Diversity is a compelling interest, and affirmative action is an important strategy for achieving it.

Responds to comments made by Pipes (see record 2007-01685-011) and Kuncel and Sackett (see record 2007-01685-012) on the current authors' original article (see record 2006-01690-003). The current authors respond to the various points raised in the commenting articles, and suggest that diversity is a compelling interest and affirmative action is one means of achieving it. They stand by their original challenge, with the caveat that they do recognize that some tests may predict certain educational outcomes with similar reliability across diverse populations. They suggest that an increase in diversity in psychology would promote a robust exchange of ideas and would be of value to all. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Affirmative action is an international issue.

Comments on the article by Vasquez and Jones (see record 2006-01690-003), which focuses on diversity and begins with a discussion of affirmative action. The current author discusses his own three related points: first, it is virtually impossible, in our current culture, to agree on what constitutes affirmative action and certainly on what constitutes adequate or exemplary affirmative action; second, our broader culture must come to grips with what it means for the self-defined interests of European Americans as well as other cultural groups to at times be in apparent conflict with the overall interests of the culture; and third, affirmative action is not a challenge unique to the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Selective citation mars conclusions about test validity and predictive bias.

Comments on the article by Vasquez and Jones (see record 2006-01690-003), in which they put forward the argument that standardized tests do not evaluate much of anything worthwhile and do not assess merit. The current authors argue that Vasquez and Jones support their argument only through highly selective citations from the literature, and they discuss Vasquez and Jones' evidence for both predictive validity and predictive bias in educational and employment settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prejudice matters: Understanding the reactions of Whites to affirmative action programs targeted to benefit Blacks.

The authors examined, in 2 studies, the effects of equal employment opportunity/affirmative action (EEO/AA) policies on Whites' job-related attitudes. First, in an experiment, White prospective job recruits, as expected, rated a potential employer whose EEO/AA policies were framed as targeted to benefit Blacks as less attractive than a potential employer whose EEO/AA policies were framed more generally. Second, the results of a field study showed that prejudice against Blacks moderated the relationship between Whites' perceptions that their organization's EEO/AA policies were targeted to benefit Blacks and their satisfaction with promotion opportunities. Specifically, among prejudiced Whites, this relationship was negative and considerable in size (r = -.39, p r = -.04, ns). The implications of our findings for the study of prejudice in organizations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of the other-directed stigmatization produced by legal and illegal forms of affirmative action.

Recent studies have begun to show that the stigma of incompetence sometimes directed toward the beneficiaries of affirmative action may be significantly reduced as the preferences granted to women and minorities become more moderate. The author examined whether the stigmatization of African Americans would differ under hiring policies that represented legal and illegal levels of racial preference according to federal regulations. Participants were 178 students and 161 corporate employees who rated fictitious Black and White target employees working under (a) an illegal policy of selection of unequal candidates, (b) a legal policy of selection of comparable candidates, or (c) equal opportunity. Participants rated Black targets' achievement-related traits lower than White targets only under the illegal policy. Under the legal policy, no such stigmatization was observed. Additional dependent measures and theoretical implications were explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racism in out midst: Listening to psychologists of color.

How is racism covertly or overtly active in psychological theory, practice, and policy? The field of psychology has given little attention to addressing this question. Using a qualitative interviewing approach, this study assessed racism in psychology from the unique perspectives of 8 psychologists of color. An analysis of in-depth responses to 3 target questions suggested that although participants believed that the field has made gains, negative appraisals very clearly predominated, and covert acts of racism were cited, providing additional evidence that racism is in psychology's midst. Suggestions for addressing racism within psychology are made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal reflections: Barriers and strategies in increasing diversity in psychology.

