Multicultural Psychology Exam 2

Immigrant

Moved to another country voluntarily. May take months or years to decide to move, allowing preparation and the availability to begin acculturation before the move.

Refugees

People forced to move due to war, oppression. Decision to move is immediate with no time to prepare or begin the acculturation process.

Berry’s Six Stages of Refugee Career

Pre-departure, Flight, First asylum, Claimant, Settlement, Adaptation

Pre-departure

Conditions that force refugees to flee their homelands

Flight

The period of transit away from the homeland

First asylum

First place where refugees settle

Claimant

The first country of potential resettlement

Settlement

The country of settlement

Adaptation

Adjustment to the new country of settlement

Acculturation

Experiences and changes that groups and individuals undergo when they come in contact with a different culture

Assimilationist

Individual who blends completely into the host society, taking on the values of that society and rejecting their original values.

Separationist/Traditionalist

Individual who refuses to take on any values of the host society, hanging onto their original values completely.

Marginalist

Individual who does not adopt either the host society’s values or their original values.

Integrationist or Biculturalist

Individuals who hold on to their original values while also learning and adopting the values of the host culture.

Unidimensional acculturation models

(Home vs. Host) Endorsing traditional values means accepting less of the host culture’s values and vice versa

Bidimensional acculturation models

(Two separate axes) Examines acculturation and enculturation separately

Multidimensional acculturation models

(Distinct dimensions) Examines behavior, language, social relationships, identity, knowledge, and values dimensions separately

Ecological Microsystem

Includes relationships among family members living within one household.

Ecological Mesosystem

Includes immediate relationships outside family, such as schools, work, extended family, and the community in which one lives.

Ecological Exosystem

Includes major societal institutions, such as the media and the government.

Ecological Macrosystem

Includes cultural norms and societal rules that determine rules of conduct.

Ecological fit/ecological context

Similarity of the social and cultural environments between country of origin and the new host country.

Greater similarity = easier acculturation = less acculturative stress

Attribution theory

How people explain the cause of a person’s behavior. 

2 dimensions: internal-external, stable-unstable.

Fundamental attribution error

People in U.S. overestimate dispositional (internal, stable) causes and underestimate external causes.

Ultimate attribution error

Ascribing cause of a behavior to a group’s characteristics (internal, stable) rather than to an individual member.

Stereotype

Generalization about a group or its members based on their categorization (ultimate attribution error).

Prejudice

Judgement about a group or its members based on their categorization. May be positive or negative, but typically negative.

Discrimination

Negative behavior toward a group or its members based on their categorization at times backed by institutional power.

Illusory Correlation

Overestimation of co-occurrence of two infrequent events; may lead to
causal attribution.

Availability Heuristic

Mental shortcut whereby the importance/frequency/credence of a thing is exaggerated because it comes to mind easily.

Outgroup Homogeneity Effect

Tendency to see members of a social group that you are not a part of
as all the same.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Two conflicting cognitions creates motivation to change one in order to reduce unsettled feelings caused by the discrepancy.

Stereotype Threat

Fear of affirming a negative stereotype of one’s group, which causes an increase in anxiety, resulting in decreased performance. When the individual excels in an area contrary to stereotype, the ability to trigger rises. 

Overt racism

people in the majority intentionally engage in open, hostile aggression against racial minorities.

Covert, intentional racism 

intentional but covered up so that one can deny his/her racism.

Covert, unintentional racism

unintentional but perpetuates ongoing racist acts or traditions often by individuals who deny being racist and find racism aversive.

Color-Blind Racial Ideology (CBRI)

An attempt to pretend that race and racism will not exist if people ignore race or ethnicity. Denies historical power differences and color prejudice. 

Internalized Oppression

Learned as part of socialization/enculturation process from cultural level on down. Often unconscious, even if consciously rejected.

Microaggression

Minimal offense, typically unintentional and not harmful to the target, but reflects offender’s ignorance and accumulates to be burdensome over time.

Microassault

Blatant verbal, nonverbal, or environmental intentional attack that reflects bias toward lower power group.

Microinsult

Unintentional behavior or verbal comment conveying rudeness or insensitivity.

Microinvalidation

Statement or action that excludes, negates, or dismisses the perceptions of the target person.

White Privilege

Unearned advantages associated with being White in the U.S

White/Dominant Fragility

Discomfort/defensiveness on the part of a White (or other dominant/higher power) person when confronted by information about racial (or other) inequality/injustice.

