Yolanda Flores Niemann

Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Differences in Responding to Distinctiveness and Discrimination on Campus: Stigma and Common Group Identity

The present article examines how the salience of group membership can moderate or diffuse feelings of stigmatization for members of racial and ethnic minorities. A series of studies is presented that demonstrate that the development of a common group identity can diffuse the effects of stigmatization, improve intergroup attitudes, and enhance institutional satisfaction and commitment among college students and faculty. Strategies and interventions designed to address the effects of stigmatization, however, need to consider the different value and importance of racial and ethnic group identities for Whites and for people of color.

Relationship of solo status, academic rank, and perceived distinctiveness to job satisfaction of racial/ethnic minorities.

The relationships among solo status of racial/ethnic minorities in psychology departments, job satisfaction, and subjective feelings of distinctiveness were examined. Distinctiveness was defined as stigmatizing feelings associated with token status of racial/ethnic minorities in academia. It was hypothesized that minorities in positions of solo (relative to nonsolo) status within their departments, members of more stigmatized groups, and minorities occupying lower academic ranks would feel more distinctive and less satisfied with their jobs and that perceptions of distinctiveness would mediate job satisfaction. The data partially supported these hypotheses, most notably for African Americans. The implications of situational salience and the importance of recognizing differences among and between minority groups are considered.

What Does It Mean to Be “Mexican”? Social Construction of an Ethnic Identity

To better understand the impact of ethnic identity, it is important to examine people’s social construction, or definition, of that identity. In this study, the social construction of ethnic identity of predominantly low-acculturated, first-and second-generation U.S. Mexicans and Mexican Americans was examined by asking focus group participants to talk about what it meant to them to be members of their ethnic groups. These open-ended responses then were coded along Phinney’s aspects of ethnicity. Several interesting patterns emerged, some of which have not been emphasized in previous literature, such as conflict with African Americans and Chicanas/Chicanos. Discussion centers on the value of listening to people’s social constructions of their ethnic identity to better understand their social realities.

Stereotypes about Chicanas and Chicanos Implications for Counseling

A review of the literature on stereotypes about Chicanas/os reveals that people of Mexican descent are perceived predominantly in derogatory terms, with the few positive terms primarily related to the centrality of the family for this ethnic community. This review also indicates that Chicanas/os themselves often endorse these stereotypes. However, the extant literature has not examined the counseling process in relation to consensual, social stereotypes of this ethnic group. This article serves to bridge that gap in the literature. Counselors are strongly encouraged to be cognizant of how stereotypes may affect Chicanas/os, especially in areas related to identity, risky behavior, stereotype threat, education, gender roles, and stigmatization. Counselors are encouraged to increase racial awareness as part of the mental health development of their Chicana/o clients. Counselors are particularly challenged to examine how their own conscious and unconscious stereotypes may affect the counselor-client relationship. Future research directions are also discussed.

Effects of Cultural Orientation on the Perception of Conflict between Relationship and Education Goals for Mexican American College Students.

Cultural factors internal to the ethnic group may exacerbate external and economic barriers to the pursuit of higher education for Mexican American students. In particular, cultural variables related to traditional, relationship-oriented behaviors and expectations may be perceived to conflict with educational pursuits. The present study examined the relationship between components of cultural orientation and attitudes and values that may create tension between relationship and educational goals for Mexican American men and women. Results of a survey that assessed cultural orientation and marriage and gender role attitudes of Mexican Americans (female, N = 356; male, N = 200) indicated that the ethnic-loyalty component of cultural orientation most consistently predicted adherence to beliefs that may lead to the perception of conflict between relationship and educational goals. Discussion centers on the role of ethnic loyalty as a risk factor for Mexican American men’s and women’s decisions to pursue and complete higher education.

