The present study examined how cultural values impacted the job satisfaction of 75 Caucasian-American and 80 African-American students currently working while attending college. Past research examining racial differences between Caucasian-Americans and African- Americans show the latter tend to measure significantly lower on reported measures of job satisfaction. The dispositional perspective argues that one explanation for this occurrence is that each group (because of their distinct cultural background) enters the workplace with specific needs and values. Because of this, the work experience will vary for each group. To date, the cause of the distinctive needs of each group has been attributed to race. Recently, researchers have begun to examine the possibility of such racial differences being partially due to cultural differences that exist between these two groups. The present study examines the impact of cultural values on worker satisfaction to help explain observed racial differences in job between Caucasians and African-Americans. Using communalism and spirituality as cultural variables, hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine whether culture would significantly impact job satisfaction above and beyond race. Culture was not found to significantly impact satisfaction beyond race (which showed no significant impact). Control variables in this regression accounted for over 21% of variance in job satisfaction. When testing at the dimension level, culture was found to significantly impact supervisor and co-worker satisfaction beyond race and controls. Implications for using more complete approach to studying racial differences in work values are discussed. / M.S. / The present study examined how cultural values impacted the job satisfaction of Caucasian- American and African-American college students. Past research examining racial differences between Caucasian-Americans and African-Americans show the latter tend to measure lower on reported measures of job satisfaction. One explanation for this occurrence is that each group enters the workplace with a specific set of needs and values different from one another. Because of this, the work experience differs for each group. Past studies have attributed the distinctive needs of each group to race but recently researchers have begun exploring the possibility of such differences being partially due to the cultural differences (rather than racial differences) existing between these two groups. For this reason, the present study examines the impact of cultural values on worker satisfaction in helping to explain observed racial differences in mean job satisfaction scores between Caucasian and African-Americans. Using communalism and spirituality as cultural variables, the current study looked at how these variables were able to account for racial differences in job satisfaction after accounting for race. Culture was not found to significantly impact satisfaction beyond race (which showed no significant impact). Instead, it was the characteristics of the job (including a person’s supervisor and the work itself) and a person’s general mood (either positive or negative) that accounted for the majority of the racial differences in job satisfaction. When looking at specific aspects of the job, culture was found to significantly impact supervisor and co-worker satisfaction beyond race, job characteristics, and general mood. These findings help to broaden our understanding of the relation between culture and race and their impact on what employees will value and experience on the job.

This study analyzed racial differences in the way African Americans and Caucasians perceive emotion from facial expressions and tone of voice. Participants were African American (n=25) and Caucasian (n=26) college students. The study utilizes 56 images of African American and Caucasian faces balanced for race and sex from the NimStim stimulus set (Tottenham, 2006). The study also utilized visual and auditory stimuli form the DANVA2. Participants were asked to judged emotion for each stimulus in the tasks. The BFRT, the WASI, and the Seashore Rhythm test were used as exclusionary criteria. In general the study found few differences in the way African Americans and Caucasians perceived emotion, though racial differences emerged as an interaction with other factors. The results of the study supported the theory of universality of emotion perception and expression though social influences, which may affect emotion perception, is also a possibility. Areas of future research were discussed.

This study explores how racial differences may influence achievement and persistence in physics by using data provided by the Persistence Research in Science and Engineering (PRiSE) project, which surveyed college students throughout the United States about their backgrounds, high school science experiences, and science attitudes. This study draws upon previous studies to first determine the factors that predict achievement and persistence in physics by using hierarchal linear multiple regression analysis. Once statistically significant factors of persistence and achievement were determined, the study determines whether those variables are significantly different among students of determine races. The study found that race was ultimately not a good predictor of both achievement and persistence in physics; however, this does not necessarily mean that race was an insignificant component. Due to the nature of hierarchal regression analysis, the component of race may have been accounted for in other predictors. However, the analyzed predictors for could not fully account for the variance in either achievement or persistence. This may be due to the limited scope of the PRiSE survey, which did not include socioeconomic factors. The study concludes with a proposal for future research.

The purpose of this study was to explore the correlation between self-perceived information seeking skills and self-esteem in adolescents and, further, to determine whether this correlation varied according to race and gender. Tenth-grade students from three public high schools in a Midwestern city were given two instruments. Self-perceived information seeking skills were measured using a modified version of the Information Skills Checklist from High Plains Regional Technology in Education Consortium's Profiler website. Self-esteem was measured by the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, which is designed for students 12 years of age and over. The scale has six separate measures of self-esteem: physical, moral-ethical self, personal self, family self, social self and academic self. These six measures are used to determine overall level of self-esteem. The results showed a statistically significant correlation between self-perceived information seeking skills and at least one facet of self-esteem for all groups measured, with one exception. African American males were the only adolescents to show no correlation between scores from these two instruments. It is hoped that this research will ultimately be used to develop policies regarding the development of information seeking skills in disenfranchised groups.

