The current study used a sample of 75 African-American adolescents to examine the role of peers as agents of ethnic socialization. Results indicated that peer ethnic socialization messages were prevalent among African-American youth, and that adolescents reported more messages related to cultural mistrust and fewer messages related to cultural pride from peers than from parents. Additionally, adolescents reported their peers used indirect as opposed to direct methods of socialization more frequently. Results indicated that higher age and peer orientation predicted higher peer ethnic socialization. Additionally, higher peer ethnic socialization predicted lower self-esteem, lower depression, higher academic achievement, and higher ethnic identity. The findings of this study suggest that adolescent peers play an important role in the socialization of ethnicity. / Psychology

The current study aimed to explore the direct effect of insecure adult attachment on subjective wellbeing and its indirect effect via racial-ethnic identity. Additionally, the present study examined the extent to which racial-ethnic socialization practices may moderate adult attachment and racial-ethnic identity link. The final sample included 213 emerging adults (M = 20.94; SD = 2.96) with diverse racial-ethnic backgrounds. PROCESS Model 4 and 1 were used to examine the direct and indirect effect of insecure attachment on subjective wellbeing via racial-ethnic identity variables and the interaction effect between insecure attachment and racial-ethnic socialization on racial-ethnic identity variables. Results indicated the direct effect of insecure attachment on subjective wellbeing but did not support hypotheses for the indirect effect of insecure attachment on subjective wellbeing via the racial-ethnic identity variables. Additionally, results indicated that overt socialization buffered the negative impact of attachment avoidance on racial-ethnic identity exploration. Furthermore, racial-ethnic identity variables and subjective wellbeing significantly differed across racial-ethnic groups and socioeconomic statuses. Findings provide insight on the distinct concepts of attachment and racial-ethnic identity as they highlight inter- and intra-personal components, respectively. Mental health professionals may utilize overt socialization to help clients develop a sense of purpose and meaning related to their identity. Limitations, future research directions, and counseling implications are discussed.

This study uses autobiographical reflection to investigate the negative impact of essentialist masculine gender socialization on men's lives. In particular, I use personal recollective accounts both from my early childhood socialization-in the traditional Greek-Cypriot culture of the 1970s and 80s-and from my own introspections and analytical conceptualizations concerning intimate relationships in general. I analyze these accounts by using a feminist postmodern ideology of gender deconstruction and reconstruction. Men oftentimes fall victims of patriarchal masculine scripting by suppressing their needs for intimacy, connectedness, and self-disclosure, qualities traditionally devalued as feminine traits. Suppressing such needs exacerbates inadequacies in male intimacy with possible manifestations in the form of generalized non-clinical male sexual anxiety. Implications are also discussed in terms of the by-products of male sexual anxiety, such as non-clinical sexual addiction and male victimization. / Ph. D.

The following research integrated the Theory of Planned Behavior with variables from the consumer socialization and parenting literatures to explore parental impact on adolescent food decision-making. Three specific types of parenting practices (expectation, monitoring, and inducement/enforcement behaviors), parenting style, and family communication style were investigated. A multi-method approach was taken to develop and test the integrated model. Study 1 used interviews to identify food-related parental expectation, monitoring, and inducement/enforcement behaviors reported by both normal and overweight parents and adolescents. Study 2 evaluated a structural model of adolescent food choice, including predictors from the Theory of Planned Behavior, the food-related parenting practices identified in the interviews, parenting style, and family communication style. The findings suggest that specific parenting practices have an impact on adolescent food choices beyond predictors from the TPB. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this research was to examine the socialization experiences of new family and consumer sciences teacher educators, including their interpretations of career preparation, their first job, socialization during the first year, continuing socialization and career development, and respondents' recommendations for improving the socialization process. Organizational socialization provided the theory base. Telephone and personal interviews were conducted with ten female family and consumer sciences teacher educators who held positions in comprehensive and research institutions across the country. The constant comparison method was used for analysis of the data. Results of the study revealed that graduate school professors provided the role modeling participants believed was crucial in preparing them for their future career. Participants who had challenging and relevant coursework and opportunities for a variety of professional experiences during graduate school felt they were well prepared for their faculty roles. However participants for whom this was not the case felt their transition to a faculty role was much more of an overwhelming and unhappy experience. New faculty orientation sessions and career development facilitated success at the university level, while department chairs and faculty peers provided support at the department level. Inhibitors of respondents' success included feelings of being overwhelmed with their workload, inability to balance professional and personal lives, and department pressure to conduct research and publish articles. Overall, participants indicated that lack of time was the primary inhibitor of their success. In spite of the overwhelming feelings of confusion, frustration, stress, and unhappiness during their first year in their new role, respondents reported that their second year was more positive. Implications for improved practice include examining graduate program coursework to ensure relevance and application and including opportunities for increased responsibility in professional experiences related to teaching, research, and professional service. Departments with new faculty should provide opportunities for new faculty to meet both formally and informally with the department chair to discuss policies related to promotion and tenure. Further research could be done to examine the socialization experiences of new faculty in other areas of family and consumer sciences and vocational education to determine similarities or differences. / Ph. D.

