A Christian Humanist Implicit Association Test: Validity and test?retest reliability.

The logical tension between humanistic views and traditional deity-centered religious beliefs represents an important psychological conflict for many traditionally religious individuals. Because this conflict can generate anxiety, many people may avoid it, and only encounter the issues unconsciously. We created a Christian Humanist Implicit Association Test to assess implicit evaluative responses to Humanist beliefs among Christian students. We administered the test to 233 students (96 men and 137 women) and also examined test–retest reliability on a subsample (n = 31). Validity of the test received support in correlations with established religious measures. Examples include the correlations with the Rejection of Christianity Scale (r = ?.31, p     

Comparing evangelical Protestant psychologists trained at secular versus religiously affiliated programs.

Four hundred evangelical Protestant psychologists trained at secular or religiously affiliated clinical psychology doctoral programs were compared for their views on ethical issues and their use of religious interventions in clinical practice. Religious psychologists trained at secular programs were comparatively more conservative and more likely to use and value religious techniques in psychotherapy with religious or nonreligious clients than were religious psychologists trained at religiously affiliated programs (p     

Discrimination and unfair treatment: Relationship to cardiovascular reactivity among African American and European American women.

This study examined the relationship of cardiovascular reactivity to both interpersonal mistreatment and discrimination in a community-based sample of African American and European American women (N?=?363) in midlife. Subtle mistreatment related positively to diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reactivity for African American participants but not their European American counterparts. Moreover, among the African American participants, those who attributed mistreatment to racial discrimination exhibited greater average DBP reactivity. In particular, these women demonstrated greater DBP reactivity to the speech task, which bore similarities to an encounter with racial prejudice but not to a nonsocial mirror tracing task. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that racial discrimination is a chronic stressor that can negatively impact the cardiovascular health of African Americans through pathogenic processes associated with physiologic reactivity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demonstrations of implicit anti-fat bias: The impact of providing causal information and evoking empathy.

Three studies investigated implicit biases, and their modifiability, against overweight persons. In Study 1 (N=144), the authors demonstrated strong implicit anti-fat attitudes and stereotypes using the Implicit Association Test, despite no explicit anti-fat bias. When participants were informed that obesity is caused predominantly by overeating and lack of exercise, higher implicit bias relative to controls was produced; informing participants that obesity is mainly due to genetic factors did not result in lower bias. In Studies 2A (N=90) and 2B (N=63), participants read stories of discrimination against obese persons to evoke empathy. This did not lead to lower bias compared with controls but did produce diminished implicit bias among overweight participants, suggesting an in-group bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived discrimination as worldview threat or worldview confirmation: Implications for self-esteem.

In 3 studies, the authors tested the hypothesis that discrimination targets' worldview moderates the impact of perceived discrimination on self-esteem among devalued groups. In Study 1, perceiving discrimination against the ingroup was negatively associated with self-esteem among Latino Americans who endorsed a meritocracy worldview (e.g., believed that individuals of any group can get ahead in America and that success stems from hard work) but was positively associated with self-esteem among those who rejected this worldview. Study 2 showed that exposure to discrimination against their ingroup (vs. a non-self-relevant group) led to lower self-esteem, greater feelings of personal vulnerability, and ingroup blame among Latino Americans who endorsed a meritocracy worldview but to higher self-esteem and decreased ingroup blame among Latino Americans who rejected it. Study 3 showed that compared with women informed that prejudice against their ingroup is pervasive, women informed that prejudice against their ingroup is rare had higher self-esteem if they endorsed a meritocracy worldview but lower self-esteem if they rejected this worldview. Findings support the idea that perceiving discrimination against one's ingroup threatens the worldview of individuals who believe that status in society is earned but confirms the worldview of individuals who do not. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religion and spirituality.

We define religion and spirituality and discuss five scenarios in which they will probably emerge in psychotherapy. We review empirical research on religion and spirituality as they pertain to psychotherapy outcomes and relationships. Most research has been unsophisticated relative to the general status of psychotherapy research. Nonetheless, therapists are urged to assess for religion. and spirituality and, if possible, intervene in religiously and spiritually sensitive ways. Nine empirical studies of religiously accommodative Christian (n = 6) and Muslim (n = 3) psychotherapy have provided limited support for its efficacy, especially with depressed clients. Highly religious clients appear to desire therapy that respects (if not integrates) their religion, but research is unclear about the degree to which they can benefit from secular therapies, especially when they request religious therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memorable everyday events in college: Narratives of the intersection of ethnicity and academia.

The purpose of this study was to bring together research on youth’s developing life stories and research on ethnic variations in educational experiences by exploring diverse students’ narratives of ethnicity-related college experiences. A total of 280 college students attending a public university in California recounted a story about a time in which they felt their ethnicity played a role in the academic experiences. Six main themes were identified among the event narratives: learning about culture, sharing culture, experience of prejudice, difficult dialogues, awareness of diversity, and support and connection. The frequency of these themes varied by ethnic group, which suggests that college students from different ethnic backgrounds face different issues pertaining to the intersection of ethnicity and academics and thus face unique experiences and challenges that must be integrated into their life stories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The perceived effectiveness of Christian and secular graduate training programs in preparing Christian psychologists to deal with experiences of sexual attraction.

