A longitudinal test of social cognitive career theory's academic persistence model among Latino/a and White men and women engineering students

This study tested Social Cognitive Career Theory's (SCCT) academic persistent model among engineering students from a longitudinal perspective and examined whether relations among the variables in the model differed between Whites and Latinos/as and between men and women engineering majors. Three hundred fifty engineering student participants (172 Latino/as; 155 Whites; 23 mixed race) who were attending a Hispanic-serving institution in the Southwest completed measures of math/science ACT, college GPA, engineering self-efficacy, engineering goals, and persistence. The academic persistence model within the engineering domain provided an excellent fit to the data. Significant group differences between women and men were found; however, there were no group differences across ethnicity. Implication for further research and interventions based on SCCT's academic persistence model are discussed in relation to academic persistence in engineering for women and Latinos/as.     

What should religious education in Germany be about and how does religiosity fit into this picture? An empirical study of pre-service religious education teachers’ beliefs on the aims of RE

In secularising Germany the aim of religious education (RE) is under discussion. The churches opt for denominational education familiarising the students with their own religious tradition. Humanists claim an ethical education, giving students objective information about different religions. Which perspective do students who will become RE teachers take in this discussion? Does their religiosity affect this perspective? All over Germany 1828 first-year students (with an average age of 21; 81% females; 72% Catholic and 28% Protestant) completed a relevant questionnaire. The respondents favour a RE which offers objective information. Most of them are pluralist thinkers in religious terms and show a moderate religious practice. The more relativist the students are thinking in religious terms, the more they tend to favour objective information. These findings challenge the churches’ perspective on RE, because even future RE teachers do not agree with the churches’ ideal on RE. A reformulation of this approach on cognitive level will be discussed.     

Family Contexts: Parental Experiences of Discrimination and Child Mental Health

Research on the mental health correlates of discrimination traditionally has been intra-individual, focusing exclusively on the individual directly experiencing discrimination. A small number of studies have begun to consider the links between parental experiences of discrimination and child mental health, but little is known about potential underlying mechanisms. The present study tested the independent mediating effects of parent mental health and household socioeconomic status on the associations between parental experiences of discrimination (past-year perceived discrimination and perceptions of being unaccepted culturally) and child mental health (internalizing and externalizing symptoms) using a bootstrapping analytic approach. Data were drawn from racial/ethnic minority (n = 383) and White (n = 574) samples surveyed in an urban Midwestern county. For all measures of discrimination and child mental health, findings supported an association between parental experiences of discrimination and child mental health. Whereas parent mental health served as a significant mediator in all analyses, socioeconomic status did not. Mediation findings held for both the White and racial/ethnic minority samples. Results suggest that parental experiences of discrimination and mental health may contribute to child mental health concerns, thus highlighting the role of family contexts in shaping child development.     

Racial/Ethnic Identity and Subjective Physical and Mental Health of Latino Americans: An Asset Within?

Social Identity Theory indicates that ethnic identity could benefit minority members in a society because of its promotion of a sense of belonging, or of its buffering of the damage of discrimination. Despite growing investigation about Latinos’ overall health, few studies have simultaneously examined the influence of multiple cultural strength factors, especially racial/ethnic identity, social support, and religious attendance, on these outcomes. Using the National Latino and Asian American Study, we examine the potential predictive value of these cultural strength factors on Latinos’ Self-Rated Mental and Physical Health (SRMH and SRPH). Two separate two-step regression models revealed significant positive effects of racial/ethnic identity on both mental and physical health of Latinos, above and beyond the effect of known demographic and acculturation factors, such as discrimination. Religious attendance had a positive effect on SRMH but not on SRPH. The deteriorating roles of discrimination, in mental health only, and that of Length in the US in both outcomes, however, was primarily not altered by entry of these cultural strength factors. The independent direct effect of racial/ethnic identity among Latinos nationwide may suggest that this cultural strength is an internalized protective asset. Longitudinal data is needed to explore its underlying mechanism and long-term impact.     

