As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse, individuals will need to interact effectively with a wide range of people. The theory of multicultural personality refined by Ponterotto (2010) proposes that some individuals may be better suited than others to adapt to the changing demographic landscape. Individuals with a multicultural personality are theorized to have the ability to interact effectively within a wide range of contexts and draw on diverse experiences and resources to solve everyday problems in multiple ways as well as seek out diversity in their lives. Because of their skills and disposition, Ponterotto (2010) suggests that those with a multicultural personality may experience better psychological functioning than their nonmulticultural counterparts. The current study utilized Structural Equation Modeling to test the hypothesis that individuals who endorse greater multicultural personality also exhibit less prejudice, greater ethnic identity, and better psychological functioning, defined as a combination of subjective well-being and clinical symptomology. Results indicated moderate fit to the data and examination of specific paths within the model suggests that the relationship between multicultural personality and subjective well-being may be stronger than that between multicultural personality and clinical symptomology. Differences by ethnicity were also found on measures of ethnic identity and mental health. These results highlight the need to further refine the concept of multicultural personality as well as examine the complex relationships between multicultural personality, subjective well-being, and clinical symptomology
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-3989 |
| Date | 01 January 2013 |
| Creators | Trottier, Lauren |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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