Causal relationships of processes of change and decisional balance: Stage-specific models for smoking

This study, a secondary analysis of prospective data of smokers, tested whether the causal relationships between the processes of change and decisional balance of the transtheoretical model of change (TTM) are stage-specific. It was expected that for smokers in the contemplation stage, higher levels of experiential processing cause the cons of smoking to become more important and the pros of smoking to become less important. In other words, the level of experiential process use was expected to causally influence decisional balance (pros minus cons) for people in the contemplation stage. For ex-smokers in the action stage, when the cons outweigh the pros (cons become more important while pros become less important), they should increase their behavioral process use: decisional balance was expected to causally influence use of behavioral processes. Cross-lagged panels were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that experiential process use has causal predominance over decisional balance for smokers in the contemplation stage. For those in the action stage, however, neither decisional balance nor behavioral process had apparent causal predominance. Mean-level invariance indicates that the contemplation and action stages are different. Further analysis investigated smokers who progressed from contemplation to either preparation or action or from preparation to action. For these smokers who had progressed toward action, decisional balance did causally influence use of behavioral processes. This evidence provides support for the use of the TTM as the basis for planning interventions that target specific stage-dependent causal mechanisms.

Current Directions in Chicana/o Psychology:

In this Major Contribution, we focus on the mental and psychological health issues relevant to Mexican Americans or Chicanas/os, and we identify and introduce some important contemporary areas of research that reflect the unifying theme of Current Directions in Chicana/o Psychology. These areas include counseling, assessment, and service-delivery issues; the content and influence of stereotypes; and the role of ethnic identity in the psychological health of Chicana/o people. To provide an ecological context for the series of articles that follow, identifying labels/terminology, demographics, cultural characteristics, and political barriers descriptive of Chicanas/os are addressed. Our hope is that the series of articles composing this issue serves to raise the awareness of mental health professionals about issues facing Chicanas/os and to provide guidelines for future counseling intervention and research.

Tenure, Race/Ethnicity and Attitudes toward Affirmative Action: A Matter of Self-Interest?

The present study, which surveyed members of the American Psychological Association who work in academic positions, examined the hypothesis that, due to the effects of self- and collective-interest, the attitudes of White, African American, Hispanic, and Asian faculty toward affirmative action would be moderated by tenure status. Hypotheses were partially confirmed. Untenured African Americans demonstrated some- what more supportfor affirmative action than did tenured African Americans. However, like Whites, untenured Hispanics and Asians were less supportive of affirmative action than their tenured colleagues. As expected, White men were less supportive of affirmative action than White women or African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. Discussion considered how the perceived benefits and costs of affirmative action may differ for different ethniclracial groups.

Diversity in the professional psychology training-to-workforce pipeline: Results from doctoral psychology student population data.

Diversity within the field of professional psychology rests heavily on the diversity of the training-to-workforce pipeline. Two major waypoints play a pivotal role in this process, namely admission to (and hence representation within) and retention in doctoral training programs. The present study reports student population data regarding three types of diversity (i.e., race/ethnicity, disability, and gender identification) within doctoral psychology education. Diversity data from the full population of enrolled doctoral students in accredited psychology programs throughout the United States from 2005–2015 were obtained from the American Psychological Association’s Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation. Analyses focused on (a) establishing the representation of diverse peoples, according to race/ethnicity, disability, and gender identification; and (b) identifying the rate of attrition among these groups. Despite no evidence of significant differences in quantitative academic qualifications (i.e., grade point average or graduate record examination scores), Black or African Americans, Hispanic/Latinos, individuals with disabilities, and men were found to be underrepresented relative to the U.S. population at large. These same groups, in addition to Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders, also evidenced higher attrition from doctoral programs. Professional psychology’s training-to-workforce pipeline lacks the diversity of the U.S. population at large, at least with respect to race/ethnicity, disability, and gender identification. Findings suggest processes at the point of admission, more than those involving retention, are most at fault.

The Social Ecology of Tokenism in Higher Education

As evident from the pervasive university student activism of the last two years, the likes of which have not occurred in half a century, and with demands for more faculty of color, tokenism is no longer appeasing the masses. The cost of this tokenism and race-related activism can be measured in dollars required to address demands, in damaged careers, in student time and energy, and in the damaged reputation of higher education. The greatest damage of tokenism, however, may well be to the careers of faculty of color who work in predominantly white institutions.