Intro to Psychology - Chapter 10 - Diversity in Psychology

Age

In the United States, about 5–7% of the population falls into each 5-year age range starting with the youngest children (0–4 years old) and continuing through middle age (54–59 years old). About 18% of the population is over 60, including about 6% over 75.

Sexual Orientation

experts on the subject typically agree that about 2–4% of the U.S. population identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual

Education

About 85% of U.S. residents graduate from high school, but only about 28% graduate from college

Income

The median family income in the United States is about $58,000, but the range is tremendous

Geographic Dispersal

About half of the U.S. population lives in the country’s 39 largest cities. Another 30% or so live in towns with at least 2500 people. The remaining approximately 20% live in rural areas, defined as towns with fewer than 2500 people.

Disabilities

About 19% of the U.S. population has a disability, with a roughly even split between those who describe their disability as “severe” and “nonsevere.”

**intersectionality**

the way any one person’s unique combination of social and cultural categories intersect or overlap, especially as related to discrimination or unequal treatment.

**culture**

a set of shared beliefs, values, and patterns of behavior within a group of people

**worldview**

a comprehensive, culturally influenced way of approaching and understanding the world around you

**dynamic sizing**

the ability to simultaneously know the norm for a group *and* recognize that the norm might not apply to every member of that group

**Multiculturalism**

a psychological approach that highlights the importance and value of multiple cultural groups within a society

**acculturation**

managing a life that involves the coexistence of more than one culture

**Assimilation**

an acculturation strategy in which the person adopts the new culture and rejects the old culture

**Separation**

an acculturation strategy in which the person retains the old culture and rejects the new culture

**Marginalization**

an acculturation strategy in which the person rejects both the new culture and the old culture

**Integration**

an acculturation strategy in which the person adopts both the new culture and the old culture

**acculturative stress**

stress associated with the process of managing old and new cultures

**Individualism**

a worldview that emphasizes the well-being of the individual over the well-being of the group

**collectivism**

a worldview that emphasizes the well-being of the group over the well-being of the individual

**Cultural intelligence**

your ability to live and interact effectively in a multicultural society

**microaggressions**

everyday actions or comments that, often unintentionally, contain hostile or off-putting messages for members of certain cultures

**gender**

your culture’s social, psychological, behavioral expectations related to maleness or femaleness

**sex**

your biological maleness or femaleness

**gender identity**

your internal sense of yourself as male or female

**cisgender**

a person whose gender and sex match

**transgender**

a person whose gender and sex do not match

**transition**

choose to take steps to live as the gender that matches their identity rather than their biologically assigned gender

**Sexual orientation**

a person’s pattern of romantic attraction to a particular group (or groups) of other people

**heterosexual**

attracted to members of the other sex or gender

**homosexual**

attracted to members of the same sex or gender

**bisexual**

attracted to people of both the other and the same sex or gender.

**LGBTQ**

a community of members of sexual minorities, including lesbian (L), gay (G), bisexual (B), transgender (T), queer/questioning (Q), and other people.