This study assesses whether parents' educational background positively affects the retention and graduation of African-American students who attend Predominately White Institutions (PWI). Studies that have compared successful African-American students to unsuccessful African-American college students at PWI (Allen, 1985) have suggested that an important factor in understanding these differences in outcome is parents' educational background. College-educated parents may have clearer expectations for their children's college experience and may have instilled different cultural or socialization messages in their children. Those messages could include Historical/Cultural, Black Identity/Self-Concept, Maladaptive, and Residual messages. These children may enter college with clearer ideas of college norms and expectations, and may have fewer adjustment and transition problems than first generation black peers (Pounds, 1987). The population of this study will consist of African-American respondents in the National Survey of Black Americans. / Master of Science

Parent emotion socialization (ES), the process through which caregivers influence the development and expression of emotions in their children, needs to be interpreted within a socio- cultural context. Given that current research has primarily been conducted in Western cultures, it is critical to examine parent ES among families from Eastern cultural backgrounds. The current study aimed to acquire empirical knowledge on ES goals, beliefs, and practices during early childhood (i.e., with toddlers and preschoolers) using parent-report and observational measures among urban Indian parents and White parents in the United States (US). Data was derived from two samples. Study 1 includes 77 parent-toddler dyads in the US (New York; n = 39) and India (Chennai, n = 38); study 2 includes 217 parents of preschoolers residing in India (native Indian parents, n = 98) and the US (White parents, n = 119). As hypothesized, Indian parents of toddlers and preschoolers endorsed more balanced (i.e. with collectivistic and individualistic components) socialization goals, had differing beliefs on the value and function of emotions, and exhibited some ES practices (i.e., minimization reactions and expressive encouragement) that differed in utility and functionality, compared to White families in the US. Results highlight the need for considering the specific settings in which emotions are expressed when examining ES in Indian contexts, and the importance of considering cultural diversity in examining parent ES beliefs and practices and their impact on child outcomes. The current study contributes to the emerging body of literature on ES during early childhood among urban Indian populations. Findings will facilitate more effective early intervention supporting young children's development in an Indian cultural context, setting them up for success in social, emotional, and academic domains. / Doctor of Philosophy / Parent emotion socialization (ES), the process through which caregivers influence the development and expression of emotions in their children, needs to be interpreted within a socio- cultural context. Current research on this topic has been primarily conducted in Western cultures and as such, it is critical to examine parent ES among families from Eastern cultural backgrounds. The current study explores ES-related goals, beliefs, and practices during early childhood among urban Indian parents and White parents in the United States (US). Overall, Indian parents endorsed more balanced socialization goals (goals that aim to inculcate independence and autonomy along with maintaining interpersonal harmony). Indian parents also had differing beliefs on the value and function of emotions and exhibited some parenting practices (i.e., minimizing the child's emotional response and validating the expression of emotions) that differed in how they affected children's emotional and social outcomes, compared to White families in the US. The current study contributes to the emerging body of literature on ES during early childhood among urban Indian populations. Findings will facilitate more effective early intervention supporting young children's development in an Indian cultural context, setting them up for success in social, emotional, and academic domains.