Dimensions of Social Dominance Orientation: The Roles of Legitimizing Myths and National Identification

Using a representative sample of Dutch natives, the current study examined the distinction between two dimensions of social dominance orientation [SDO‐Dominance (SDO‐D) and SDO‐Egalitarianism (SDO‐E)] and their relation with prejudice towards immigrant groups. Results showed that an empirical distinction between the two dimensions could be made. Furthermore, the relation between SDO and prejudice was fully mediated by hierarchy‐enhancing (ethnic citizenship, assimilation) and hierarchy‐attenuating myths (civic citizenship, multiculturalism), but in different ways for both SDO dimensions. Moreover, there were distinct paths between the SDO dimensions and ethnic prejudice for higher and lower identifiers. For higher identifiers, the relation between SDO‐D and prejudice was fully mediated by the endorsement of hierarchy‐enhancing myths. For lower identifiers, there was an association between SDO‐E and prejudice that was predominantly mediated by the endorsement of hierarchy‐attenuating myths. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology     

A closer look at the discrimination outcomes in the IAT literature

To what extent the IAT (Implicit Association Test, Greenwald et al., 1998) predicts racial and ethnic discrimination is a heavily debated issue. The latest meta‐analysis by Oswald et al. (2013) suggests a very weak association. In the present meta‐analysis, we switched the focus from the predictor to the criterion, by taking a closer look at the discrimination outcomes. We discovered that many of these outcomes were not actually operationalizations of discrimination, but rather of other related, but distinct, concepts, such as brain activity and voting preferences. When we meta‐analyzed the main effects of discrimination among the remaining discrimination outcomes, the overall effect was close to zero and highly inconsistent across studies. Taken together, it is doubtful whether the amalgamation of these outcomes is relevant criteria for assessing the IAT's predictive validity of discrimination. Accordingly, there is also little evidence that the IAT can meaningfully predict discrimination, and we thus strongly caution against any practical applications of the IAT that rest on this assumption. However, provided that the application is thoroughly informed by the current state of the literature, we believe the IAT can still be a useful tool for researchers, educators, managers, and students who are interested in attitudes, prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination.     

Disordered Eating and Body Dissatisfaction in Transgender and Gender-Expansive Adults: An Evaluation and Integration of the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience and Tripartite Influence Models

Transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) people, including transgender and nonbinary individuals, experience elevated rates of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating compared to cisgender individuals, but little is known about why. To address this research gap, we compared the ability of TGE-specific factors as proposed in the gender minority stress and resilience (GMSR) model, general psychological factors contained in the tripartite influence (TI) model, and an integration of these frameworks to explain body dissatisfaction and disordered eating among TGE individuals. Regression analyses were conducted to test the models’ abilities to explain experiences reported in a survey of 93 U.S. TGE adults, including 43 transgender women respondents (46.2%) and 31 transgender men respondents (33.3%). Participants were diverse with regard to age (M = 34.19, SD = 12.02) and ethnoracial background (e.g., 29.0% Hispanic/Latinx, 17.2% Black/African American, 6.5% American Indian/Alaska Native; 5.4% multiracial). Results demonstrated both models’ abilities to explain body dissatisfaction and disordered eating independently, except for the relationship between body dissatisfaction and the thinness-oriented TI model. An integration of the models better explained body dissatisfaction and disordered eating compared to either model alone. Notably, some findings did not align with the two frameworks, suggesting existing models may not adequately describe pathways through which disordered eating emerges in TGE populations. Specifically, body dissatisfaction showed no significant relationship with disordered eating and was not well explained by the TI model, and higher gender identity pride was related to greater disordered eating symptoms. Implications for clinical care and future research are discussed.     

小学教师职业倦怠维度发展顺序探究——来自结构方程模型和交叉滞后网络分析模型的证据

教师职业倦怠的情感衰竭、去人性化和个人成就感降低3个维度相对独立但也存在相互影响, 对其发展关系进行研究, 有助于深入理解职业倦怠的发展过程, 尽早识别倦怠症状。本研究对3837名小学教师进行追踪测试, 测试间隔为3年, 采用结构方程模型和交叉滞后网络分析模型进行分析, 结果发现小学教师职业倦怠维度最优发展模型为“T1的情感衰竭和个人成就感降低分别预测T2的情感衰竭和个人成就感降低, T1的去人性化预测T2的去人性化和个人成就感降低”, 且最优发展模型具有性别间的一致性和教龄段之间的一致性。这一结果支持并强调了去人性化在小学教师职业倦怠发展中的重要作用, 对识别教师职业倦怠早期症状并采取相应措施有效阻断教师职业倦怠的进一步发展具有一定的理论和现实意义。