TOWARD A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CULTURAL IDENTITY NEGOTIATION: THE EXPERIENCES OF MINORITY YOUTH IN MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES

<p>How do immigrant and minority youth navigate between and within their heritage culture and the majority culture of the wider society? Acculturation theory and research point to a widespread preference for integration (adopting and maintaining bicultural affiliations) and a strong link between integration and psychological wellbeing. Despite compelling empirical evidence about the psychological and social benefits of integration, there is limited research about how immigrant and minority youth go about achieving it. This thesis examines the mechanisms underpinning cultural identity integration, how immigrant and minority youth select desirable aspects of both cultures and blend them together in a novel way (hybridising) or shift between and across cultural identities depending on situational factors (alternating). The research is based on the core model developed by Ward and associates, which demonstrates that a motivation to integrate activates both hybrid and alternating identity styles but that these styles lead to different cultural identity outcomes (consolidation versus conflict) and have divergent effects on wellbeing (Ward, Ng Tseung-Wong, Szabo, Qumseya & Bhowon, 2018). The thesis has three main objectives: 1) to test the core mediational model of cultural identity negotiation with other minority groups and in other cultural contexts; 2) to extend the model by exploring how socio-political factors and family dynamics affect cultural identity styles and their outcomes; and 3) to explore gaps and omissions in the model to guide future research. To these ends, mixed methods are used across three studies with Arab youth in New Zealand and Arab-Palestinian youth in the state of Israel. The first study tested the mediational model of cultural identity negotiation quantitatively with Arab minority youth in New Zealand and expanded Ward et al.’s (2018) model by testing contextual variables as antecedents of the hybrid and alternating cultural identity styles and their outcomes. Subsequently, the second study uses the same methodology to investigate the experiences of young Palestinian citizens of Israel. The core mediational model was replicated in both contexts. Findings from both studies revealed that family context exerted similar influences on cultural identity styles while socio-political factors affected cultural identity styles and wellbeing in different ways. In addition, the alternating identity style appeared to be more responsive to contextual factors (family dynamics and socio-political context) than the hybrid identity style. The third study aimed to gain a broader and deeper understanding of the findings from the previous two studies, using qualitative methods to draw on the cross-cultural insights derived from a comparison of the New Zealand and Israel contexts. The qualitative study brought the individual agency into the spotlight as participants discussed selecting different strategies across work, home and university settings. When young people described their lived experiences, the alternating identity style emerged as a beneficial strategy enabling them to bridge cultural contexts without negative outcomes. Youth often had access to more than one cultural identity style and proactively interchanged them resiliently and flexibly to navigate a wide range of social environments. The combination of studies in this thesis provided additional insights into acculturation literature, integration and cultural identity styles. The findings of the research programme have contributed to gaining novel perspectives in understanding youth experiences during acculturation. More specifically, findings of this thesis led to greater understanding of what contextual factors influence the bicultural interplay of ethnic and civic participation and identity among multicultural youth. The mixed method design also has significant contributions that enabled a contextually situated understanding of the experiences of Arab youth within their cultural and socio-ecological environments and their experiences as minorities in two very different country contexts.</p>

TOWARD A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CULTURAL IDENTITY NEGOTIATION: THE EXPERIENCES OF MINORITY YOUTH IN MULTICULTURAL SOCIETIES

