Identity,Couple and Intergroup Dynamics in Intercultural Families: Implications on Life Satisfaction of Partners

The current study analyzed how identity, couple, and intergroup dynamics are related to life satisfaction among 210 intercultural partners living in Italy. Three levels of analysis were considered: a micro level, taking into account the identity aspect of each partner in terms of self- or hetero-ethnic identification; a meso level, examining the passion, commitment, and intimacy of the couple sphere of the partners; a macro level investigating the discrimination that partners can perceive by the community as an effect of the relationship between dominant and minority groups. The results show that for both partners, foreign and Italian, the variables that have a predictive value on life satisfaction bring into play the couple and the intergroup dynamics, leaving out the identitary one. Specifically, increased perceived discrimination as a member of a mixed couple leads to decreased life satisfaction by partners. In turn, we can see that a strong intimacy between partners enhances their life satisfaction. These results introduce a reflection on the role of the differences about the ethnic identity, considered erroneously the main cause of dissatisfaction in the mixed couple. The implications of the study are described and suggestions for future research discussed.     

Factor analysis of the heterosexist harassment,rejection, and discrimination scale in lesbian,gay, bisexual,transgender, and queer people of colour

The factor structure of the Heterosexist Harassment, Rejection, and Discrimination Scale (HHRDS) was examined in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people of colour. Two hundred participants completed a survey with the HHRDS and several mental health scales. A confirmatory factor analysis suggested the original HHRDS structure fit the data poorly. Exploratory factor analyses found a different 2-factor structure, consisting of harassment/rejection and family discrimination. Convergent validity analyses demonstrated that family discrimination had the largest association with depression and anxiety, indicating that family discrimination may be particularly salient among LGBTQ people of colour. This study supports the use of the HHRDS in racially/ethnically diverse samples, but with a slightly different factor structure. Examining discriminatory experiences from family members is an important direction for future research in LGBTQ people of colour.     

Racialized Sexual Discrimination (RSD) in the Age of Online Sexual Networking: Are Young Black Gay/Bisexual Men (YBGBM) at Elevated Risk for Adverse Psychological Health?

Young Black gay/bisexual men (YBGBM) are a highly marginalized population across multiple health outcomes. Most research on YBGBM health has focused on HIV/sexual health, but there is a demonstrable need for research examining racism and psychosocial functioning among this population. Racialized Sexual Discrimination (RSD), also known as sexual racism, is an important but under-investigated phenomenon that may have implications for the psychological health and well-being of YBGBM. This paper provides an overview of empirical research on RSD as experienced by gay/bisexual men of color in online partner-seeking venues. First, the researchers discuss how racialized experiences are a documented online phenomenon, with a variety of manifestations, and identify the potential effects that this phenomenon may have on the psychosocial health of YBGBM, and gay/bisexual men of color as a whole. Second, the researchers synthesize the RSD literature with a broader literature examining psychological well-being across race and sexual orientation. Third, the researchers present a theoretically grounded conceptual model detailing the pathways between RSD and psychological well-being using a stress and coping framework. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research on this topic, including scale development and hypothesis testing.     

Visual discrimination of normal and drug induced behavior in quails (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Coturnix coturnix japonica</Emphasis>)

The ability to discriminate the physical states of others could be an adaptive behavior, especially for social animals. For example, the ability to discriminate illness behavior would be helpful for avoiding spoiled foods. We report on an experiment with Japanese quails testing whether these birds can discriminate the physical states of conspecifics. The quails were trained to discriminate between moving video images of quails injected with psychoactive drugs and those in a normal (not injected) condition. Methamphetamine (stimulant) or ketamine (anesthetic) were used to produce drug-induced behaviors in conspecifics. The former induced hyperactive behavior and the latter hypoactive behavior. The subject quails could learn the discrimination and showed generalization to novel images of the drug-induced behaviors. They did not, however, show discriminative behavior according to the type and dosage of the drugs. Thus, they categorized the behavior not on the basis of degree of activity, but on the basis of abnormality.     

