Understanding the impact of the Hajj: Explaining experiences of self-change at a religious mass gathering

Previous research has shown that participation in the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca can lead to both more positive outgroup attitudes and increased commitment to Muslim identity. We describe a survey of pilgrims (N = 1,176) carried out at Mecca, during the Hajj, which tested explanations for these experiences of self-change at the time of their occurrence. In line with contact theory, perceived cooperation among pilgrims indirectly predicted more positive outgroup attitudes (as well as enhanced Muslim identification), via identification with the crowd. In line with social identity and identity congruence explanations, positive emotional experience and the perception that the crowd embodied the Muslim value of unity predicted self-change variables through identification with the crowd. The finding that participation in an all-Muslim gathering increases positive views of other groups (including non-Muslims) through identification with the crowd offers an alternative perspective to suggestions that such gatherings might encourage intolerance.     

What Determines Voting Behaviors of Muslim Minorities in Europe: Muslim Identity or Left-Right Ideology?

Voting is key to political integration of immigrant-background minorities, but what determines their voting preferences remains unclear. Moreover, dual-citizen minorities can vote differently in their country of residence and origin. Using a representative survey of Turkish-Muslim minorities in two cities in Belgium (N = 447, M_age = 36.3), we asked whether left-right ideology or religious identity predicted their voting in their country of residence and origin, besides typical predictors of right-wing voting (i.e., efficacy, deprivation, and authoritarianism). Authoritarianism, low political efficacy, and high deprivation predicted voting for right-wing parties in Turkey, whereas the latter two, surprisingly, predicted voting for the left in Belgium. Latent class analyses of their religious practices distinguished “moderate” versus “strict” Muslims. While “strict” Muslims voted for right-wing parties in Turkey, ideology did not predict their voting. Conversely, in Belgium, while Muslim identity did not predict their voting, ideology did. Analyzing their combined effects, “moderate” Muslims voted based on their ideology—right-leaning voting for the right, whereas “strict” Muslims voted according to their interests as a disadvantaged minority in Belgium—thus voting for the left—or as a devout Muslim in Turkey—thus voting for the right. Our results elucidate processes underlying the voting behaviors of European-Muslim minorities.     

“We Are Still Here”: Learning From Native American Perspectives

Counselors’ multicultural competence is often cultivated through 1 graduate-level diversity course. Therefore, it is important to regularly assess multicultural counseling textbook content to ensure accurate representation of the perspectives of members of diverse populations. To this end, the authors interviewed 14 Native Americans to explore their perspectives on subjects related to counseling to inform clinical practice and training. Using consensual qualitative research, the authors identified 10 domains in the data. Cross analysis of the domains revealed 1 general and 29 typical categories. The identified categories have implications for the development of culturally competent clinicians. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Examining Perceived Multicultural Counseling Competence and Negative Attitudes Toward the Arab American Population

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between professional counselors’ general multicultural competence and negative attitudes held toward Arab Americans. Participants (N = 124) completed a survey, and a series of correlational, stepwise, and multiple regression analyses was conducted. Results indicated that counselors displayed higher levels of multicultural awareness than of multicultural knowledge. Furthermore, general multicultural awareness and specific knowledge of Arabs related significantly to negative attitudes held toward Arabs. El propósito de este estudio cuantitativo fue investigar la relación entre la competencia multicultural general de consejeros profesionales y las actitudes negativas mantenidas hacia personas estadounidenses de origen árabe. Los participantes (N = 124) completaron una encuesta, y se llevó a cabo una serie de análisis correlacionales, por pasos y de regresión múltiple. Los resultados indicaron que los consejeros mostraron niveles de conciencia multicultural mayores que los niveles de conocimiento multicultural. Además, la conciencia multicultural general y el conocimiento específico acerca de las personas árabes estuvieron significativamente relacionados con actitudes negativas mantenidas hacia personas árabes.     

Socio-cultural invisibility and belonging: Latin American migrants in the north of England

This paper explores the multiple and simultaneous senses of belonging of Latin Americans in the north of England, a sparse migrant population characterised by a high degree of socio-cultural invisibility, i.e. lack of official recognition and limited cultural/ethnic organisation. It draws on a project conducted with 10 Latin American and Latino British families (totalling 30 adults and dependent children of 8–18 years of age) and 14 other informants and stakeholders in the Yorkshire and Greater Manchester regions. The paper analyses the senses of everyday belonging of the adult participants and the role that conditions of socio-cultural invisibility play in their experiences. Significant here are the lack of ethno-cultural local spaces and reluctance to embrace pan-ethnic identifications, which bring to the fore the relevance of other local social contexts and of transnational ties as sites of everyday belonging. It is argued that by paying attention to the emotions and emotional compromises that constitute migrants' senses of belonging, it is possible to develop nuanced insights into the diversity of ways in which migrants experience processes of incorporation and combine bonds to sending and receiving societies.     

