Perspectives and research on the positive and negative implications of having multiple racial identities

Much attention has been directed toward understanding the impact having a multiracial background has on psychological well-being and adjustment. Past psychological research has focused on the challenges multiracial individuals confront in defining a racial identity. The implication is that these challenges lead to outcomes that are psychologically detrimental. However, evidence to support this assertion is mixed. The authors review qualitative and quantitative empirical research examining multiracial individuals' identity development, depression, problem behaviors, peer relationships, school performance, and self-esteem, finding support for detrimental outcomes only in studies sampling clinical populations. Studies on nonclinical samples find that multiracial individuals tend to be just as well-adjusted as their monoracial peers on most psychological outcomes. Earlier assertions of maladjustment may have been due to reliance on qualitative research that sampled clinical populations. Other implications and future research are discussed.     

Working memory and intelligence: the same or different constructs?

Several investigators have claimed over the past decade that working memory (WM) and general intelligence (g) are identical, or nearly identical, constructs, from an individual-differences perspective. Although memory measures are commonly included in intelligence tests, and memory abilities are included in theories of intelligence, the identity between WM and intelligence has not been evaluated comprehensively. The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 86 samples that relate WM to intelligence. The average correlation between true-score estimates of WM and g is substantially less than unity (p=.479). The authors also focus on the distinction between short-term memory and WM with respect to intelligence with a supplemental meta-analysis. The authors discuss how consideration of psychometric and theoretical perspectives better informs the discussion of WM-intelligence relations.     

Contents of volume 145

Volume contents

Contents of volume 145     

Cross-Cultural Reactions to Academic Sexual Harassment: Effects of Individualist vs. Collectivist Culture and Gender of Participants

Male and female university students from the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Ecuador, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Turkey read a standardized scenario in which a male professor was accused of sexually harassing a female graduate student. Respondents from individualist countries judged the professor to be guilty of sexual harassment more often than did those from collectivist countries. Women rendered significantly more guilty judgments and assigned more severe punishments to the accused professor than did men. Implications for the individualist–collectivist classification system and cross-cultural research are discussed.     

Indian Women’s Experience of a Narrative Intervention Using Art And Writing*

International and minority populations tend to underutilize mental health services, including marriage and family therapy. Models of marriage and family therapy developed in the West may reflect Western values and norms inappropriate for diverse cultural contexts. This article presents an exploratory, qualitative study of a narrative therapy approach with Asian Indian women. This study adds to the small body of narrative-based empirical studies, and has a unique focus on intercultural applications and the experience of participants. Participant experience was examined along four phenomenological dimensions. Findings indicate the suitability of narrative interventions and nontraditional treatment delivery for this population.*This research was presented in 2004 at the annual conference of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.     

Sex Differences in Social Support and Self-Efficacy Within a Recovery Community

This study examined similarities and differences in social support and self-efficacy for abstinence between women and men recovering from substance addiction. The sample consisted of 87 residents of Oxford House (OH) self-run, community-based recovery homes. Analyses revealed similarities between women and men in terms of the composition and utilization of support networks and abstinence self-efficacy. Also, for both sexes, length of residency in OH was significantly related to decreased social support for alcohol and drug use and increased self-efficacy for abstinence. However, multiple-group SEM analyses demonstrated that social support for alcohol/drug use fully mediated the link between length of residency and abstinence self-efficacy for women, but not for men. Findings suggest that the process of gaining self-efficacy to remain abstinent is distinct for women and men, and that social support plays a different role in women's recovery than it does in men's.     

The Beck Anxiety Inventory in Older Adults With Generalized Anxiety Disorder

The authors investigated the psychometric properties of the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) in a sample of 75 older generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) patients and a comparison group of 32 older adults without significant psychopathology. Internal consistency was above .80, and the BAI showed evidence of convergent validity in both groups. Evidence for discriminant validity with respect to measures of depression was weaker. Two items, fearing the worst and nervousness, correctly distinguished 86.5% of patients with GAD and 93.8% of the normal controls. Medical comorbidity was associated with somatic but not cognitive anxiety symptoms in the normal older sample. Overall, results indicate the limitations of the BAI in assessing anxiety symptoms in older adults and suggest the need for use of an instrument focusing on cognitive aspects of anxiety.     

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute ethics rounds: life-threatening illness and the desire to adopt

Originally presented during Ethics Rounds at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, this commentary on the case of a patient treated for life-threatening cancer explores the responsibilities of health care providers when addressing the patient's desire to adopt a child.     

Social recognition memory: the effect of other people's responses for previously seen and unseen items

When people discuss their memories, what one person says can influence what another person reports. In 3 studies, participants were shown sets of stimuli and then given recognition memory tests to measure the effect of one person's response on another's. The 1st study (n = 24) used word recognition with participant-confederate pairs and found that the effect of confederate responses on participant responses was larger for previously unseen items than for previously seen items (omega(p) = .23). This finding was replicated in the 2nd study, which used photographs of cars (n = 24). In the 3rd study (n = 54), which used photographs of faces with participant pairs, the effect was also larger for unseen items. Results indicate that people rely more on other people's memories for unremembered objects than for remembered objects. This is important for both theories of memory and applications (e.g., witnesses talking, students studying together).