The influence of Black students' racial identity attitudes on preferences for counselor's race.

Racial identity attitudes derived from W. E. Cross' (1971) racial identity model and respondents' racial self-designations were used to predict 92 Black university students' preferences for Black and White counselors. Ss completed the Assessment in Career Decision Making Scale, a counselor preference scale, and a racial identity scale. Multiple regression and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Racial attitudes accounted for a significant percentage of the variance involving preferences for counselor's race. Of the 4 types of attitudes measured (preencounter, encounter, immersion–emersion, and internalization), preencounter attitudes were most strongly associated with a preference for White counselors and a nonacceptance of Black counselors. The other 3 types of attitudes were associated with varying degrees of preference for Black counselors and nonacceptance of White counselors. Racial self-designation (e.g., Black, Negro, Afro-American) was not associated with preferences for either Black or White counselors. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectations and preferences for counselor race and their relation to intermediate treatment outcomes.

The expectations and preferences of 26 White and 8 Black male veterans for the race of their counselor were investigated at the time the clients entered treatment in a midwestern outpatient mental health clinic. In addition, Ss' satisfaction with treatment, measured by a 3-factor self-rating scale and dropout status, were analyzed in relation to Ss' expectations and preferences for counselor race and the racial makeup of the treatment dyad. Results indicate that White and Black clients alike expected their counselor to be White. About half of the White Ss and half of the Blacks indicated that they had no preferences. However, the significant association between race and S preference for counselor race suggests that Ss expressing preferences preferred counselors of their own race. Dropout and satisfaction with treatment were not related to the nature of Ss' racial expectations and preferences or to the racial makeup of the treatment dyads. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer acceptance and school-related variables in an integrated junior high school.

Interracial peer acceptance at the junior high school level was related to 9 predictor variables: grade point average (GPA), IQ, attendance, self-concept of academic ability, sex, race, age, years in the school, and classroom racial composition. 322 7th- and 8th-grade students from predominantly lower-middle-class backgrounds were administered modified Syracuse Scales of Human Relations, measuring academic and social acceptance. Analysis of variance results show that White Ss slightly preferred Whites for the satisfaction of their academic and social needs. However, with stepwise multiple regression analysis, race was not a significant predictor variable for academic or social acceptance by White Ss. GPA and sex were the most prominent predictors of acceptance. Black Ss accepted both Black peers and White peers equally for academic interaction but preferred Blacks for social interaction. Race was a significant predictor variable for academic and social acceptance by Black Ss. However, race was secondary to GPA and/or sex for academic acceptance by Black females and Black males. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Remembering race: White racial identity attitudes and two aspects of social memory.

This study investigated whether the White racial identity statuses proposed by J. E. Helms (1984, 1990, 1995) could explain individual differences in how racial stereotypes influence memory for race-related information as measured by memory sensitivity and response bias on a recognition memory task. Participants were 197 White undergraduate and graduate students who read 3 stimulus paragraphs embedded with Black and White stereotypical items. The race of the target character in the stimulus was randomly reported to be Black or White. After a 1-week interval, participants completed a measure of recognition memory, as well as a measure of White racial identity attitudes. Results offer support for the hypothesis that the White racial identity statuses influence how racial stereotypes affect information processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial and behavioral cues in Black and White children's perceptions of ambiguously aggressive acts.

Examined the way in which the interpretation of ambiguous social behavior is influenced by racial stereotypes and cultural differences. 40 Black and 40 White 6th-grade males were shown a variety of ambiguously aggressive behaviors performed by Black and White stimulus figures. As predicted, both Black and White Ss rated these behaviors as more mean and threatening when the perpetrator was Black than when he was White. In contrast, ratings of personal characteristics were in general determined by individual behavior rather than by group stereotypes, although Blacks, whether they were the perpetrator or the recipient of the behaviors, were rated as stronger than their White counterparts. Cultural differences between S groups were apparent in the greater tendency of the White Ss to read threat into ambiguously aggressive behaviors involving no physical contact and to assume that the perpetrators of such behaviors were stronger than the recipients. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Story recall in young Black and White children: Effects of racial group membership, race of experimenter, and dialect.