Most psychologists experience feelings of sexual attraction toward clients, and for some Christian therapists this situation can be further complicated by their tendency to deny such sexual attraction. How effective are graduate training programs in teaching Christian psychologists to manage feelings of sexual attraction in professional contexts? In this survey, 258 Christian psychologists answered questions regarding their graduate training. A positive training environment was related to healthy coping responses in managing feelings of sexual attraction, and graduates of explicitly Christian training programs reported greater satisfaction with training conditions than graduates of secular programs. Those involved in training professional psychologists should consider the general training environment in addition to specific course work about managing feelings of sexual attraction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A two-dimensional model that employs explicit and implicit attitudes to characterize prejudice.

In the authors' 2-dimensional model of prejudice, explicit and implicit attitudes are used to create 4 profiles: truly low prejudiced (TLP: double lows), aversive racists (AR: low explicit modern racism/high implicit prejudice), principled conservatives (PC: high explicit modern racism/low implicit prejudice), and modern racists (MR: double highs). Students completed an Asian Modern Racism Scale and an Asian/White Implicit Association Test. The authors compared the 4 groups' prejudice-related ideologies (i.e., egalitarianism/humanism and social conservatism) and economic/political conservatism (Study 1, N=132). The authors also tested whether MR but not PC (Study 2, N=65) and AR but not TLP (Study 3, N=143) are more likely to negatively evaluate an Asian target when attributional ambiguity is high (vs. low). In support of the model, TLP did not hold prejudice-related ideologies and did not discriminate; AR were low in conservatism and demonstrated the attributional-ambiguity effect; PC did not strongly endorse prejudice-related ideologies and did not discriminate; MR strongly endorsed prejudice-related ideologies, were conservative, and demonstrated the attributional-ambiguity effect. The authors discuss implications for operationalizing and understanding the nature of prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prejudice or propaganda.

Slife and Reber accuse psychology of harboring a hidden, albeit unintentional, bias against theism in violation of the spirit of the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives (2007) resolution on religious prejudice. However, they are mistaken in categorizing a bias against theism in psychological research and theory as religious prejudice. Moreover, their discussion of religious prejudice morphs into promotion of Christian theology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial and ethnic harassment and discrimination: In the eye of the beholder?

The nature, rate, and higher-order relationships among facets of racial/ethnic harassment (REH) and discrimination (RED) were examined across five racial/ethnic groups in a sample of 5,000 US military personnel. Using a hierarchical, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis approach, results suggest that the nature of REH and RED do not differ by race, with behavioral items equally representing REH and RED across the different groups. Further, higher-order relationships among the facets of REH and RED do not vary across race, with a single second-order factor accounting for the relationships. This single factor is theorized to represent a root intergroup prejudice that leads to harassment and discrimination. However, as anticipated, individuals from minority groups generally reported higher levels of REH and RED once measurement equivalence has been established. Together, the results suggest that both intergroup prejudice (which is multidirectional) and racism (which originates in powerful groups against other groups) are operating in REH and RED experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pastoral counseling students and secular counseling students: A comparison.

Considers that many counseling authorities are convinced that the clergyman's religious beliefs and values make him more dogmatic toward and less accepting of the client than are secular counselors. To test this contention, 90 secular counseling students and 58 pastoral counseling students were administered the Inventory of Religious Belief, the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, and the Test of Counselor Attitudes. Group responses were analyzed with t tests and Mann-Whitney U statistics. Although pastoral counseling students had stronger Christian religious beliefs and less nondogmatic openness and flexibility of belief, they responded at a higher level of client acceptance than secular counseling students. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A process for identifying marginal performers among students in a clerkship

PURPOSE: To evaluate a review process for identifying marginal performers among students in a clerkship. METHOD: To better identify the marginal performers among the students participating in the medicine clerkship at the University of Minnesota Medical School--Minneapolis, the Medicine Clerkship Committee reviewed in 1990-91 and 1991-92 all students rated by faculty or housestaff as below expectations for any of nine areas of clinical performance (27 students of 890, 3%). (In the past, a student was considered to be a marginal performer only if he or she was assigned an unsatisfactory numerical grade, calculated from the nine ratings, or if written comments by housestaff and faculty and the opinions of the attending faculty and clerkship site coordinator indicated that the student should fail.) Chi-square analysis was used to compare the number of students judged to be marginal performers under the review process with the number of marginal performers in 1988-89 and 1989-90. The two groups were also compared based on their preclerkship performances on standardized examinations. RESULTS: Ten of those reviewed (37%) were judged to have performed marginally. Although the study group's performance on standardized examinations was not different from that of students during the previous two years, significantly fewer students were identified as marginal performers before the review process began than afterwards (2 of 867, 0.2%, versus 10 of 890, 1.1%, p < .05). CONCLUSION: Without changing the way in which faculty and housestaff evaluated students, the review process improved the medicine clerkship evaluation system by identifying significantly more students who were marginal performers.     

