The primary aims of this study are two-fold: (a) to understand what role the racial identity of African American graduate students plays in how they perceive the multicultural competence of their faculty mentor; (b) to understand how both the racial identity of African American graduate students and their perception of their faculty mentors’ multicultural competence play in their overall satisfaction in the mentoring relationship. African American participants who are in cross-racial faculty mentoring relationships—will be recruited from programs in rehabilitation counseling, counseling psychology, clinical psychology, and counselor education. The instruments for the study will include the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS), the Alliant Intercultural Competence Scale (ACIS), and the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS). It is hoped that this study will begin to address current gaps in the literature concerning what constitutes a culturally competent mentor and satisfaction from the protégé’s perspective.

The current study examined marital satisfaction and determined if racial identity or level of religiosity had an impact overall on marital satisfaction among married African American couples. The following instruments were used to measure marital satisfaction, racial identity, level of religiosity, and social desirability: the Marital Satisfaction Inventory- Revised (Snyder, 1997), Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, & Smith, 1998), Religious Life Inventory (Batson, Schoenrade & Ventis, 1993), and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (Reynolds, 1982). The majority of the 140 participants consisted of married couples recruited from three major Christian churches in Philadelphia, a local insurance company, and from multiple community based organizations. Results indicate that no single factor alone is predictive of marital satisfaction but a combination of factors produced a moderately significant multiple correlation. Significant relationships were found among marital satisfaction and the following factors: number of children, multiple subscales on the MIBI, and the external subscale on the Religious Life Inventory. Couples who had more children reported higher levels of marital satisfaction. Results also showed a significant relationship between marital satisfaction in couples who had similar views on racial identity when subscales were used as the sole measure of marital satisfaction and racial identity. Finally, there was a significant relationship between couples who report higher levels of marital satisfaction and also use religion as a means to satisfy their own needs through socialization, etc. / Counseling Psychology

Thesis advisor: Janet E Helms / Asian-born racially and culturally dominant group members (ABDs) enjoy greater social, political, and economic power and privileges in their Asian home countries, but their migration to a White dominant society in the US changes their social status as presumed members of Asian American racial and ethnic groups. However, it is not known how ABDs’ disparate psychological experiences of social dominance across two cultural contexts affect their racial and acculturation-related experiences in the US. Thus, the current study investigated the interactions among social dominance orientation, experiences with anti-Asian racism, racial identity schemas, and acculturation strategies of ABDs. Asian-born individuals, self-identified majorities in their Asian home countries (N =192), completed a demographic questionnaire and measures that assessed their levels of social dominance orientation (SDO), racism distress levels, racial identity schemas, and acculturation strategies. Multivariate multiple regression analyses and simple linear moderation analyses were used to investigate relationships among SDO and racism distress and racial identity schemas and acculturation strategies. The findings showed that ABDs’ levels of SDO and racism distress were related to ABDs’ racial identity schemas. ABDs’ levels of SDO were positively related to their use of the Assimilation strategy in the US, but not to other types of acculturation strategies. Moreover, racism distress levels did not moderate the relationships between ABDs’ levels of SDO and their racial identity schemas, or between SDO and acculturation strategies. ABDs’ racial identity schemas and acculturation strategies were related and SDO moderated the relationships between racial identity and acculturation. In this exploratory study to examine Asian acculturation strategies and racial identity, the obtained results suggest that ABDs’ preferences for social hierarchy have implications for their racial and acculturation processes in the US. Limitations and implications of the results for research and clinical practice are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression are consequential to Black women's mental health. The current research examines the psychological impact of gendered racism, which is oppression on the basis of both gender and race, and the extent to which gendered racial identity may buffer the association between gendered racism and psychological distress (i.e., anxiety and depressive symptoms) among U.S. Black women. The study includes a sample of 150 Black women (at least 18 years of age or older, mean age = 39.11) recruited using Qualtrics panel service. Women were administered measures of gendered racism, gendered racial identity, and mental health (i.e., anxiety and depression). Data was analyzed through a series of bivariate correlations and moderation analyses using PROCESS macro. Results revealed that gendered racial identity did not moderate the association between gendered racism and mental health. This study advances our understanding of the oppression Black women contend with on the basis of their race and gender and offers insight about the factors that may mitigate the psychological impact of this phenomenon on Black women.

Thesis advisor: Andrew Miller / Many White educators are not aware of their White privilege, and therefore they need support in developing their White racial identity and racial awareness so that they can identify problems associated with racism and participate in conversations about race and racism with an eye towards dismantling systemic racism. Data was collected from semi-structured interviews with educational leaders, document review, and focus groups with educators in order to discover how, if at all, school leaders support their White teachers in developing an anti-racist White racial identity. Finding suggested that despite professional development initiatives dedicated to racial identity development, there was a noted lack of formal opportunities designed specifically for White racial identity development and instead the schools relied on pockets of informal White racial identity development among White colleagues. The data revealed some insights as to why racial identity work specific to White people is not happening: (a) White educators think they already know this information, (b) White educators have a desire to focus on teaching content, (c) White educators shield themselves, and (d) White educators believe that the timing is not ideal for anti-racist work. One recommendation to support White staff in the development of their White racial identity could be for educational leaders in districts like this to introduce the staff to the scholarship about Whiteness, so White educators can use this new information about Whiteness to promote personal reflective practices about what it means to be White and progress to conversations with colleagues about what it means to be White and how their Whiteness impacts their daily lives and the daily lives of their students and colleagues. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Thesis advisor: Janet E. Helms / Due to the intersection of their race and gender categories, with one (race) being marginalized and the other (gender) being privileged, men of color have unique experiences of gendered racism, defined as the ways in which racist incidents are focused specifically on their race-gender categorization. Research has shown that gendered racist experiences are related to worse mental health outcomes in men of color. However, it is not known how men of color’s understanding of themselves, as both people of color and men, interacts with the relationships between their gendered racist experiences and mental health. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore men of color’s racial and maleness identities in relation to their mental health and gendered racist experiences.Adult men of color (N = 195) were invited to complete measures that assessed gendered racist experiences (Everyday Discrimination Scale), racial identity (People of color Racial Identity Attitudes Scale), maleness identity (Maleness Identity Attitudes Scale), and psychological distress and wellbeing as mental health outcomes (Mental Health Inventory). Multivariate regression analyses revealed that more experiences of gendered racism were related to higher levels of psychological distress, but were not related to psychological wellbeing. Simple linear moderation analyses indicated that racial identity moderated the relationship between gendered racist experiences and psychological distress, while maleness identity moderated the relationship between gendered racist experiences and psychological wellbeing, in some instances. Moderated moderation analyses indicated that the interaction between racial and maleness identities did not moderate the relationship between experiences with gendered racism and mental health in most instances. Collectively, the results indicate that the ways in which men of color make sense of themselves as people of color and men, independently, have implications for how gendered racist experiences relate to their mental health. However, results did not paint a clear picture of how men of color’s conceptualizations of themselves as both people of color and men relates to their experiences of gendered racism and mental health. Limitations, including the availability of measures for assessing men of color’s identities holistically rather than independently, are addressed. Implications of the results for intersectionality theory and research, practice, and lay men are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

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