And Still I Rise: Protective Factors for Black Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students from Predominantly White Institutions

In this study, we sought to understand which protective factors Black doctoral students from predominantly White institutions (PWI) utilized to persist in their counseling psychology doctoral programs. Past research has examined the potential obstacles these students encounter and the importance of the mentor relationship in the doctoral process. In this study, we sought to explore the factors that motivate Black doctoral students to complete their respective programs, as well as important features in their relationship with their advisor. There were four males and three females with ages ranging from 22 – 41 (M = 27.57 and SD = 6.63) from various counseling psychology programs throughout the country. Within the constructivist-interpretivist research paradigm, interviews were conducted via Skype and analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The study’s findings illuminate important factors that are significant in creating diverse and inclusive educational environments that will allow for more marginalized groups to contribute to the field of psychology at the doctoral level.

The Hidden Cost of Age Oppression: Adultism, Ageism, and Interest in Serving Older Adults

Adultism is an underappreciated influence on young adults’ career choices and a hidden contributing factor to the geropsychology workforce shortage. This study reports on the development of an Adultist Concerns scale and its correlations with several factors relevant to careers in aging. Clinical psychology doctoral students (n = 109) completed the new scale along with measures of ageism, training interests, and experience working with older adults. The Adultist Concerns scale had strong internal consistency (α = .952) and factor loadings .853 and .929. Females scored significantly higher than males (p = .003). There were significant positive correlations between Adultist Concerns and both overall ageist behaviors (p = .002) and negative ageist behaviors specifically (p = .002). Adultist concerns were significantly negatively correlated with age (p = .000), interest in working with older adults (p = .003), and experience with this population (p = .043).

Is the Political Slant of Psychology Research Related to Scientific Replicability?

Social science researchers are predominantly liberal, and critics have argued this representation may reduce the robustness of research by embedding liberal values into the research process. In an adversarial collaboration, we examined whether the political slant of research findings in psychology is associated with lower rates of scientific replicability. We analyzed 194 original psychology articles reporting studies that had been subject to a later replication attempt ( N = 1,331,413 participants across replications) by having psychology doctoral students (Study 1) and an online sample of U.S. residents (Study 2) from across the political spectrum code the political slant (liberal vs. conservative) of the original research abstracts. The methods and analyses were preregistered. In both studies, the liberal or conservative slant of the original research was not associated with whether the results were successfully replicated. The results remained consistent regardless of the ideology of the coder. Political slant was unrelated to both subsequent citation patterns and the original study’s effect size and not consistently related to the original study’s sample size. However, we found modest evidence that research with greater political slant—whether liberal or conservative—was less replicable, whereas statistical robustness consistently predicted replication success. We discuss the implications for social science, politics, and replicability.

Coping Dynamics of Consulting Psychology Doctoral Students Transitioning a Professional Role Identity: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective

To remain relevant and valuable, the psychology profession in South Africa continues to transform and evolve in response to the changing needs of society. Some psychologists embark on development opportunities to advance their professional qualifications and skills. In doing so, they experience identity tensions inherent to professional identity development and transformation. Understanding how psychologists cope with professional identity transition will enable them to develop a self-efficacious service offering and broaden the reach of psychology in the South African context. The aim of this study was to explore the identity work of a group of eight consulting psychology doctoral students to develop a system psychodynamic understanding of their coping dynamics while transitioning to a professional role identity. Students’ self-reflective essays about becoming a consulting psychologist constituted the data protocols for the study and were analysed through hermeneutic phenomenological analysis. Findings describe how students cope with performance and survival anxieties through anti-task behaviour and immature as well as sophisticated psychodynamic defences. The study contributes to the exploration of the coping concept and its manifestation, by proposing defensive coping as a natural dynamic phenomenon in the process of adapting to a transforming professional identity.