In this article, six faculty and students of color who participated in a panel discussion at a symposium during the National Multicultural Conference and Summit of 2003 talk about the barriers they encountered and continue to encounter in their graduate training and places of employment. They also discuss strategies they found to be effective, enhancing, and positive and suggest other possibilities. The contributors describe their relationships with dominant-group and minority peers and talk about how issues of social class, disability, and sexual orientation as well as color have been part of their experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minority students of color and the psychology graduate pipeline: Disquieting and encouraging trends, 1989-2003.

Trends since 1989 in the minority graduate pipeline in psychology are examined, with special focus on trends in recent years. Encouraging trends generally outweigh troubling ones at lower levels of the pipeline. However, in recent years disquieting trends dominate at the higher pipeline levels. Promising trends include a rise in the percentage (to nearly 25%) of minority psychology students receiving the bachelor's degree and a rise to more than 20% receiving the master's degree. Troubling trends include the stalling of growth in minority PhD degree receipt since 1999 and the lack of growth in the percentage of African American and Hispanic/Latino(a) students entering PhD departments. Given the mixed findings, one of the highest priorities for psychology must be continued and persistent efforts to develop practices and policies that enhance recruitment, high levels of achievement, and degree receipt for students of color. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Community psychology: Impressions of the Boston conference on the education of psychologists for community mental health.

Mental health "is shifting from the amelioration of illness to preventive intervention at the community level… community psychology is more than a by-product of clinical… it depends upon and interacts with all the basic areas of psychological knowledge. Particular emphasis [is] given to the contributions of social psychology, group dynamics, and child development." The Conference recommended that "some permanent organizational medium be established… to facilitate communication among psychologists with vital interest in community psychology." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Status of Women in the Psychological Community in the Southeast: A Case Study.

The Executive Committee of the Southeastern Psychological Association (SEPA) appointed a Commission on the Status of Women in the spring of 1972. The Commission was charged to describe the status of women in psychology in the Southeast, to develop an affirmative action plan, and to present a report at the annual meeting in 1973. The Commission conducted studies assessing women in the role of faculty, administrators, private practitioners, researchers, graduate students, and SEPA members, through surveys of female and male psychologists, members and nonmembers of SEPA, PhD students, department chairs, and, in one case, a controlled experiment on undergraduates of both sexes. This article reports some of the results of these studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychobiography and the psychology of science: Understanding relations between the life and work of individual psychologists.

This paper presents initial interpretive hypotheses about connections between the life and work of a number of eminent psychologists: Sigmund Freud, Karen Horney, Henry Murray, B. F. Skinner, and Paul Meehl. Each of these interpretations can be critically evaluated, revised and improved, leading to incrementally more adequate understanding of individual lives, interacting with advances in psychological theory and research. Psychobiographical studies of individual scientists are a valuable complement to experimental and correlational lines of research in the psychology of science. In the "Science Wars" of the 1990s, there was an apparent conflict between scientists and those in social studies of science. The psychology of science can contribute to this debate, exploring the ways in which scientific inquiry, social-political worlds, and personal-experiential processes construct each other over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tapping the wisdom tradition: Essential elements to mentoring students of color.

The relevance of race, ethnicity, and culture in the mentor–mentee relationship is the essence of this article. The authors argue that diversity education for those mentoring students of color merits an additional level of required expertise in the following key areas: culture and academia, shared/assumed existential posture, racial discrimination, race and ethnic self-awareness, and relationship and process. With support from APA publications, the authors highlight specific academic and professional concerns for students of color, to work toward effective mentoring of culturally diverse students. For prospective mentors of students of color, the authors make recommendations related to engagement, instruction, and integration of personal and professional identity. Further, the authors make recommendations for the management of experiences with discrimination and the recognition of racial identity and racial awareness in the mentor–mentee relationship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Faculty of color in academe: What 20 years of literature tells us.