Life Satisfaction and Symptoms of Mental Disorder Among Older African American Public Housing Residents

This study examines life satisfaction and symptoms of mental disorder in a sample of 831 older African American residents of urban public housing developments. Symptoms of mental disorder included measures of emotional distress, alcohol-related problems, and cognitive impairment. Subjects reporting less life satisfaction had significantly greater emotional distress. Neither lifetime alcohol-related problems nor cognitive impairment were significantly related to life satisfaction. Stepwise multiple regression analyses indicated that emotional distress subscales accounted for most of the explained variance in life satisfaction. Social dysfunction was the strongest predictor of life satisfaction, accounting for 17% of the variance. Having a confidant, instrumental social support, religious support, or being female also contributed to the explained variance in life satisfaction.     

The Weaving Healthy Families program: Promoting parenting practices,family resilience,and communal mastery

Parenting quality, family resilience, and community resilience and support have been found to be primary protective factors for the disproportionate burden of anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorder (SUD), depression, and suicide that US Indigenous youth and adults tend to experience. The purpose of this research study was to examine pilot results for outcomes related to relational factors for Indigenous family members who participated in the Weaving Healthy Families (WHF) program (translated to Chukka Auchaffi’ Natana, in the Choctaw tribal language), a culturally grounded and empirically informed program geared toward promoting wellness, family resilience, parenting practices, and community resilience while also preventing SUD and violence. This nonrandomized pre-experimental pilot intervention followed a longitudinal design, which included pre-test, a post-test, and a 6-, 9-, and 12-month post-intervention follow-up surveys. Repeated-measures regressions were utilized with generalized estimating equations (GEE) to examine changes in parenting, family resilience, and communal mastery before and after the intervention for 24 adults and adolescents (12–17) across eight tribal families. Results indicate that the overall quality of parenting improved, as measured by improved parental monitoring and reductions in inconsistent discipline and corporal punishment. We identified sex differences in positive parenting, poor monitoring, and corporal punishment, with greater decreases in these measures among males over time. Family resilience and communal mastery improved for adolescent and adult participants after the WHF program. Our results indicate promising improvements across relational, familial, and community ecological, which provide clear clinical implications.     

Demographics,Stigma, and Religious Coping and Christian African Americans' Help Seeking

This study investigated the relationship between demographic characteristics, mental health treatment stigma, religious coping, and help seeking among a sample of 488 Christian African Americans. The results indicated that religious coping, both negative and positive, accounted for a significant portion of variance and explained trends in lifetime counseling attendance above and beyond that explained by demographic characteristics and mental health treatment stigma variables.     

Preparing for racial microaggressions: The role of cognition and emotion in the proactive coping process of African American college students

Traditionally, conceptual models of racial stressors (including racial microaggressions) have characterized the reactive experiences of African Americans, particularly identifying how African Americans cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally respond to racial stress. The current study extends beyond the reactive coping experience and identifies nuances in the anticipatory and preparatory coping processes associated with racial microaggressions. Methods: 58 African American college students participated in a stress induction condition that exposed them to racial microinsults and prompted anticipatory concerns of further exposure to racial stress while completing a task with a racially insensitive peer. Following exposure to the stress induction condition, participants completed self-report questionnaires about their anticipatory thoughts, current affect, and proactive coping behaviors. Results: Threat-oriented thinking and negative affect were experienced in anticipation of racial discrimination; however, the endorsement of challenge-oriented thinking and positive affect were better predictors of how the current sample planned to use proactive coping behaviors to manage the anticipated racial stress. Implications: The current findings expand the racial stress coping narrative by capturing how the expression of optimism, perceived control, self-confidence, goal attainability, and positive emotion in anticipation of racial stress increases one's intention to implement coping strategies to minimize the impact of racial stress on task completion. Such findings provide cognitive and emotional targets for assessment when attempting to understand how African Americans are preparing themselves to manage anticipated racial stressors.     

The Cultural Closet: The South Asian American Experience of Keeping Romantic Relationships Secret

Many South Asian Americans face challenges when they are in romantic relationships outside of their racial, ethnic, or religious group. Because of values associated with dating and marriage, one challenge is disclosing the relationship to family. South Asian Americans often hide their relationships, and we propose that this experience has parallels to the closet for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals. In this article, we name this experience the “cultural closet” and discuss the associated theory, context, consequences, and counseling implications. Muchos americanos surasiáticos afrontan desafíos cuando se encuentran en relaciones amorosas fuera de su grupo racial, étnico o religioso. Uno de los desafíos es revelar la relación a su familia, a causa de los valores asociados con las citas y el matrimonio. Con frecuencia, los americanos surasiáticos ocultan sus relaciones, y proponemos que esta experiencia tiene correspondencias con el armario para personas lesbianas, gais, bisexuales, transexuales y queer. En este artículo, denominamos esta experiencia el “armario cultural” y discutimos la teoría, el contexto, las consecuencias y las implicaciones para la consejería asociadas.