Stereotype attribution in two ethnic groups

The cross-cultural generality of previously observed stereotype attribution processes was investigated. European and Maori New Zealanders, similar in age but differing in occupational status from previous American samples, rated stimulus persons varying along three dimensions: Ethnicity (European, Maori, Samoan); Origin (Urban-Rural); and Occupation/Education (manager, skilled tradesman, laborer). Response traits were 26 adjectives found in previous research to comprise ethnic stereotypes. Factor analysis of these 26 traits showed that 5 factors were plausible in each sample, although the factor structures in the two samples were not identical. Separate between- subjects ANOV As in each sample showed that stimulus occupation accounted for most of the systematic variance in the attribution of the trait factors. This was interpreted as evidence for possible occupational stereotyping. Methodological and theoretical issues relevant to this conclusion were discussed, including the likelihood that different processes may characterize attribution in different cultures and situations.     

Retrospective perception of parental child-rearing practices in three culturally different college groups

Retrospective perceived child-rearing practices reported by three culturally different groups of college students—Latin Americans (n = 164), CubanAmericans (n = 127), and Anglo-Americans (n = 154)—on sixteen parent practices variables were compared using a 2 (sex) × 3 (cultural group) multivariate analysis of covariance with social class as the covariate. Cuban-American mothers were perceived as more similar to Anglo than to Latin mothers, specifically in their use of disciplinary techniques. Cuban-American mothers and fathers were perceived as applying the greatest amount of achievement pressure. Anglo fathers were perceived as using physical punishment significantly more than Cuban and Latin American fathers. Overall the results provide some support for previous findings in the literature but indicate that the results in the literature on child-rearing practices comparing Anglos to Mexicans and Mexican-Americans are not easily generalizable to other Hispanic or Latin American groups.     

Interethnic perception and the communication behavior among five ethnic groups in Hawaii

The purpose of this paper was to explore interethnic perception in an ethnically mixed society, and to examine the relationship between the degree of stereotyping toward certain ethnic groups and interethnic interpersonal communication and social capacity variables, such as education, age, occupational status, length of stay in the U.S., and English fluency. The study focused on three major aspects of stereotyping: homogeneity, polarity, and favorableness of interethnic attitudes. Homogeneity was defined as the degree to which an individual differentiates dimensions of perception, while polarity was the degree of extremity—either positive or negative—of perception. Favorableness was the degree of positive attitude toward other ethnic groups.The study was based upon a random survey conducted from 1978 to 1979 of five ethnic groups in Hawaii, including 401 Koreans, 203 Japanese, 200 Caucasians, 199 Samoans, and 208 Filipinos. Six bipolar dimensions of perception were explored: responsible-irresponsible, friendly-unfriendly, independent-dependent, good-bad, hard working-lazy, and wise-foolish. The results indicated that interethnic interpersonal communication had the strongest relationship with the level of favorableness. The hypothesized relationships between the social capacity variables and stereotyping were statistically significant, although the magnitude of the relationships were small.     

Racial similarity as a moderator variable in the perception of leader behavior and control

This study compared leader behavior ratings of black and white Army infantry squad members serving in squads led either by black or white leaders. One black and one white squad member, chosen at random from each of 34 racially mixed squads, rated their leader's Consideration and Initiation of Structure behaviors (Stogdill, 1963), and their leader's behavior relevant to French and Raven's (1959) five bases of social power. In general, it was found that members who were of the same race as their leader rated him as significantly less likely to use punishment-related behaviors than did members who were of a different race than their leader. However, same-race members did not rate their leader's considerate or structuring behavior differently than did different-race members. The overall pattern of findings were discussed in terms of the leaders' implicit reliance on their punishment power to obtain compliance from different-race subordinates.     

Racial stereotypes revisited

Fifty-one black and 66 white college students were administered the Katz and Braly Checklist (1933) and instructed to select five adjectives that best described first themselves, second, black Americans, and third, white Americans. They then rated each adjective on a favorability scale from 1 to 5. Changes in the content of stereotypes were determined by calculating the 10 most frequently checked adjectives for black and for white Americans and comparing that with data from Katz and Braly (1933), Bayton (1941) and Maykovich (1972). Currently, black Americans are described as musical, loyal to family ties, very religious, progressive, ambitious, and quick-tempered. White Americans are described as intelligent, materialistic, ambitious, industrious, conventional, and conservative. The content of the white stereotype remained more stable over the years than the black stereotype. The white stereotype has slowly decreased in favorability over the years while the black stereotype has increased. Black and white students rated themselves more favorably than they rated the other or their own race.     