To better prepare students for an increasingly diverse society, campuses across the country remain engaged in efforts to diversify the racial and ethnic makeup of their faculties. However, faculty of color remain seriously underrepresented, making up 17% of total full-time faculty. In the past 20 years, more than 300 authors have addressed the status and experience of faculty of color in academe. From 1988 to 2007, there was a continued rise in publications addressing the issue of the low representation of faculty of color. This article presents a literature review and synthesis of 252 publications, with the goal of informing scholars and practitioners of the current state of the field. Themes emerging from these publications and an interpretive model through which findings can be viewed are presented. The analysis, with a focus on the departmental, institutional, and national contexts, documents supports, challenges, and recommendations to address barriers and build on successes within these 3 contexts. The authors hope that this article informs researchers and practitioners as they continue their work to understand and promote the increased representation of faculty of color. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Motivations for research on the Negro: Comment.

Letter comments that the author compiled an anthology on the "Psychology of the Negro" and, in doing so, asked various contributors to describe the source of their interest in this problem. Since data of this type are in short supply, a sample of the replies received may be of general interest. These replies are grouped into the following types: theoretical and scholarly interest, exposure to problems, personal motives and values. Since several of the respondents mentioned a combination of factors, the classification is only heuristic. According to the author, from the replies, it is reasonable to hypothesize that the personal values and needs of some psychologists led to their study of the Negro. In addition, the reasons of general intellectual curiosity and the exposure to problems were important motivations for research in this area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assuming preferential selection when the admissions policy is unknown: The effects of gender rarity.

One hundred thirty-five undergraduates indicated the degree to which they believed gender played a role in the selection of an applicant for a graduate degree program. Both the gender composition of the cohort and the selection policy (explicitly merit-based, explicitly affirmative action, or ambiguous) were varied. Results indicated that preferential selection on the basis of gender was assumed when women were solos and explicit information about the selection policy was not provided and that these assumptions were as strong as when an affirmative action policy was explicitly stated. This did not occur when the female selectee was not a solo or when a male selectee was a solo. Evaluations of qualifications and prediction of success paralleled the preferential selection assumptions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bonnie R. Strickland: Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Public Interest.

Presents a citation for Bonnie R. Strickland, who received the Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Public Interest, "for her four decades of outstanding research, writing, and overall contributions to psychology in the public interest." Along with the citation are a biography and selected bibliography of the recipient's work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing advocacy awareness within professional psychology training programs: The 2005 National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology Self-Study.

Increased awareness of advocacy in support of our profession is relevant for all psychologists and psychologists-in-training. How advocacy awareness and training in professional psychology doctoral programs are being addressed was explored through the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology’s 2005 Self-Study. This article provides the outcome data from this Self-Study along with suggestions for enhancing advocacy training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in Psychology in the Public Interest: Florence L. Denmark.

The 2004 Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in Psychology in the Public Interest is awarded to Florence L. Denmark. She is recognized for her efforts to help legitimize the psychology of women by teaching the first doctoral psychology course in the field and through her scholarly texts and articles. She continues to have an impact on the psychology of women through her journal editorial memberships, her writing of articles for books and journals, her television and newspaper interviews, and through her mentoring activities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Inequality, discrimination, and the power of the status quo: Direct evidence for a motivation to see the way things are as the way they should be.

How powerful is the status quo in determining people’s social ideals? The authors propose (a) that people engage in injunctification, that is, a motivated tendency to construe the current status quo as the most desirable and reasonable state of affairs (i.e., as the most representative of how things should be); (b) that this tendency is driven, at least in part, by people’s desire to justify their sociopolitical systems; and (c) that injunctification has profound implications for the maintenance of inequality and societal change. Four studies, across a variety of domains, provided supportive evidence. When the motivation to justify the sociopolitical system was experimentally heightened, participants injunctified extant (a) political power (Study 1), (b) public funding policies (Study 2), and (c) unequal gender demographics in the political and business spheres (Studies 3 and 4, respectively). It was also demonstrated that this motivated phenomenon increased derogation of those who act counter to the status quo (Study 4). Theoretical implications for system justification theory, stereotype formation, affirmative action, and the maintenance of inequality are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)