The two‐sided nature of individual and intragroup experiences in the aftermath of collective victimization: Findings from four diaspora groups

Most social psychological research on collective victimhood has examined its consequences for intergroup relations. Less attention has been paid to individual and intragroup processes associated with collective victimization, which the present study aimed to examine. We conducted eight focus group interviews among four diaspora communities (Armenian Americans, Burundian refugees, Jewish Americans, Nepali‐speaking Bhutanese refugees) with historical or more recent experiences of collective victimization. Thematic analysis revealed three major foci shared across communities (but with different emphases within each focus), which included juxtaposed themes that highlight the two‐sided nature of experiencing and coping with collective victimization and its aftermath: Vulnerability and struggle versus resilience and strength, loss versus continuity and renewal, and silence about versus transmission of knowledge about ingroup victimization. These findings illustrate how groups integrate seemingly opposite poles of collective victimization that characterize this complex and multifaceted experience, which has important theoretical implications.     

Ethnic Inequality and National Pride

This article examines patterns in individual attachments towards the nation‐state in multiethnic countries. Specifically, we examine the effect of between‐ethnic‐group political and economic inequality on these attachments. Pairing attitudinal data from the sixth and most recent wave of the World Values Survey, administered between 2010 and 2012, with ethnicity measures from the Ethnic Power Relations dataset, we show that between‐ethnic‐group political inequality significantly weakens national pride and identity, but between‐ethnic‐group economic inequality does not have a similar effect. Our findings provide robust support for the view that ethnic‐group separatism in divided societies is motivated, not by the quest for economic power, but by considerations of lost status and dignity that can only be recovered through ownership in state institutions. Hence, the binding constraint on national integration in these settings is political, not economic, inequality.     

The Process of Coping Among Ethnic Minority First-Generation College Freshmen: A Narrative Approach

Abstract

Using a narrative approach, the authors explored the process of coping among ethnic minority college students. Participants were 30 freshmen, predominantly the 1st members of their families to attend college, who wrote journals once a week for 3 weeks on their ways of coping with stress. They also completed a survey of background information. Those who were more successful in coping, compared to those who were less successful, expressed a greater sense of self-efficacy and did not feel that they lacked needed social support. However, those who were more successful in coping did not differ on demographic variables, including ethnicity, gender, country of birth, and parental education. The narratives provide evidence of the complex and interactive process of coping among ethnic minority college students.     

Cognitive testing in non‐demented Turkish immigrants ‐ comparison of the RUDAS and the MMSE

Nielsen, T. R. Vogel, A., Gade, A. & Waldemar, G. (2012). Cognitive testing in healthy Turkish immigrants ‐ comparison of the RUDAS and the MMSE. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 455–460. Methods for culturally and linguistically appropriate cognitive testing of elderly minority populations are lacking in Europe. The aim of this study was to compare performance on the Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale (RUDAS) and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) in Turkish immigrants in Denmark and determine the impact of demographic and health‐related variables on test performance. A sample of non‐demented community‐dwelling Turkish immigrants was recruited from the greater Copenhagen area. All participants completed a structured interview regarding demographic, physical and mental health status, as well as measures of depression and acculturation, and cognitive testing with the RUDAS and the MMSE. A total of 76 non‐demented participants aged 50 or more were included in the study. The mean performance on the RUDAS and the MMSE was 26.8 (SD 2.4) and 23.7 (SD 4.3), respectively. In group comparisons, correlation analyses and regression analyses, level of schooling represented a more significant variable for RUDAS and MMSE performance than any other variable. However, the impact of schooling was considerably more pronounced on the MMSE and the test was not found to be a valid measure of general cognitive function in subjects with less than five years of schooling. Although not entirely free of educational bias, the RUDAS can be a valuable supplement to the MMSE for assessment of general cognitive function in Turkish minority populations.     

Narrative as a Root Metaphor for Political Psychology

The idea of narrative has become increasingly appropriated in empirical research in both psychology and politics, yet there is a notable absence of integrative frameworks that specify a conceptual and methodological approach to narrative research in political psychology. An integrative conceptual framework is proposed and anchored in four principles of a narrative approach: (1) the mutual constitution of language and thought, (2) the need for personal coherence through narrative identity development, (3) the need for collective solidarity through shared meaning, and (4) the mediational property of narrative in social activity and practice. Theory and empirical research related to these principles are reviewed. We argue that a narrative framework has the potential to enhance the relevance and amplify the voice of political psychology within and beyond the academy and to offer new knowledge on the complex and dynamic relationship between context and mind.     