Impact of cross-cultural training on black and white mental health professionals

In a 3-year period, 174 mental health professionals received intensive 8-day cross-cultural/interracial communication workshops involving didactic, transactional, experiential, and cultural immersion techniques. Comprehensive evaluation strategies investigated changes in social distance, attitudes, and values comprehension, as well as improvement in therapeutic performance. Comparison of 68 white and 54 black clinical practitioners indicated significant differences in impact, with the former more oriented toward cognitive and attitudinal change, and the latter toward insight into personal identity and role conflict. Among white trainees, increased values comprehension, increased agreement with preferential treatment for minorities, and decreased social distance to tri-ethnic (black, Hispanic, white) stimulus figures at three socioeconomic status (SES) levels, were associated with improved therapeutic skills with a poor black client. Among black trainees, self-distancing responses to social, attitudinal, and values items which implied both acknowledgment and rejection of “black professional” identity, were associated with highly significant improvement in therapeutic performance with a poor black client. In addition to demonstrated efficacy in building knowledge and skill, cross-cultural training appears to be a consciousness-raising process for minority professionals conflicted about culture-abandonment and irrelevancies in clinical training.     

The 5th annual SIETAR conference in Mexico city: An evaluation

The 5th Annual Conference of the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR), in Mexico City, was evaluated using both scaled and open-ended questions. Analysis of the scaled responses suggested that the participants found the conference to be personally enjoyable, professionally worthwhile, well organized and intellectually stimulating. Overall, the conference was rated very favorably. On the other hand, however, negative evaluations were received regarding the quality of the presentations, the travel agent, the translations and direct benefits in the areas of intercultural training and research. Demographic analyses indicated that North Americans, researchers and university and government people rated the conference most favorably. Seven recommendations for future conferences were derived from the summarized open-ended responses.     

Preference for dating out-group members: Not the same for all out-groups and cultural backgrounds

The goal of the present study was to examine dating preferences across three different out-group backgrounds (race/culture/ethnic, religious, socio-economic status) in three different cultural settings (the United Kingdom, the United States, India). A second goal was to explore the role of social psychological factors (social approval, social identity, previous dating experience) in out-group dating preferences. Findings from an online study (n_UK = 227, n_US = 245, n_India = 220) revealed that participants were less willing to date individuals from religious out-groups than individuals from other race/culture/ethnic or socio-economic status out-groups. Individuals’ perceptions of approval from friends and family positively predicted out-group dating preference for all backgrounds and samples. How much individuals identified with their in-groups and whether they have previous experience dating someone from an out-group varied across outgroup backgrounds and samples in predicting out-group dating preferences. Together, the findings provide valuable insight into intergroup relations and reveal the importance of studying out-group dating preferences across different out-group backgrounds and samples.     

Collaborative issues in cross-national research

Although the topic of research collaboration receives infrequent comment, a well functioning collaborative process is crucial to the substantive success of intercultural research enterprises. The present report addresses this topic and focuses on two major sets of collaborative issues, the personal/ personnel and the structural/organizational. The issues are organized around the phases of the project at which they optimally should be considered and resolved.     

Process gain and process loss: comparing interpersonal processes and performance of culturally diverse and non-diverse teams across time

Members of 82 student groups involved in a Team Learning instructional format were surveyed with the Group Style Instrument (GSI) to examine the possible dimensions of team oriented behaviors and individualistically oriented behaviors. Exploratory factor models and confirmatory factor models were compared to find the best factor structure fit. The GSI was found to have dimensions that were team and individualistically oriented. From a second sample data was collected across four months on the group process and group performance of culturally non-diverse and culturally diverse groups. Data were evaluated in two significant ways. First, the team orientation and individual orientation dimensions were used to define interpersonal processing. Second, the team process dimensions were used to define interpersonal processing. Second, the team process dimensions were examined further to evaluate their relation to group performance. Early on the diverse teams showed less team orientation and more individual orientation than non-diverse teams, but through frequent feedback on task and interpersonal processing, the diverse teams caught up by the third time period. By the end, diverse teams maintained high team orientation but also allowed a reasonable extent of individual orientation. The diverse teams were beginning to utilize diversity to their advantage. Team and Individualistic orientations showed significant relations to team performance across time. Suggestions are given for future research.     