Generalization gradients in human predictive learning: Effects of discrimination training and within-subjects testing

Generalization gradients have been investigated widely in animal conditioning experiments, but much less so in human predictive learning tasks. Here, we apply the experimental design of a recent study on conditioned fear generalization in humans (Lissek et al., 2008) to a predictive learning task, and examine the effects of a number of relevant procedural parameters drawn from the generalization literature in animal conditioning. Experiment 1 shows that prior discrimination learning and steady-state testing procedures sharpen the gradient; Experiment 2 shows that within-subjects testing of the range of generalization stimuli also sharpens the gradient. In addition, Experiment 2 shows that, in case of very flat initial generalization, an orderly gradient can reveal itself through differential rates of extinction learning. Finally, Experiment 2 also evidenced an orderly gradient of generalization-of-extinction. These results suggest that discrimination processes have an important effect on the generalization of predictive learning in humans, and highlight behavioral analogies between animal conditioning and human predictive learning.     

Increasing perceived variability reduces prejudice and discrimination

We examined whether increasing individuals' perceived variability of an out-group reduces prejudice and discrimination toward its members. In a series of 4 laboratory and field experiments, we attracted participants' attention to either the homogeneity or the heterogeneity of members of an out-group, and then measured their attitudes or behaviors. Perceived variability was manipulated by making subgroups salient, by portraying the out-group members as having diverse opinions, by making salient that out-group members have different characteristics, or by asking participants to think about differences among out-group members. Prejudice and discrimination were measured in terms of self-reported attitudes, distribution of rewards, helping an out-group confederate, and evaluation of an out-group candidate in a simulated hiring decision. In all experiments, perceived variability decreased prejudice and discrimination. This effect may be due to the fact that perceived variability decreases the role of group membership in the production of attitudes and behaviors toward other individuals.     

A Structural Model of Racial Discrimination, Acculturative Stress, and Cultural Resources Among Arab American Adolescents

Despite evidence towards the risk for discrimination and acculturative stress that Arab American adolescents may face, the link between socio-cultural adversities and psychological well-being in this population has not been established. This study examined the role of socio-cultural adversities (discrimination and acculturative stress) and cultural resources (ethnic identity, religious support and religious coping) in terms of their direct impact on psychological distress. Using structural equation modeling, the proposed model was tested with 240 Arab American adolescents. The results indicated a strong positive relationship between socio-cultural adversities and psychological distress. Furthermore, this study supported a promotive model of cultural resources, where a negative association between cultural resources and psychological distress was found. Understanding the manner in which socio-cultural adversities and resources are linked to psychological distress can inform the development of culturally appropriate interventions that can effectively mitigate mental health concerns for understudied and vulnerable populations.     

A processing fluency explanation of bias against migrants

This research investigated whether people are biased against migrants partly because they find migrants more difficult to cognitively process than nonmigrants. In Study 1, 181 undergraduate students evaluated migrant and nonmigrant members of two minimal groups and reported the difficulty that they experienced in thinking about each type of target. Participants rated migrants less positively than nonmigrants, and difficulty ratings partially mediated this effect. Study 2 (N = 191) replicated these findings and demonstrated similar findings for individuals who had been excluded from minimal groups. This evidence implies that migrant bias can be explained partly in terms of the difficulty that people have in processing information about migrants, and that it is related to migrants’ exclusion from their original group.     

Ambivalence,prejudice and negative behavioural tendencies towards out-groups: The moderating role of attitude basis

Two experiments explored the relations between prejudice (suppression), (cognitive) ambivalence and negative behavioural tendencies towards out-groups. The current work argues that expressing out-group ambivalence based on cognitive, but not affective, information is a strategy to justify one's otherwise suppressed prejudice, which may ultimately “cover” the discriminatory nature of out-group-directed negative behavioural tendencies. Two experiments show that (1) participants evaluating the out-group in a normative context inducing prejudice suppression are more likely to self-report ambivalent beliefs rather than ambivalent emotions concerning the out-group as compared with participants whose prejudice expression is induced and (2) high-prejudice participants compared with low-prejudice participants are more prone to out-group-directed negative behavioural tendencies when these latter are self-reported after the expression of ambivalent beliefs but not ambivalent emotions concerning the out-group, and when the expression of their prejudicial evaluations is salient but not when it is not. In light of the extent to which ambivalent attitudes towards out-groups are often seamlessly integrated into public discourse, the implications of the findings are discussed not only for intergroup research but also at the societal level.