Variables such as stigma, weak ethnic identity, and cultural mistrust have been linked to the underutilization of therapy amongst ethnic minority populations. As such, ethnic minority populations may reach a higher threshold of distress-including areas such as anxiety and depression-before seeking professional help. While there is substantial research documenting ethnic differences among various ethnic minority populations (e.g., African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics) very little research has been conducted exploring differences among individuals from Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) backgrounds. For the current study, we explored differences in distress upon intake as well as the change in anxiety and depression scores over the course of 12 therapy sessions for NHPI college students compared to college students from other ethnic groups. We also explored the effect that spirituality and religiosity had on depression and anxiety among NHPI college students. We collected data from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH), a practice research network that has aggregated data from hundreds of university counseling centers across the United States, from the years 2012-2015. Our total sample was N = 256,242; of that sample, n = 452 identified as NHPI. We selected independent variables from the Standardized Data Set (i.e., ethnicity, age, gender, estimated socioeconomic status, importance of spirituality and religiosity) and dependent variables from the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms-62 and -34 (i.e., depression, social anxiety, generalized anxiety). We analyzed data using latent growth modeling and computed a conceptual effect size by comparing the change in standard deviation between treatment effects. Results yielded significant differences (p < .05) between both intercept and slope estimates for NHPIs compared to African Americans, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Whites. Notably, NHPI depression scores improved at the highest rate over time compared to other ethnic groups, while anxiety scores among NHPIs improved at the lowest rate. The effect of spirituality and religiosity on anxiety and depression was statistically insignificant. The results of this study indicated that NHPI college students experience psychotherapy outcomes differently than other ethnic groups, including Asian Americans, with moderate-to-large magnitudes of effect. Considering substantial meta-analytical research supporting the benefits of culturally adapted treatment, results of this study suggest the need to disaggregate the combined demographic Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), as research conducted on this broader group provides questionable validity when applied to clinical settings for NHPIs.

This qualitative study investigated the experiences of eight non-Muslim Caucasian Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists working with South Asian and Middle Eastern Muslim clients. Semi-structured interviews were used to examine the challenges and strengths that resulted from ethnic/racial and religious differences with clients of this population, and how the challenges and strengths were managed in therapy. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis and the themes that emerged were organized based on the areas of inquiry, which included: challenges that come from ethnic/racial and religious differences, strategies and recommendations to address ethnic/racial and religious differences and the challenges created by them, strengths that come from ethnic/racial and religious differences, and what therapists needed. Limitations, clinical implications, and directions for future research are discussed. / Master of Science

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Organizations in South Africa have been going through a great deal of change in recent years. However, little is known about the effects on employees. This study aimed to ascertain the psychological impact of change on the employees of a large public service organization, the South African Police Service. The findings were contrary to what was expected with the only significant difference between the samples being for anxiety in black managers. Circumstances outside the work situation were the strongest predictors for stress, anxiety and depression. However, factors in the work situation played a more significant role in predicting the variance in stress and anxiety in the second sample. The within group differences were the opposite of what was expected with black managers having higher stress and depression levels than their white counterparts in both samples and higher anxiety levels than both their white and coloured counterparts in the second sample. / Psychology / M.A. (Research Psychology)

There is a dearth of research focusing on fathering in families of color. The present study argues that ecological factors, especially SES and neighborhood quality, exert a strong influence on racial and ethnic differences in fathering role identity, which in turn affect fathering role performance. The primary goal of the present study is thus to investigate the impact of ecological factors on what it means to be a good father among African American (n = 308), Latino American (n = 598), Asian American (n = 580), and white fathers (n = 2813) by using a nationally representative sample from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), and to test identity theory by examining fathering identity as a primary determinant of fathering role performance. The core premise of identity theory is that society is the main source in shaping self (i.e., identity), and in turn, contributes to the way people behave (Stryker, 1968). The present study tested identity theory by examining the associations between domain-level psychological centralities and domain-specific fathering performances, and also to test whether effects of psychological centralities and contextual factors override those of race and ethnicity. Overall, the results from this study considerably buttressed identity theory. Consistent with the cultural-ecological model (Ogbu, 1981), which posits that ecological conditions shapes culture-specific socialization goals, racial and ethnic differences in the fathering psychological centrality were found because fathers in the same group historically share similar circumstances. However, the heterogeneity of the psychological centrality within each group was remarkable because their current conditions are vastly multifarious. Specifically, the lower their SES, the more likely that they believe that providing for their children is central to their identity as a father. In studying fathers of color, previous approaches often resulted in the unwitting spread of stereotypical images by contrasting minority fathers from at-risk population with middle-class white fathers, because such approaches failed to consider the effects of contextual factors on fathering and to include multiple forms of father involvement. The results from this study clearly show that racial and ethnic differences are subtle once contextual factors are taken into account. / text

Organizations in South Africa have been going through a great deal of change in recent years. However, little is known about the effects on employees. This study aimed to ascertain the psychological impact of change on the employees of a large public service organization, the South African Police Service. The findings were contrary to what was expected with the only significant difference between the samples being for anxiety in black managers. Circumstances outside the work situation were the strongest predictors for stress, anxiety and depression. However, factors in the work situation played a more significant role in predicting the variance in stress and anxiety in the second sample. The within group differences were the opposite of what was expected with black managers having higher stress and depression levels than their white counterparts in both samples and higher anxiety levels than both their white and coloured counterparts in the second sample. / Psychology / M.A. (Research Psychology)