<p>How do immigrant and minority youth navigate between and within their heritage culture and the majority culture of the wider society? Acculturation theory and research point to a widespread preference for integration (adopting and maintaining bicultural affiliations) and a strong link between integration and psychological wellbeing. Despite compelling empirical evidence about the psychological and social benefits of integration, there is limited research about how immigrant and minority youth go about achieving it. This thesis examines the mechanisms underpinning cultural identity integration, how immigrant and minority youth select desirable aspects of both cultures and blend them together in a novel way (hybridising) or shift between and across cultural identities depending on situational factors (alternating). The research is based on the core model developed by Ward and associates, which demonstrates that a motivation to integrate activates both hybrid and alternating identity styles but that these styles lead to different cultural identity outcomes (consolidation versus conflict) and have divergent effects on wellbeing (Ward, Ng Tseung-Wong, Szabo, Qumseya & Bhowon, 2018). The thesis has three main objectives: 1) to test the core mediational model of cultural identity negotiation with other minority groups and in other cultural contexts; 2) to extend the model by exploring how socio-political factors and family dynamics affect cultural identity styles and their outcomes; and 3) to explore gaps and omissions in the model to guide future research. To these ends, mixed methods are used across three studies with Arab youth in New Zealand and Arab-Palestinian youth in the state of Israel. The first study tested the mediational model of cultural identity negotiation quantitatively with Arab minority youth in New Zealand and expanded Ward et al.’s (2018) model by testing contextual variables as antecedents of the hybrid and alternating cultural identity styles and their outcomes. Subsequently, the second study uses the same methodology to investigate the experiences of young Palestinian citizens of Israel. The core mediational model was replicated in both contexts. Findings from both studies revealed that family context exerted similar influences on cultural identity styles while socio-political factors affected cultural identity styles and wellbeing in different ways. In addition, the alternating identity style appeared to be more responsive to contextual factors (family dynamics and socio-political context) than the hybrid identity style. The third study aimed to gain a broader and deeper understanding of the findings from the previous two studies, using qualitative methods to draw on the cross-cultural insights derived from a comparison of the New Zealand and Israel contexts. The qualitative study brought the individual agency into the spotlight as participants discussed selecting different strategies across work, home and university settings. When young people described their lived experiences, the alternating identity style emerged as a beneficial strategy enabling them to bridge cultural contexts without negative outcomes. Youth often had access to more than one cultural identity style and proactively interchanged them resiliently and flexibly to navigate a wide range of social environments. The combination of studies in this thesis provided additional insights into acculturation literature, integration and cultural identity styles. The findings of the research programme have contributed to gaining novel perspectives in understanding youth experiences during acculturation. More specifically, findings of this thesis led to greater understanding of what contextual factors influence the bicultural interplay of ethnic and civic participation and identity among multicultural youth. The mixed method design also has significant contributions that enabled a contextually situated understanding of the experiences of Arab youth within their cultural and socio-ecological environments and their experiences as minorities in two very different country contexts.</p>

Online app to develop positive affect in adolescents - Positive Approaches to Life: A Smartphone-Administered Self-Help Program for Adolescents

<p>Psychological well-being has traditionally been viewed as the absence of psychopathology. However, there is an increasing focus on the development of psychological skills and resources, which may both promote psychological well-being and buffer the impacts of stress. There is a promising amount of research demonstrating that brief, positive, psychological interventions are effective in increasing psychological well-being and reducing psychopathology in individuals (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009). While the mechanisms behind successful positive psychology interventions (PPIs) are not well understood, it has been posited that positive, intentional activities may effect change by increasing positive emotions, cognitions and behaviours, which in turn lead to positive psychological outcomes. These interventions have traditionally targeted adults, and thus substantially fewer interventions have been conducted with adolescent samples (Mitchell & VellaBrodrick, 2009). Additionally, successful programmes have often not been widely implemented due to high resource cost for therapists and teachers. Researchers have suggested it might be worthwhile to improve methodological designs by using nontraditional approaches of delivery, i.e. smartphones, for psychological interventions (Munoz, 2012). The present study was designed to: 1) to investigate whether a smartphone technology delivering positive, intentional activities had a significant influence on levels of well-being in an intervention group when compared to a control group; and 2) to construct a mediational model to inform the relationships between core constructs of psychological well-being and emotions (e.g., subjective happiness, adaptive coping, and resilience). The study included 72 participants, aged 10-15 years, who were recruited from six schools in the wider Wellington region. Participants operated a smartphone-based application that required them to complete four modules designed to cultivate positive emotions. Contrary to predictions, two multivariate repeated measures analyses of variance (MANOVA) indicated that participants who completed the app did not display increases in positive emotion or of positive psychological outcomes compared to the control group. The mediational model showed that adaptive resources might lead to greater psychological well-being in adolescents. In particular, the model indicated that higher adaptive coping resources lead to increased psychological well-being through the variable of increased resilience. These results indicate that adaptive coping strategies may play a key role in positive adolescent development. The limitations of the study are discussed and recommendations were made for future research to determine the efficacy of smartphone applications in psychological research with adolescents.</p>