Tested the effects of racial group membership, race of E, and dialect on unstructured and probed recall. l6 Black and 16 White 4-6 mo old children were Ss. Subgroups of 4 Ss within each racial group were randomly assigned to the experimental conditions such that order of exposure to E (Black and White) and dialects Standard English vs Black English vernacular) were counterbalanced. Results show that Whites performed better than Blacks in Standard English, Blacks performed better than Whites in Black English vernacular, Blacks tested in Black English vernacular were equivalent to Whites tested in Standard English, and Whites performed better in Standard English than in Black English vernacular. When probed with questions, there was an overall increase in the proportion of correct information for both racial groups. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-racial psychotherapy: What the therapists say.

41 White and 37 Black psychotherapists with an average of 8.2 yrs' experience completed a 41-item questionnaire regarding psychotherapy with same- and opposite-race clients. White Ss did not experience racial issues in psychotherapy with the same salience that Black Ss did, yet they reported higher levels of subjective distress in cross-racial treatment. This distress focused on negative attitudes of clients, therapists' feelings of not being able to help or confront opposite race clients, or being oversolicitous or too distant with opposite-race clients. Both therapist groups reported equivalent abilities to empathize with opposite-race clients, but Blacks and Whites differed on a number of questions of racial attitudes and stereotyping. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relation of racial identity attitudes to self-actualization and affective states of Black students.

The relation between racial identity attitudes derived from W. E. Cross's (1971) model of psychological nigrescence, or Black self-actualization, and various affective states hypothesized to be relevant to the racial identification process, were investigated through multiple regression analysis. Cross proposed a model of how a person converts from Negro to Black, a process consisting of 5 distinct psychological stages characterized by different racial identity attitudes. Ss were 166 Black university students, who completed the Personal Orientation Inventory, a racial attitude scale, the SCL-90, and a personal-data information sheet. Both pro-White–anti-Black (preencounter) and pro-Black–anti-White (immersion) attitudes were associated with greater personal distress, as indicated by negative relations between these attitudes and mentally healthy self-actualizing tendencies and by positive relations to feelings of inferiority, anxiety, and hostility. Awakening Black identity (encounter attitudes) was positively related to self-actualization tendencies and negatively related to feelings of inferiority and anxiety. The possibility that cognitive and affective components of racial identity attitudes may evolve via different models is explored. Recommendations for delivery of psychological services to Black populations are discussed. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of social behavior on interracial acceptance.

To test children's use of race and social behavior as cues in social acceptance, 128 Black and White male kindergartners and 1st graders rated 6 unknown videotaped target children for likability. Targets varied factorially on race (Black or White) and exhibited either positive, negative, or neutral classroom social behavior. Across age, socioeconomic status, and race, Ss used behavior as a cue, accounting for 50% of likability variance. Positive targets were liked equivalently, but Black neutral and negative targets were liked less than White counterparts. Racial but not socioeconomic status differences in the use of behaviors as social cues were found. Negative targets were liked more by Blacks than Whites and neutral targets were liked more by Whites than Blacks. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluative race–class stereotypes by race and perceived class of subjects.

80 Black and 74 White college students assigned traits, from a list of 80, to the Black lower class, Black middle class, White lower class, and White middle class. Each S rated the 5 or fewer traits that he or she had chosen as being most typical of the respective race–class groups from –5 (unfavorable) to +5 (favorable) for the given groups. Ss also assigned themselves to 1 of 4 classes: lower class, working class, middle class, or upper class. On the basis of these judgments, the Ss within each racial group were classified as perceiving themselves to be above or below the median of their own race's distribution. White Ss assigned more favorable characteristics to the middle than to the lower class and did not rate Blacks lower than Whites. Black Ss made a similar, but smaller, social class distinction and, in addition, generally perceived Blacks more favorably than Whites. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interracial and intraracial quasi-counseling interactions when counselors avoid discussing race.

Dyadic interactions composed of Black clients and White or Black race-avoidant counselors in 1-time quasi-counseling sessions were influenced by myriad factors, including how these clients responded to influential purveyors of a race-neutralizing climate. Using C. E. Thompson, R. Worthington, and D. R. Atkinson's (see record 1994-30597-001) data set, 24 of these interactions were analyzed to identify significant patterns in the counseling process. The following core categories related to interactional quality were uncovered: smooth, exasperated, constricted, and disjunctive. The following factors explicated these interactional quality categories: (1) whether and how the client introduced race or race-related concerns, (2) client racial identity perspectives; and (3) client affiliation (or lack thereof) with the counselor based on race. The implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expanding racial identity theory to cover counseling process.

