Jerome Taylor

A holistic model for understanding and predicting depressive symptoms in african-american women

A holistic model for understanding and predicting depressive symptoms in a sample of 289 African-American women was evaluated. Using a structural equation methodology, life events, social support, physical health problems, and internalized racialism were significant predictors of depressive symptoms. Although neither marital status nor religious orientation had predicted inverse effects on depressive symptoms, we found that the effects of socioeconomic status and developmental status on depressive symptoms were mediated through these and other variables specified in the model.

Relationship between Internalized Racism and Marital Satisfaction

This investigation evaluates the extent to which level of marital satisfaction is affected by level of internalized racism in a sample of 96 Black inner-city couples. The hypothesis that internalized racism is inversely related to marital satisfaction is marginally to acceptably supported. Husbands reporting more internalized racism tended to report less marital satisfaction just as wives reporting more internalized racism tended to report less marital satisfaction. Marital satisfaction of wives was not affected directly by internalized racism of husbands, nor was marital satisfaction of husbands directly affected by internalized racism of wives. However, since marital satisfaction of husbands and wives was moderately correlated, it is possible that the effect of internalized racism of one spouse on marital satisfaction of the other is mediated through explanatory links identified in this paper. The role of socioeconomic status in mediating relationships between internalized racism and marital status is examined along with implications.

Evaluation of a Holistic Model of Mental Health Symptoms in African American Women

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which a holistic model of mental health problems applies to the understanding and prediction of general mental health symptoms in an urban sample of 289 African American women. Our holistic model examines effects of eight variables on mental health problems: life events, social support, religious orientation, internalized racialism, physical health problems, marital status, socioeconomic status, and developmental status. From relationships hypothesized among variables, a structural equation model was formulated. Overall, the proposed model fit the data quite well. At the level of intervariable relationships, 7 of 8 hypotheses were partially to completely corroborated. Results were compared with parallel application of the holistic model to the understanding and prediction of alcohol consumption.

Understanding Violence in Contemporary and Earlier Gangs: An Exploratory Application of the Theory of Reasoned Action.

Although the theory of reasoned action has been quite successful in predicting a wide range of social behaviors, it has not been used in understanding the behavior of gangs. The purpose of this article is to review the theory of reasoned action, to demonstrate how it can be applied to understanding gang violence, and to illustrate its potential applicability to a pilot sample of contemporary and earlier gangs living in a large metropolitan community.

Effects of Race of Examiner and Type of Reinforcement on the Intelligence Test Performance of Lower-Class Black Children.

This study examined the effects of race of examiner and type of reinforcement upon the WISC-R performance of lower-class black children. A total of 120 black males were selected and assigned to either a white or black examiner to form two groups. Within each group, children were given no reinforcement, tangible reinforcement, traditional social reinforcement, or culturally relevant social reinforcement after each correct response. Children given tangible rewards, regardless of race of examiner, obtained significantly higher scores than did children given no reinforcement or children given traditional social reinforcement. Also, children given culturally relevant social reinforcement by a black examiner obtained significantly higher scores than did children given culturally relevant reinforcement by the white examiner.

A validational note on the revised Socialization Scale of the California Psychological Inventory

The revised (1987) Socialization Scale of the California Psychological Inventory was studied in a sample of 121 delinquent and nondelinquent males to determine if the revised scale, compared to the original version of the scale (1957), could differentiate among a group of nonoffenders and a comprehensive typology of offenders. Results of an ANOVA and product-moment correlations provided significant and considerable support for the discriminability of the revised So Scale. Obtained results indicate that the revised instrument can differentiate offenders from nonoffenders to about the same, or a greater, degree than the original scale.

Relationship between Cultural Identity and Exchange Disposition

Defining exchange disposition as a general inclination toward social interaction with other Blacks including the sharing of information, affection, goods, or services, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the manner in which exchange disposition is influenced by patterns of Black cultural identity. In this study of 910 Black college students from 11 institutions located in the United States, it was found that persons in nationalist phases of Black cultural identity perceived themselves as least open to sharing with other Blacks whom they perceived as least open to sharing with them. Theoretical basesfor these findings were clarified along with implications forfuture research.

Understanding in Japanese Marriages

Summary This study examined the influence of marriage type and role specialization upon understanding in Japanese couples. Two marriage types were investigated: Arranged (couples were wed as a result of prior arrangement) and Love-Match (couples were wed because of romantic attraction). On the basis of socialization theory and empirical evidence, we argued that understanding along the interpersonal dimension of affiliation corresponds roughly to expressive role skills associated with the husband and that understanding along the interpersonal dimension of control corresponds roughly to instrumental role skills associated with the wife. We hypothesized that (a) understanding would be greater among Love-Match than Arranged couples; (b) understanding among husbands would excel that of wives along the dimension of control and that understanding among wives would excel that of husbands along the dimension of affiliation; and (c) differences in understanding would be more pronounced when both the direction and m...

Understanding the relative influence of attitudes and societal norms on dietary intentions among African-Caribbean women

Abstract This study applies the theory of reasoned action (TRA) to understand the relative influence of personal attitude (AT) toward three chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension), and social normative (SN) groups (family, friends, and church), toward intention to engage in dietary behaviors associated with obesity and chronic disease risk. The sample consists of N = 183 women, aged 18–55 years, in Barbados, West Indies, selected through a stratified cluster sample technique. The instrument includes demographic and anthropometric variables and components of the TRA. Analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) indicate that the TRA explains 22%, 35% and 19% of the variances in intention to consume high-fat foods, alcohol, and fruits, nuts and vegetables, respectively. SN is a predictor of all three dietary intentions, while AT predicts only intention to eat fruit, nuts, and vegetables. In the models, social pressure from family is relatively more important than friends and church in influencing dietary intentions. It can be concluded that social normative influences have a stronger effect on intentions to consume fatty foods, alcohol, and fruit, nuts and vegetables than do personal attitudes.

Values for Life: Preliminary Evaluation of the Educational Component

The educational component of the Values-for-Life curriculum is designed to help teachers implement instructional routines that enhance the love and respect, learning orientation, self-confidence, self-persistence, self-esteem, and self-reliance of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and Head Start children. In this report, the development of instructional curriculum is reviewed and methods to evaluate its impact in seven centers are described. In these centers serving inner-city and semirural communities, results indicated that the curriculum was relatively successful in affecting all child outcomes except self-persistence even when different design strategies, demographically diverse samples, varying child ages, contrasting conditions of racial balance, and different measures, raters, settings, and lengths of intervention were used. Implicationsfor theory, research, practice, and policy are examined.