Study of the factors influencing sex differences in the career motivation of Iranian high school students

The purpose of the study was to investigate some factors thought to influence sex differences in the Career Motivation of Iranian high school students. Subjects (n = 206) were balanced on sex, ages 17–18 and attending schools in Tehran, Iran. Measures included the criterion career motivation and six predictors: Sex, Social Class, Early Family Socialization, Religious Orientation, Community Resources and Community Discrimination against women 's careers.Multivariate regression analyses with partial correlations were used to test hypotheses. Hypotheses were that males would score higher than females on career motivation; upper middle class students would score higher than lower middle class students on career motivation; Scores on Early Family Socialization, Community Resources and Religious Orientation would be positively correlated with Career Motivation; and Community Discrimination would be negatively correlated with Career Motivation. Interactions were expected for Sex, Religious Orientation and Social Class. Main effects found in the regression analyses supported hypotheses related to Sex, Social Class, Community Discrimination and Early Family Socialization. It remained for the interpretation of three significant interaction effects to shed light on the contribution of Religious Orientation to Career Motivation. The three significant interactions found were Sex × Social Class; Sex × Religious Orientation; and Religious Orientation × Community Discrimination. It appeared that the religion measure was confounded by the new movement within Islam led by the Mojahedin Khalgh group that is supportive of women 's careers, in contrast to the dominant Shia Islam group. The Community Resources measure was significantly (p<.05) and positively related to career motivation but it did not contribute importantly to the prediction equation. The equation derived including interaction terms accounted for 41% of the variance. It was concluded that the analysis used provided an important addition to understanding complex phenomena such as career motivation in a changing social context.     

Patterns of intergroup attitudes in South Africa after 1994

In the heterogeneous South African society, race has become not only the major organizing principle, but also the primary unit of social analysis. The concept “intergroup relations” has consequently predominantly been associated with racial relations and “intergroup attitudes” with “interracial attitudes”. Interest in South African race relations has furthermore been enhanced by the tumultuous struggle against apartheid. A substantive body of research acquired during apartheid indeed points to interracial tension. The advent of a new political dispensation in 1994 has been accompanied with expectations that increased intergroup contact, in particular, would result in improved interracial relations. The current study investigates intergroup attitudes after 1994. Three countrywide surveys were conducted in 1998, 2001 and 2009 using representative samples of all major racial groups. The results indicate that overall attitudes were more positive among more affluent and urbanized communities. However, there are indications of prevailing negative relations, in particular between Blacks and Afrikaans-speaking Whites. While the attitudes of Afrikaans-speaking Whites seem to have become more positive, that has not been the case to the same extent for Blacks. Blacks also appear to be less positive towards English-speaking Whites than during apartheid. Overall, the results point to more positive intergroup attitudes in some instances, but also to potential emerging points of tension.     

International assignments: The role of social support and personal initiative

This study adapts components of Fay and Frese's nomological network of personal initiative (2001) and Caligiuri and Lazarova's model (2002) for the influence of social support on adjustment. Based thereon, a model for the relationship between personal initiative, social support and work adjustment was developed and tested. One-hundred twenty-seven expatriates answered an online questionnaire during and after their foreign sojourn. Results suggest that personal initiative of the expatriates and social support received from supervisors - but not from their co-workers - predicted job satisfaction, job stress and job performance of the expatriates. Social support and personal initiative have a strong relationship with successful work adjustment. Personal initiative moderates the relationship between social support from co-workers and job performance. There are practical implications for companies that send their staff on international assignments. Implications for the concept of personal initiative in expatriate adjustment research are discussed.     

Acculturative stress and cultural identity styles as predictors of psychosocial functioning in Hispanic Americans

We test acculturative stress, Hybrid (HIS) and Alternating (AIS) Identity Styles, and their interaction effects as predictors of psychosocial functioning over a 12-day period among Hispanic American university students. Participants completed measures of acculturative stress, HIS, AIS, and internalizing (anxiety and depression) and externalizing (social aggression and rule-breaking) symptoms on Day 1; on Day 12 they completed the symptom measures a second time. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the Day 1 effects of acculturative stress, cultural identity styles, and their interactions on Day 12 symptoms controlling for the Day 1 symptoms. We hypothesized that acculturative stress would predict more, and the HIS would predict fewer, symptoms and that the AIS would moderate the relationship between acculturative stress and symptoms over time. Results indicated that: (1) acculturative stress predicted an increase in internalizing symptoms; (2) the HIS predicted a decrease in internalizing and externalizing symptoms; and (3) the AIS attenuated the relationship between acculturative stress and externalizing symptoms. The results are discussed in relation to the distinctive features of internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and recommendations for future research are advanced.     