Online app to develop positive affect in adolescents - Positive Approaches to Life: A Smartphone-Administered Self-Help Program for Adolescents

<p>Psychological well-being has traditionally been viewed as the absence of psychopathology. However, there is an increasing focus on the development of psychological skills and resources, which may both promote psychological well-being and buffer the impacts of stress. There is a promising amount of research demonstrating that brief, positive, psychological interventions are effective in increasing psychological well-being and reducing psychopathology in individuals (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009). While the mechanisms behind successful positive psychology interventions (PPIs) are not well understood, it has been posited that positive, intentional activities may effect change by increasing positive emotions, cognitions and behaviours, which in turn lead to positive psychological outcomes. These interventions have traditionally targeted adults, and thus substantially fewer interventions have been conducted with adolescent samples (Mitchell & VellaBrodrick, 2009). Additionally, successful programmes have often not been widely implemented due to high resource cost for therapists and teachers. Researchers have suggested it might be worthwhile to improve methodological designs by using nontraditional approaches of delivery, i.e. smartphones, for psychological interventions (Munoz, 2012). The present study was designed to: 1) to investigate whether a smartphone technology delivering positive, intentional activities had a significant influence on levels of well-being in an intervention group when compared to a control group; and 2) to construct a mediational model to inform the relationships between core constructs of psychological well-being and emotions (e.g., subjective happiness, adaptive coping, and resilience). The study included 72 participants, aged 10-15 years, who were recruited from six schools in the wider Wellington region. Participants operated a smartphone-based application that required them to complete four modules designed to cultivate positive emotions. Contrary to predictions, two multivariate repeated measures analyses of variance (MANOVA) indicated that participants who completed the app did not display increases in positive emotion or of positive psychological outcomes compared to the control group. The mediational model showed that adaptive resources might lead to greater psychological well-being in adolescents. In particular, the model indicated that higher adaptive coping resources lead to increased psychological well-being through the variable of increased resilience. These results indicate that adaptive coping strategies may play a key role in positive adolescent development. The limitations of the study are discussed and recommendations were made for future research to determine the efficacy of smartphone applications in psychological research with adolescents.</p>

Relationships among higher secondary students' beliefs about mathematical ability, goals, learning strategies, and mathematics achievement, in the Maldives: A three-path mediational analysis

<p>Structural equation modelling techniques were used to test a three-path mediational model of mathematics achievement on the relationships among higher secondary students' beliefs about mathematical ability, achievement goals, learning strategies, and mathematics achievement. Participants were higher secondary students (n = 341) who were studying advanced level mathematics at the Centre for Higher Secondary Education, one of the largest school that provides higher secondary education in the Maldives. Questionnaires were used to collect self-report data. Students' final year mathematics results (i.e., standardised test results) were used as the achievement data. Incremental beliefs had a positive relation with mathematics achievement, mediated by mastery goals and deep-learning strategies. Incremental beliefs had a negative relation with mathematics achievement, mediated by performance-approach goals and surface-learning strategies. Entity beliefs had a negative relation with mathematics achievement, mediated through performance-avoidance goals and surface-learning strategies. Incremental beliefs also had an overall indirect positive relation, and entity beliefs had an overall indirect negative relation with the achievement. The results of the mediational model showed the best possible pathways that students could follow in the academic setting as far as performance and building capacity in mathematics were concerned. The results might be useful to teachers and educators with respect to making decisions aimed at creating a better learning environment for students and to improve the quality of mathematics education provided to higher secondary students in the Maldives.</p>

Relationships among higher secondary students' beliefs about mathematical ability, goals, learning strategies, and mathematics achievement, in the Maldives: A three-path mediational analysis

