Reinforcing or challenging the status quo: A grounded theory of how the model minority myth shapes Asian American activism.

Compared to other People of Color in the United States, Asian Americans are often seen as uninterested in activism. Furthermore, the widespread model minority myth (MMM) perpetuates the monolithic image of Asian Americans as successful in society and thus unaffected by racial oppression and uninterested in activism. Despite others' perceptions, Asian American college students have historically engaged in activist efforts and worked to reject the stereotypical views of their racial group as apolitical under the MMM. However, much remains to be learned about the consequences of the MMM on Asian American college students' perceptions and engagement in activism, and how such individuals make sense of the MMM and activism through interacting with their ecological contexts. Thus, the present study addresses this gap in the literature and is guided by the question: How do Asian American college students' perspectives and engagement in activism develop and operate in relation to the MMM? Using a constructivist grounded theory analytic approach, 25 Asian American college students participated in semistructured interviews, and our findings developed a grounded theory of how Asian American college students are embedded within micro- and macrolevel environments (e.g., familial, cultural, and societal contexts) that uphold the MMM and further shape how they make sense of and engage in activism. Results further revealed the consequences of the MMM as a legitimizing ideology on Asian American students' attitudes toward and involvement in challenging and/or reinforcing the status quo. Implications for future research and practice supporting Asian American activism and the broader pursuit for social justice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Ignoring race and denying racism: A meta-analysis of the associations between colorblind racial ideology, anti-Blackness, and other variables antithetical to racial justice.

One critical role counseling psychologists can play in dismantling anti-Blackness and eradicating systemic racism is to build on the field's strength in understanding individual-level processes (i.e., systems are created and maintained by individual actors). Drawing on antiracism scholarship, we aimed to better understand how colorblind racial ideology (CBRI), or the denial and minimization of race and racism, may serve as a barrier to engaging in antiracist praxis. Specifically, we conducted a meta-analysis to determine if color evasion (ignoring race) and power evasion (denying structural racism) CBRI were differentially associated with anti-Blackness and processes linked to antiracism. Findings based on 375 effects drawn from 83 studies with more than 25,000 individuals suggest different effects based on CBRI type. As hypothesized, we found that power evasion CBRI was related to increased endorsement of anti-Black prejudice (r = .33) and legitimizing ideologies (r = .24), and negatively associated with a range of other variables associated with antiracism, including social justice behaviors (r = -.31), multicultural practice competencies (r = -.16), diversity openness (r = -.28), and racial/ethnocultural empathy (r = -.35). Consistent with theory, color evasion CBRI was related to increased diversity openness (r = .12). We discuss limitations of our study, as well as outline future directions for research and practice to focus on the role of CBRI in sustaining and perpetuating anti-Blackness and systemic racism. Thus, this meta-analysis has implications for pushing the field of counseling psychology to build the bridge between individual ideologies and creating structural change. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Pride in our community: Reflecting on LGBTQ publications in the American Journal of Community Psychology.

In this Virtual Special Issue (VSI), we curate and discuss a set of 28 articles previously published in the American Journal of Community Psychology (AJCP) focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) communities. The purpose of this VSI is to bring visibility to this body of scholarship in AJCP and to reflect on how the strengths of our field have been used throughout this work in pursuit of supporting LGBTQ wellbeing. In this VSI, we first discuss articles that help to set the historical background for publications in AJCP. We then discuss papers under the broad themes of HIV/AIDS, identities within ecological context, and social activism among LGBTQ communities. We then reflect on opportunities for our field to further leverage our strengths in contributing to LGBTQ scholarship. Overall, this VSI celebrates the contributions to LGBTQ research already present in AJCP, and we hope inspires future contributions to the pages of AJCP and beyond.

Examining awareness of privilege among midwestern college students: An analysis of race/ethnicity, gender, and religion.

