An exploratory study of perceived discrimination and homesickness: a comparison of international students and American students

The authors examined group differences in perceived discrimination and homesickness in a sample of 439 college students (198 international and 241 U.S. students) from 2 campuses of the same university. Within the international student group, the authors also examined relationships between homesickness, discrimination, age, English proficiency, and years of residence in the United States. Results indicated that international students experienced higher levels of discrimination and homesickness than did U.S. students. Age, English proficiency, and perceived discrimination predicted homesickness among the international students. Younger students, students with lower levels of English proficiency, and students with higher levels of perceived discrimination reported having higher levels of homesickness. Also, years of residence and race or ethnicity predicted international students' level of perceived discrimination. Being a European international student predicted lower levels of perceived discrimination than did being an international student from other regions of the world. The authors discuss implications for higher-education institutions and counseling personnel.     

Physiological Correlates of Choice‐Induced Dissonance: An Exploration of HPA‐Axis Responses

Choice can produce a negatively arousing cognitive conflict (called dissonance), which is thought to motivate the chooser to spread their preferences for the relevant options (called Spreading of Alternatives, or SA). The current work aimed to determine the relationship between HPA‐axis activity and both choice‐induced dissonance and its reduction (i.e. SA) among individuals with varying cultural backgrounds. European–Americans and Asians made a choice between two equally attractive CDs either in the presence of a cue indicative of social eyes (i.e. public‐choice condition) or in the absence thereof (i.e. private‐choice condition). As predicted, European–Americans and Asians showed a reliable SA primarily in the private and public choice conditions, respectively. Importantly, a sharp decline of salivary cortisol was observed over the span of 30 min, and, moreover, this decline was reliably predicted by the magnitude of SA regardless of either culture or the choice being private vs. public. These results suggest that although choice‐induced dissonance is too weak to elicit an HPA‐axis stress response, SA is associated with variability in the decline of salivary cortisol during the laboratory task. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of an Attitudes and Intentions Scale for Construction Skills Training Programs

Attrition is a major problem in construction skills training programs for young adults, with dropout rates ranging between 45% and 65%. Training resources could be used more efficiently if trainees' completion rates were increased. Understanding and measuring the psychological characteristics contributing to attrition allows training practitioners to implement interventions to reduce dropout. This article reports the development of an instrument designed to measure constructs that inform participants' performance and success within the construction training domain. Instrument reliability and validity as well as areas of further research are discussed.     

Testimonial Engagement: Undocumented Latina Mothers Navigating a Gendered Deportation Regime

This community-based qualitative study investigated the real or threatened impact of immigration enforcement on undocumented mothers as they navigate a “gendered deportation regime.” We analyzed seven interviews with undocumented mothers who have experienced the deportation of someone close to them and live under the constant threat of deportation. Based on an inductive, team-based analysis process, we present case examples of four themes that illustrate how undocumented mothers describe their experience negotiating the aftermath and threat of deportation: quality of life, material possibilities, balancing the social, and engaging with advocacy networks. Findings expand on previous research emphasizing the impact of “deportability” on the everyday lives of undocumented immigrants by attending to gendered aspects of immigration enforcement. As a collaborative research team composed of social work faculty, graduate students, and immigrant rights activists, we also critically engage with our attempts to meld research and community organizing in order to illustrate challenges that scholars and social service practitioners face when working with undocumented populations.     

Student Learning Outcomes for Biblical Studies in the Liberal Arts

What is the role of biblical studies in a liberal arts curriculum? At the 2009 North American Society of Biblical Literature conference, a panel of seven Bible scholars provided brief analyses and arguments about the appropriate goals of teaching biblical studies in undergraduate contexts in this historical moment. They consider and critique the notion of specific Student Learning Outcomes or Objectives (SLOs) for courses about the Bible. In the process they address questions such as: what is the relative importance of “coverage” (biblical literacy, disciplinary knowledge and methods, and the historical creation of the biblical texts) versus modern and historical reception and uses of these texts? In their contributions, the authors analyze ways that a biblical studies course can develop the critical reading and writing skills that are the hallmark of undergraduate education. Some authors find these skills furthered by not bracketing from study the normative truth claims in the texts and instead strategically and critically encouraging the identity work and religious seeking associated with religious uses of these texts. Others call attention to the institutional and classroom power dynamics which inform and are constituted by the current student learning outcomes movement.     

Bodily ownership and self-location: Components of bodily self-consciousness

Recent research on bodily self-consciousness has assumed that it consists of three distinct components: the experience of owning a body (body ownership); the experience of being a body with a given location within the environment (self-location); and the experience of taking a first-person, body-centered, perspective on that environment (perspective). Here we review recent neuroimaging studies suggesting that at least two of these components—body ownership and self-location—are implemented in rather distinct neural substrates, located, respectively, in the premotor cortex and in the temporo-parietal junction. We examine these results and consider them in relation to clinical evidence from patients with altered body perception and work on a variety of multisensory, body-related illusions, such as the rubber hand illusion, the full body illusion, the body swap illusion and the enfacement illusion. We conclude by providing a preliminary synthesis of the data on bodily self-consciousness and its neural correlates.     

Traditional Healing as Indigenous Knowledge: Its Relevance to HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa and the Implications for Counselors

This article integrates the results of several culture-based studies conducted over the past decade. Specifically, links are made between the continued relevance of the African traditional healer's corpus of knowledge, the efficacy of the healer's cultural authority, and the need for HIV/AIDS-related strategies and interventions that are culturally sensitive, especially counseling. Results of an initial investigation of traditional healing in Lesotho, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe are integrated with more recent research in Botswana and Namibia. Findings from these studies are meshed with preliminary results of an ongoing investigation of the contextual influences and cultural factors associated with the spread of HIV/AIDS in the southern African region. Outcomes of the combined investigations have supported further examination of traditional healing as an indigenous knowledge system, of its relevance to HIV/AIDS, and of its significance to professional counselors in Africa. Related recommendations are offered for consideration by those working within HIV/AIDS systems of intervention.     

Fostering Self-Determination and Resilience Through Sports Counselling: Psychosocial Development of Youth in Botswana

Sports can promote pro-social behaviors and confidence in physical abilities among participants. We conducted an extensive review of the literature on the ways in which youth in Southern African countries, severely affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other hardships may benefit from acquiring the pro-social skills often associated with athletics. This article reviews the current situation of sports in Botswana and offers recommendations for a culturally appropriate developmental sports counselling program in that country. The authors present arguments that support the development of psychosocial skills, self-determination, and resilience among Batswana Youth through sports counselling interventions.     

Suffering by comparison: Twitter users’ reactions to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

Social comparison theory suggests that evaluating the self in comparison with others (e.g., peers, celebrities, models) can influence body image. Experimental studies that have tested effects of viewing idealized images in the media often show that women feel worse about themselves after seeing images that illustrate the beauty ideal. Twitter presents a naturally occurring opportunity to study viewers’ reactions. An analysis was conducted of 977 tweets sent immediately before and during the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show that reference the show. Although the majority were idiosyncratic remarks, many tweets contain evidence of upward social comparisons to the fashion models. There were tweets about body image, eating disorders, weight, desires for food or alcohol, and thoughts about self-harm. The results support social comparison theory, and suggest that vulnerable viewers could experience negative affect, or even engage in harmful behaviors, during or after viewing the show or others like it.