Parents teach their children about emotions through a process called emotion socialization and one way that they can do so is through shared discussions about emotions. Research in developmental psychology indicates that parental emotion socialization strategies through discourse such as elaboration and labels and explanations are related to children's emotion understanding and social competence. In the current study, I apply the concept of indirect communication, which has been used in linguistics since the 1970s, to parental emotion socialization with preschool-age children (n= 55; 31 females, 24 males). I define indirect communication as parental speech in which the form and function of a subject-verb phrase do not match and examined relations of parental indirect communication to the previously established strategies in developmental psychology of elaboration and use of labels and explanations. To understand whether this type of communication may influence children's development, I also examined relations of indirect communication to preschoolers' emotion understanding and social competence. Results indicate that parental indirect communication during positive events was related to parental explanations during negative events. Parental indirect communication did not significantly predict children's emotion understanding or social competence, but showed a trend for the association between indirect communication during negative event discussions and children's nonstereotypical emotion understanding. However, the direction for this association was opposite than hypothesized. These results do not suggest consistency of indirect communication across positive and negative event discussions as an emotion socialization strategy. / Master of Science

This investigation examined the role that racial concordance, defined as the percentage of African Americans in one's environment, play in the relation between racial socialization and racial identity. African American (n=-160) students evaluated their perception of parental socialization, racial concordance, and racial identity. As hypothesized, racial socialization significantly predicted racial identity. As well, racially concordant environments moderated the relation between racial socialization and racial identity. Minority and cultural socialization were the best predictors of racial identity. Conclusions emphasize the importance of proactive racial socialization and supportive environments. Future research and mental health implications are also examined. / Ph. D.

With student attrition in engineering most frequently occurring during the 2nd year due to perceptions of poor teaching and advising, curricular overload, and a lack of a sense of belonging, this study sought to address these concerns in a novel way through videos. This study was inspired by the success of existing on-campus mentoring services that enlist more advanced students to act as academic and cultural mentors, and sought to connect with students who may feel unwelcome or socially inhibited from attending similar services. On-campus support services have historically experienced service-level concerns with regards to overhead costs that have resulted in targeting specific audiences over restricted durations of time. Through these measures, both lack of awareness and social inhibition to attendance has resulted in some students not receiving the support that they need in order to succeed in engineering. To address this concern, this study developed and tested a video-based intervention on 2nd year students identified as 'at-risk-for-attrition' through GPA and self-reported measures of belonging in engineering. The intervention involved 18 junior- and senior-level engineering students participating in videotaped interviews that were segmented by topic into 305 videos and posted to a private Vimeo channel. These videos acted as static virtual mentors for the study participants. To evaluate the impact of these videos, an exploratory case study was conducted with 13 'at-risk-for-attrition' participants that included 7 women and 6 men. The participants completed a pre-intervention interview concerning their current status in engineering, a reflection of their first year, and perceptions of on-campus support services. Participants were then asked to watch one hour of videos, keep a notebook of their experience, and record the date and time that each video was watched. Once completed, participants participated in a post-intervention interview concerning their video choices, reactions, and outcomes of the experience, and any affordances that they saw in the intervention tool. Drawing on expectancy-value theory, the results of this study yielded a model for how participants made their video selections, how they reacted to virtual mentors and interpreted their video content, and how these reactions led to collective identity beliefs and intentions to act on the advice provided. Additionally, participants highlighted some of the affordances of offering mentoring through static videos. Of particular importance was the perception of shared identity between participants and mentors as a precursor to impacting future intentions to act on their advice. The findings led to recommendations regarding the redefinition of desired mentor traits for at-risk-for-attrition students was discovered, and also, the potential for offering virtual mentoring as a proxy or precursor to attending on-campus services without the program- and student-level concerns hindering current offerings. / Ph. D.