Tripartite Model Individual Level

Involves genetic endowments and nonshared experiences

Tripartite Model Group Level

Involves similarities/differences in gender/race/socioeconomic status etc.

Tripartite Model Universal Level

Involves common life experiences and biological/physical similarities.

Cross’s Pre-encounter stage for African Americans

One see the world as organized according to the dominant culture and against one’s own cultural group.

Cross’s Encounter stage for African Americans

One is confronted with the realities of racism and devaluation of one’s cultural group.

Cross’s Immersion/emersion stage for African Americans

One involves oneself completely in one’s cultural group, excluding majority group experiences. One emerges from this stage because if society is truly dominated by the majority group, one cannot meet all of one’s needs

Cross’s Internalization stage for African Americans

One feels comfortable with one’s identity and embraces human universals, which allows one to express acceptance of other cultures.

Latinx Causal stage

Accepts the negative labels attached to a Latinx identity and feels humiliated and traumatized by these labels.

Latinx Cognitive stage

Believes that maintaining a Latinx identity necessarily means being poor and that escape from poverty and prejudice to attain success in life is possible only through assimilation.

Latinx Consequence stage

Feels estrangement from the Latinx community because negative attributes are associated with being Latinx.

Latinx Working through stage

Feels distress and alienation from Latinx community, thus motivated to integrate Latinx identity into sense of self.

Latinx Successful resolution stage

Latinx identity is integrated into one’s own identity and positive attributes of the Latinx identity are included. 

Helms’s Contact status for White Identity

Uninformed about realities of racism and privilege. 

Helms’s Disintegration status for White Identity

Enough contact with ethnic minorities to shatter naïveté about racism.

Helms’s Reintegration status for White Identity

Retreat to comfort zone within their European American communities.

Helms’s Pseudoindependence status for White Identity

Acknowledge realities of racism but believe oppressed groups should change (e.g., assimilate).

Helms’s Immersion/emersion status for White Identity

Form a more positive European American identity and focus on changing European Americans rather than oppressed groups.

Helm’s Autonomy status for White Identity

Comfortable with European American identity, understand that connections among all forms of oppression, and work to address all forms of oppression.

Poston’s Personal identity stage for Biracial Identity

Bases their identity on personal factors, such as self-esteem, instead of on race or ethnicity.

Poston’s Choice of group categorization stage for Biracial identity

Forced to choose which race or ethnicity they should use as the basis of their identity.

Poston’s Enmeshment/denial stage for Biracial Identity

Feels guilty about choosing one race or ethnicity over the other as implicit rejection of the parent whose race or ethnicity was not chosen.

Poston’s Appreciation stage for Biracial Identity

Begins to broaden their perspective to include the race or ethnicity not initially selected.

Poston’s Integration state for Biracial Identity

Sees the benefits of embracing both races or ethnicities.

Cass’s Identity confusion for Gay/Lesbian Identity

Begins to question their sexual and/or gender identity.

Cass’s Identity comparison for Gay/Lesbian Identity

Recognizes their feelings about same- sex/gender individuals.

Cass’s Identity tolerance for Gay/Lesbian Identity

Fully recognizes their feelings but attempts to hide them from others and from themself by trying to believe, for example, that it is just a phase.

Cass’s Identity acceptance for Gay/Lesbian Identity

Fully accepts their sexual and/or gender identity may come out to others.

Cass’s Identity pride for Gay/Lesbian Identity 

Openly expresses their sexual and/or gender identity and takes pride in that identity.

Cass’s Identity synthesis for Gay/Lesbian Identity

Able to integrate all aspects of their identities, such as ethnic minority status and gender.

Conformity

Sees dominant culture as better and superior to all groups and sees their own cultural group as less than or inferior.

Dissonance

Experience that challenges person’s belief that dominant group is superior and that minority groups are inferior.

Resistance and immersion

Immersion within own cultural group, rejecting dominant culture with extreme feelings of anger, guilt, and shame for their initial preference of the dominant culture and rejection of their own.

Introspection

Less angry at and distrustful of the dominant group, less immersed in own group, more appreciating of other groups, more apt to educate self about own identity, though still with some inner conflict.

Integrative awareness

Finds greater balance, appreciates own group as well as others, aware of self as individual and cultural being, sees differences among cultural groups, both positive and negative