<p>Structural equation modelling techniques were used to test a three-path mediational model of mathematics achievement on the relationships among higher secondary students' beliefs about mathematical ability, achievement goals, learning strategies, and mathematics achievement. Participants were higher secondary students (n = 341) who were studying advanced level mathematics at the Centre for Higher Secondary Education, one of the largest school that provides higher secondary education in the Maldives. Questionnaires were used to collect self-report data. Students' final year mathematics results (i.e., standardised test results) were used as the achievement data. Incremental beliefs had a positive relation with mathematics achievement, mediated by mastery goals and deep-learning strategies. Incremental beliefs had a negative relation with mathematics achievement, mediated by performance-approach goals and surface-learning strategies. Entity beliefs had a negative relation with mathematics achievement, mediated through performance-avoidance goals and surface-learning strategies. Incremental beliefs also had an overall indirect positive relation, and entity beliefs had an overall indirect negative relation with the achievement. The results of the mediational model showed the best possible pathways that students could follow in the academic setting as far as performance and building capacity in mathematics were concerned. The results might be useful to teachers and educators with respect to making decisions aimed at creating a better learning environment for students and to improve the quality of mathematics education provided to higher secondary students in the Maldives.</p>

Forgotten Variables and Older Men in Custody: Negative Childhood Events, Forgiveness, and Religiosity

The study tested a mediational model linking negative childhood events through forgiveness of self and social support to religiosity using data from a convenience sample of 261 men aged 45–82 years residing behind prison walls. The Developmental Model of Adaptation provided the study's conceptual model for investigating the associations among the study variables. The study tested a mediational model linking the distal past (negative childhood events) to the outcome, religiosity, through forgiveness, and social support. The final model demonstrated the association of negative childhood events with religiosity through forgiveness of self (not forgiveness of others or situation) and social support. The study's findings suggest that at intake and during time in confinement, middle-aged and older men in prison should be assessed for and offered interventions aimed at helping them cope with the trauma of childhood events, achieve self-forgiveness, seek social support, and express religiosity as important for sustaining their well-being.

One Hundred and Sixty-One Days in the Life of the Homopandemicus in Serbia: The Contribution of Information Credibility and Alertness in Predicting Engagement in Protective Behaviors

COVID-19 pandemic is a long-lasting process associated with dynamic changes within society and in individual psychological responses. Effective communication of measures by credible sources throughout the epidemic is one of the crucial factors for the containment of the disease, and the official communication about pandemics is straightforwardly directed toward changes in behavior via engagement in (self-)protective measures. Calls for the adherence to these measures are aimed at the general population, but people's reactions to these calls vary depending on, for example, their individual differences in cognitive and emotional responses to the situation. The focus of our study was the general narrative about the epidemic as conveyed by both state officials and media outlets in times of decreased social contacts due to the quarantine, in which relying on these sources of information is even more pivotal. Our aim was to explore the stability of the proposed mediational model during the course of the epidemic in Serbia. In the model, we tested the relationship between perceived credibility of information (PCI) and two types of protective behavior—the actual self-protective behavior (ASPB) and the hypothetical protective behavior (HPB), as well as the potential mediating role of alertness in these relationships time-wise. A cross-sectional study (N = 10,782, female = 79.1%) was being administered daily during the first epidemic wave and in three more 2-week time frames during the second wave. Based on the variability of these measures during the first epidemic wave, three stages of psychological responses were mapped (acute, adaptation, and relaxation stage), which were observed, with some deviations, also in the second wave. The mediational model was relatively robust after the initial few weeks, but the strength of pairwise relationships was more changeable. With both types of protective behaviors, the predictive power of PCI was partially mediated through alertness. This suggests that, while individual differences in cognitive and affective responses are important, so is coherent, focused, and credible communication in all stages of the epidemic, which emphasizes the communality aspect of the social containment of the infection. Our findings can thus be valuable in informing the planning of effective future communication.

Sense of purpose in life and motivation, barriers, and engagement in physical activity and sedentary behavior: Test of a mediational model

Purpose in life is associated with greater engagement in physical activity. The present research ( N = 3473) addresses whether motivations and barriers to physical activity mediate this relation concurrently and prospectively early in the coronavirus pandemic. Higher purpose was associated with greater intrinsic, identified, and external motivation for physical activity and fewer barriers. Intrinsic motivation was a robust mediator of the relation between purpose and more physical activity and less sedentary behavior reported concurrently and prospectively; identified motivation mediated the relation with physical activity. Purpose in life is associated with being more physically active through both greater enjoyment and valuing its benefits.