exclusion by ethnic ingroup members. This was mediated by the extent to which people attributed their exclusion to the racist attitudes of their co-players. Among Muslims and Christians, exclusion by ethnic ingroup members led to more support for fundamentalist beliefs. We discuss the theoretical extension that these results provide, and practical issues raised regarding the consequences that may occur through the marginalization of religious and ethnic groups.     

Some Notes on the Census of Religious Bodies, 1926

In line with previous results that challenge the traditional primacy of warmth over competence in outgroup perception, we propose to bridge elements from stereotype content model and social identity theory: Perceivers will use the competence and warmth dimensions differentially when interpreting higher or lower status outgroup members' behavior. We test the hypothesis that the dimension that is less favorable for the outgroup and more favorable for the ingroup will be used. In particular, we investigate whether the warmth dimension would better predict the interpretation of higher status outgroup members' behavior than the competence dimension, whereas the competence dimension would better predict the interpretation of lower status outgroup members' behavior than the warmth dimension. Two studies separately test these effects. Results suggest the existence of a motivated bias in interpreting outgroup members' behavior, especially when there is ingroup identification.     

Violent Attitudes and Deferred Academic Aspirations: Deleterious Effects of Exposure to Rap Music

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of exposure to rap music on the attitudes and perceptions of young African-American males. Subjects u were exposed to violent rap music videos, nonviolent rap music videos, or no music videos (controls). They read two vignettes, involving: (a) a violent act perpetrated against a man and a woman, and (b) a young man who chose to engage in academic pursuits to achieve success, whereas his friend, who was unemployed, "mysteriously" obtained extravagant items (i.e., a nice car, nice clothes). Results indicated, first, that when compared to subjects in the nonviolent exposure and control conditions, subjects in the violent exposure conditions expressed greater acceptance of the use of violence. Second, when compared to subjects in the control condition, subjects in the violent condition 'reported a higher probability that they would engage in violence. Third, when compared to the controls, subjects in the violent exposure condition expressed greater acceptance of the use of violence toward the woman. Finally, when compared to the controls, subjects in the rap video exposure conditions were more' likely to say that they wanted to be like the materialistic young man and were less confident that the other young man would achieve his educational goals. Possible basis for and implications of these findings are discussed.     

Examining the Relation Between the Therapeutic Alliance, Treatment Adherence, and Outcome of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children With Anxiety Disorders

Little is known about the contribution of technical and relational factors to child outcomes in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for children with anxiety disorders. This study investigated the association between treatment adherence, the child-therapist alliance, and child clinical outcomes in manual-guided individual- and group-based CBT for youths diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Trained observers rated tapes of therapy sessions for treatment adherence and child-therapist alliance in a sample of 52 children (aged 8 to 12) with anxiety disorders. Self-reported child anxiety was assessed at pre-, mid-, and posttreatment; parent-reported child internalizing symptoms was assessed at pre- and posttreatment. The results showed high levels of treatment adherence and child-therapist alliance in both CBT programs. Neither treatment adherence nor child-therapist alliance predicted traditional measurements of child outcomes in the present study, but a relation between alliance and outcome was found using a more precise estimation of the true pre-post differences. Implications of these findings for expanding our understanding of how treatment processes relate to child outcome in CBT for children with anxiety disorders are discussed.     

Reading Proficiency and Comparability of Mathematics and Science Scores for Students From English and Non-English Backgrounds: An International Perspective

The purpose of this research is to examine the comparability of mathematics and science scores for students from English language backgrounds (ELB) and non-English language backgrounds (NELB). We examine the relationship between English reading proficiency and performance on mathematics and science assessments in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The findings indicate a strong relationship with reading proficiency accounting for up to 43% of the variance in mathematics and up to 79% in science. In all comparisons, ELB students either outperformed NELB students or performed at the same level. However, when statistical adjustments were made for reading proficiency, in both mathematics and science, the score gap between the groups became statistically non-significant in three out of the four countries. These findings point to differences in score meaning in mathematics and science assessments and limitations in comparing performances of ELB and NELB.     

Is “What Has Been Cared For” Necessarily Good? Further Evidence for the Negative Impact of Cosmetics Use on Impression Formation1

The effects of cosmetics on impression formation were tested with students from either psychology or business and aesthetic schools. They were presented photographs of young and older female targets wearing or not wearing facial makeup and rated them for both physical attractiveness and a number of personality traits. In contrast with Graham and Jouhar's (1981) idea of a positive cosmetic stereotype, makeup had a negative impact on impression formation, especially for the young targets. More consistent with these authors' perspective, this impact was not mediated by attribution of physical attractiveness (PA), suggesting the existence of a separate cosmetic stereotype (relative to the PA stereotype). The influence of makeup was also stronger on the psychology undergraduates than on the other participants, suggesting that the way cosmetic users are perceived also depends on perceivers' group membership.