Cultural Threat and Anti‐immigrant Prejudice: The Case of Protestants in Northern Ireland

Cultural threat has emerged as a consistent predictor of anti‐immigrant and anti‐minority attitudes across many different national contexts. We examine this issue in the context of Northern Ireland using representative survey data, suggesting that Protestant and unionist communities experience a higher level of cultural threat than Catholic and nationalist communities on account of the ‘parity of esteem’ principle that has informed changes in the province since the Belfast Agreement of 1998. Our analyses confirm that, although there is evidence for some level of anti‐immigrant sentiment across all groups, Protestants and unionists do indeed report relatively more negative attitudes towards a range of immigrant and ethnic target groups compared with Catholics, nationalists or respondents who do not identify with any political category. The analyses further suggest that their higher level of perceived cultural threat partially accounts for this difference. We argue that cultural threat can be interpreted as a response to changes in Northern Ireland that have challenged the dominant status enjoyed by Protestants and unionists in the past. More generally, we argue that a politicised characterisation of cultural threat needs to be elaborated through future work. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Genetic engineering and contemporary democratic theory

Genetic engineering is discussed in relation to contemporary theories of individual rights, such as natural rights and liberalism, and theories of societal good, such as utilitarianism and the public interest. The social responsibility to future generations is explored. Different rationales for justifying limitations on reproductive rights are presented and discussed.     

民族本质论对民族认同和刻板印象的影响

The simple understanding of ethnicity by lay people is called the lay people’s theory of ethnicity, two theories are used to interpret the ethnicity by lay people in their everyday life. One of the theories contends that ethnicity is determined by nonmalleable, deep-seated essence and the essence would give rise to stable personality traits and abilities across situations, this is called the essentialist theory of ethnicity. The other theory, however, denies the real existence of ethnic essence, ethnicity is a social construction that is arbitrarily created due to social and political reasons in historical contexts, which is termed the social constructivist theory. Some western studies have shown that people have different interpretation about ethnicity cause different group perceptions and group relations. It is necessary to test and extend these results in another social background, like the Chinese one. First, 351 students from different ethnic groups participated in Study 1. They completed a questionnaire aimed at assessing their attitudes towards inter-group perception, ethnic identity, lay people’s theory of ethnicity, and out-group contact attitude. The results showed that: (1) the stronger essentialist belief a participant has, the more sensitive he or she is about group difference; (2) essentialist theory affects people’s inter-group identity, i.e. the deeper one believes in essentialism, the tenser he or she feels about in-group identity and bias, the more passive attitude is hold towards out-group contact. Second, 104 Han students participated in Study 2. An experimental method was used to test stereotyping differences against the minorities in relationship to lay people’s ethnic theories. Participants were randomly assigned to read the article advocating the essentialist view of ethnicity or the article advocating the social constructionist view of ethnicity. The result illustrates that: participants in the essentialist ethnicity condition showed stronger stereotyped impressions, especially negative stereotyping than did those in the social constructionist condition, but participants in the two conditions did not differ significantly on their positive stereotyping. In conclusion, the essentialist theory of ethnicity has a great influence on ethnic identity and ethnic stereotyping. Practical implications of these results imply that lay people’s theory of ethnicity can be used as a vehicle for reducing prejudice. Specifically, we can teach people to hold more social constructivist belief and less essentialist belief.     

The Many Faces of Self: Ego and Ethnic Identities

This study addressed how adolescents come to develop a sense of ethnic identity. The author examined ethnic identity development as a process that occurs simultaneously with the development of ego identity and attitudes toward groups other than one's own. A multiethnic sample of 297 adolescents and young adults (aged 13 to 26 years) completed the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Scale Revision 2 (EOMEIS2; L. Bennion & G. Adams, 1986), the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM; J. Phinney, 1992), and the Other Group Orientation Scale (J. Phinney, 1992). An Age x Ethnic Group x Gender experimental design was used to determine whether these factors contributed differently to ethnic identity and ego identity. Analyses showed significant differences in the level of ethnic identity development among the ethnic groups. More pronounced age differences were found at the lower levels of ego identity development than at the more advanced levels.     

Students’ Motivation and Engagement Predict Reading Achievement Differently by Ethnic Group

The authors examined Grade 3 and Grade 5 teacher-rated classroom engagement and student self-reported motivation for reading as predictors of reading achievement. They investigated the patterns of prediction of achievement for three racial/ethnic groups (White, Black, and Hispanic) and five levels of socioeconomic status (SES) in a combined within-group model. Groups were created by crossing race/ethnicity with SES to form 15 independent groups for each grade level. Results indicated that self-reported motivation was a significant predictor of reading achievement mainly for White third-grade students; teacher-reported engagement was a better predictor for all racial/ethnic groups for both Grade 3 and Grade 5 reading achievement. Results show higher achievement for White and higher-SES students compared with non-White and lower-SES students.