The role of intent and harm in judgments of prejudice and discrimination.

Four experiments examined how an actor's intent and the harm experienced by a target influence judgments of prejudice and discrimination. The presence of intent increased the likelihood that participants judged an actor as prejudiced and the actor's behavior as discriminatory. When intent was uncertain, harm influenced judgments of the behavior, which in turn influenced judgments of the actor, and participants were more cautious in their judgments about an actor than an actor's behavior. Harm also played a stronger role in targets' than observers' judgments. Understanding the role of intent and harm on perceptions of prejudice can help explain variations in targets' versus observers', and possibly targets' versus actors', judgments of discrimination and prejudice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A study on disclosure by HIV positives by use of simulation using case vignettes

AIDS patients/HIV positives have been increasing in Japan, but a large proportion of university students, who have high risk sexual behavior, are not aware of the danger of HIV infection. Because of little disclosure by AIDS patients/HIV positives in Japan, the students have a poor chance of knowing of their risk in sexual behavior situations. Discrimination or prejudice toward AIDS patients/HIV positives has suppressed disclosure. However, as the real risk changes of disclosure is unknown, a simulation study, using case vignettes, was carried out to measure risks. A total of 1,128 university students (487 male and 641 female) were asked to read one of six vignettes describing HIV positives, that consisted of three infection routes (one by blood preparation and two by sexual intercourse) with disclosure or without disclosure. After reading a vignette, they answered questions about the images of HIV positives and their attitudes to him or her. As a result of reading these vignettes, friendly images were enhanced and the disagreeable images were decreased, but students' attitudes were unchanged. Significant differences were recognized in attitudes concerning responsibility for the infection and sympathy toward HIV positives, depending on the infection routes (blood preparation or sexual intercourse). Female students had a tendency to be more favorable to HIV positives than the male students. This simulation study showed the difficulty of changing students' attitudes regardless of the image of HIV positives, and demonstrated the need for effective action toward reducing discrimination or prejudice.     

The Religious Commitment Inventory--10: Development, refinement, and validation of a brief scale for research and counseling.

The authors report the development of the Religious Commitment Inventory--10 (RCI-10), used in 6 studies. Sample sizes were 155, 132, and 150 college students; 240 Christian church-attending married adults; 468 undergraduates including (among others) Buddhists (n= 52), Muslims (n=12), Hindus (n=10), and nonreligious (n= 117); and 217 clients and 52 counselors in a secular or 1 of 6 religious counseling agencies. Scores on the RCI-10 had strong estimated internal consistency, 3-week and 5-month test-retest reliability, construct validity, and discriminant validity. Exploratory (Study 1) and confirmatory (Studies 4 and 6) factor analyses identified 2 highly correlated factors, suggesting a 1-factor structure as most parsimonious. Religious commitment predicted response to an imagined robbery (Study 2), marriage (Study 4), and counseling (Study 6). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diversity beliefs as a mediator to faculty attitudes toward students with disabilities.

A survey of a sample of faculty (N = 201) at a large, public university located in the Southwest was conducted to investigate whether differences in faculty attitudes toward diversity positively mediate faculty attitudes toward persons with disabilities. In addition, the current study examined whether differences in faculty attitudes toward diversity may be viewed as positively mediating the relationship between instructor characteristics and their attitudes toward persons with disabilities. This study concludes that faculty members may not be viewing disability as part of the greater construct of diversity with empirical evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Processes governing the selection of academic clinical training directors.

Accreditation guidelines of the American Psychological Association require the formal designation of a program director, but readers may not be aware that the selection processes used by academic clinical psychology programs can vary widely. Clinical directors who were members of the Council of University Directors of Clinical Psychology surveyed in this article were either elected by a subset of program participants (clinical faculty, nonprogram faculty, and/or students) or appointed by a university administrator (chair or dean). About 15% of these 85 respondents assumed the directorship in the aftermath of a predecessor's failure to secure reappointment, resignation under pressure, or removal. These "pressured transitions" did occur more frequently in programs that involved students in the selection process. It is hoped that these survey results will prompt further discussion regarding the methods used to select clinical directors and the impact of these governance decisions on faculty and student morale and program stability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Religious commitment and expectations about psychotherapy among Christian clients.

To assist psychotherapists in understanding client religiousness, Richards and Bergin (2005) have suggested assessing clients' religiousness at a broad level initially, using ecumenical measures, followed by a more detailed assessment that uses measures particular to the client's religious affiliation. In this study, the utility of this approach was tested in predicting expectations about psychotherapy of Christian clients (N = 176). Their religious commitment was considered in comparison to religious beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors. Client religiousness was positively associated with ratings of therapist expertise and attractiveness, desire to discuss religious issues in psychotherapy, and desire to see a Christian therapist. This suggests that assessing religious commitment is important, and that measuring religious beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors add accuracy to assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)