The perception of transcendent interest: Communication and identification in an emergent community

The interrelationships among five variables were analyzed in an effort to understand the process of community formation in a culturally plural metropolitan environment. The variables—perception of transcendent interest, perception of commonality, cooperative interaction, maintenance adaptation, and growth adaptation—were formulated by explicating and synthesizing the concepts of community, community identification, and coorientation. The perception of transcendent interest, described as the focal point of identification, and the basis of an emerging community, was found to correlate significantly with all the other four variables, but to be best predicted by cooperative interaction and maintenance adaptation. The study offers insight into the processes of acculturation and cultural group formation in a plural system.     

The role of ingroup assortative sociality in the COVID-19 pandemic: A multilevel analysis of google trends data in the United States

This study tested how family ties and religiosity, two extended elements of ingroup assortative sociality, would predict group-level COVID-19 severity in the U.S. and how COVID-19 threat would predict ingroup assortative sociality at a weekly level. Multilevel models which analyzed the state-level archival (e.g., religious participation) and Google trends data (e.g., marriage for family ties; prayer for religiosity) on ingroup assortative sociality showed that religious search volume (from 2004 to 2019) significantly and negatively predicted COVID-19 severity (i.e., shorter time delay of first documented cases, shorter overall doubling times, higher reproductive ratio and higher case fatality ratio) across states (Study 1a) and counties (Study 1b) while search volume for family ties only significantly and negatively predicted county-level COVID-19 severity. Multilevel analyses also found that weekly COVID-19 severity weakly predicted weekly search volume of marriage and religion (Study 2a), but when COVID-19 threat was in the collective consciousness in a given week (i.e., Google search volume for coronavirus within 52 weeks), collective levels of ingroup assortative sociality increased from the previous week (Study 2b). Evidence across studies suggested that religiosity, compared with family ties, could serve a more important role for the U.S. people during the deadly pandemic.     

A comparison of sex differences in career and achievement motivation in Iran and the U.S.

Differences in career and achievement motivation of U.S. and Iranian male and female college and high school students were compared, employing recently developed cross-cultural methodology. Of particular interest was the differential shift in achievement orientation at different age levels in the two cultural samples. Whereas achieving and career orientations were found to be higher in the U.S. college than in U.S. high school samples, the reverse was true in the Iranian samples. Compatible with observations made elsewhere, this suggests that age-related waxing and waning of achieving orientations occur in different cycles in different cultures. Also of interest was that the culture main effect was not significant but that the culture × sex interaction was. Thus, overall, achieving orientations between the culture samples were not different but Iranian males and females exhibited greater differences in achieving orientations than did U.S. subjects, as was predicted.     

The role of adult attachment in international students’ acculturation process

International students face a variety of challenges in their acculturation process. Acculturation, the process of adapting to a new cultural environment, is highly variable and influenced by environmental and individual factors that exist before or arise during acculturation. Among the moderating personal factors existing prior to acculturation, adult attachment has received attention as an important variable impacting the acculturation process and adaptation outcomes. Based on the bi-dimensional model of acculturation (Berry, 1997) and the concept of adult attachment (Bowlby, 1977), the current study hypothesized that an insecure attachment (i.e., high attachment anxiety and avoidance) would predict more acculturative stress, less psychological adaptation, and less sociocultural adaptation. We also hypothesized that students who highly identified with their heritage culture and were highly acculturated to the U.S. culture would experience higher levels of psychological and sociocultural adaptation. Also, we examined if adult attachment moderated the effects of acculturation on international students’ psychological and sociocultural adaptation. International students enrolled in higher education institutions in different geographic locations in the United States (N = 221) completed measures of adult attachment, acculturation, acculturative stress, and psychological and sociocultural adaptation. The results suggested that attachment anxiety was a significant predictor of international students’ psychological adaptation. High acculturation to the U.S. significantly predicted more sociocultural adaptation. Attachment avoidance significantly moderated the effect of acculturation to the U.S. culture on international students’ psychological distress, while attachment anxiety was a significant moderator for the effect of acculturation to the U.S. culture on sociocultural adaptation.