J. Pomales et al (see record 1986-15328-001) attempted to study the effects of Black racial identity on Ss' perceptions of culturally sensitive and culturally insensitive counselors. It is argued that attempts to assess racial identity via single variables trivialize the construct. It is further suggested that problems with the manner in which the racial identity attitude scale developed by T. A. Parham and the present author (see record 1981-21936-001) was used contributed to possible problems in scale reliability and interpretation. A theoretical explanation of the results of Pomales et al is offered. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-cultural counseling process research: A rejoinder.

Replies to the criticism of J. E. Helms (1986) of the present authors' (1986) study of the effects of Black students' racial identity on perceptions of White counselors. Helms's comments on the way racial identity is conceptualized, operationalized, and measured using a racial identity attitude scale are answered, and their implications for continued cross-cultural counseling process research are explored. (7 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nonverbal communication of affect in interracial dyads.

Two experiments investigated the relationship between nonverbal behavior and the racial composition of a teacher–student dyad. The Multifactor Racial Attitude Inventory was used to measure prejudice. In Exp I, 36 high- and low-prejudiced White female undergraduates, acting as teachers, were led to praise successful White and Black students (confederates). Analysis of samples of nonverbal behavior showed that high-prejudiced teachers nonverbally discriminated between White and Black students (favoring Whites) significantly more than low-prejudiced teachers. In Exp II, 40 White and Black teachers (female undergraduates) taught successful White and Black students (confederates). Results show that both Whites and Blacks behaved nonverbally more positively to a student of their own race than to a student of the other race, although only same-race judges (12 White female undergraduates) could distinguish the differences in affect displayed by the Ss. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining a multidimensional framework of racial identity across different biracial groups.

The term multiracial is complex. Recent research has adopted a multidimensional view initially proposed by Rockquemore and colleagues (2002, 2009) for examining racial identity among Black/White biracial people. This approach has acknowledged the social construction of race and broadened the range of racial identity options beyond the two “traditional” options of being “Black” or “biracial.” This study was designed to further assess this framework by examining a more diverse multiracial sample from Canada and the U.S. (N = 122). Both the Black/White biracials (n = 38) and Asian/White biracials (n = 40) showed great variability in their selection of Rockquemore's multiracial identity categories, but the pattern of responses differed across the two groups. In addition to revealing different patterns of identity selection between Asian/White and Black/White biracial persons, findings demonstrated the importance of identity validation by others and its relation to conceptions of the self. Having a multiracial identity that is validated by others (as opposed to invalidated or contextually dependent identities) was associated with higher levels of identity integration and self-concept clarity. Theoretical implications for extending a multidimensional model to other biracial groups are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Open-space schools: Anticipation of peer interaction and development of cooperative interdependence.

42 same-sex pairs of varied racial composition were randomly selected from 8th graders in each of 2 matched schools, with open- vs closed-space architectural styles. Open-space Ss were more likely to develop cooperative interdependence in a mixed-motive game (a decomposed prisoner's dilemma) and were more inclined to make proximal seating choices indicative of anticipated peer interaction. A Sex by Race by Trial Blocks interaction effect reflected different patterns of responding for males and females. Females of either race learned to cooperate in same-race pairs and to compete in mixed-race pairs. White males learned to cooperate and Black males to compete independent of their partner's race. External scores on Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale were not related to schools but were, as expected, higher for Black than for White students. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of professor ethnicity and gender on student evaluations: Judged before met.

Ethnic minority academicians face a number of challenges in the “ivory tower.” One set of challenges arises from the racial stereotypes that others hold, and the current research investigates the stereotypes held by students before they even meet such professors. After providing college preparatory students with a CV of a professor (differing in their race—White, Black, or Asian; their gender—male or female; and their academic discipline—Science or Humanities), students evaluated the professor on measures of competence, legitimacy, and interpersonal skills. We found that students evaluated Black professors to be significantly less competent and legitimate than their White and Asian counterparts. Both Black and Asian professors were judged to have significantly less interpersonal skills than White professors. No gender main effects emerged. Professors in science were judged to be more competent and legitimate than professors in humanities. Very few interactions surfaced. We discuss our results in terms of previous stereotype research and the implications our results have for further compounding the challenges that Black professors face in academia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and race effects in the conformity behavior of upper-elementary school-aged children.

Reports 2 experiments with a total of 368 Black and White lower- and middle-class 9-12 yr olds in which a novel technique was used to study sex and race effects on children's conformity behavior. Neither the White, lower-class Ss nor the White, middle-class Ss showed any consistent tendency to conform differentially to Black and White models. A tendency of Blacks in Exp I to conform more to White than to Black models constituted the only race effect of any consequence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)