Dominant group members often are not aware of the privileges they benefit from due to their dominant group membership. Yet individuals are members of multiple groups and may simultaneously occupy multiple categories of dominance and marginality, raising the question of how different group memberships work in concert to facilitate or inhibit awareness of multiple forms of privilege. Examining awareness of privilege is important as awareness may be linked to action to dismantle systems of privilege that maintain oppression and inequality. Grounded in intersectional scholarship, in this study we examined how occupying intersecting categories of race/ethnicity, gender, and religion corresponded to an awareness of White, male, and Christian privilege. In a sample of 2321 Midwestern college students, we demonstrated that students from marginalized groups broadly reported greater awareness of all forms of privilege than students from dominant groups, and the difference between marginalized and dominant groups was most pronounced when the specific group category (e.g., gender) aligned with the type of privilege (e.g., male privilege). We also tested interactions among race/ethnicity, gender, and religion, only finding an interaction between race/ethnicity and religion for awareness of White and male privilege. These findings helped to clarify that multiple group memberships tended to contribute to awareness as multiple main effects rather than as multiplicative. Finally, we examined mean differences among the eight intersected groups to explore similarities and differences among groups in awareness of all types of privilege. Taken together, these findings quantitatively demonstrate the ways in which group memberships work together to contribute to awareness of multiple forms of privilege. We discuss study limitations and implications for community psychology research and practice.

Remembering where we're from: Community- and individual-level predictors of college students' White privilege awareness.

Scholars in the field of community psychology have called for more research dedicated to examining White privilege as part of a system of White supremacy in the United States. One branch of this work focuses on awareness of White privilege, yet to date, this research has typically investigated awareness of White privilege at individual levels of analysis instead of also focusing on neighborhoods, schools, and other levels of analysis beyond the individual. In this study, we combine survey and U.S. Census data to explore both individual- and community-level predictors of White privilege awareness. With a sample of 1285 White college students, we found that gender, modern racism, social dominance orientation, and subjective socioeconomic status (SES) significantly predicted White privilege awareness. After accounting for these individual-level variables, we found that characteristics of students' hometowns (defined by zip code) predicted White privilege awareness. Specifically, greater income inequality was associated with higher White privilege awareness, while greater White racial homogeneity was marginally associated with lower White privilege awareness. There was a significant interaction between community-level White racial homogeneity and individual-level subjective SES, such that students with high subjective SES and low White racial homogeneity had the highest White privilege awareness. This study highlights the importance of examining different facets of ecological context in relation to White Americans' racial attitudes.

Internalized model minority myth among Asian Americans: Links to anti-Black attitudes and opposition to affirmative action.

OBJECTIVES: The current study contributes to the field's limited knowledge about the sociopolitical consequences of internalized Model Minority Myth (MMM) among Asian Americans. In particular, we examine how the MMM serves as a legitimizing ideology, in which the perpetuation of beliefs about society as fair ultimately maintain racial inequality. METHODS: Using path analysis with 251 Asian American college students, we tested a model linking internalized MMM (i.e., attitudes towards Asian Americans as achievement oriented and as having unrestricted mobility, compared to other racial minorities) to anti-Black attitudes and opposition to affirmative action for Black Americans. We examined direct effects of internalized MMM on such outcomes, as well as indirect effects through other legitimizing ideologies, including just world beliefs and racial colorblindness. RESULTS: Findings demonstrated that greater levels of internalized MMM among Asian American college students predicted greater anti-Black attitudes and opposition to affirmative action. Greater internalized MMM achievement orientation and unrestricted mobility also directly predicted greater just world beliefs and colorblindness. Results from our test of indirect effects showed that internalized MMM achievement orientation and unrestricted mobility both indirectly predicted opposition to affirmative action through colorblindness, and unrestricted mobility also indirectly predicted anti-Black attitudes through colorblindness. Also, achievement orientation and unrestricted mobility indirectly predicted anti-Black attitudes through just world beliefs. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings have implications for research and practice that promotes awareness of and seeks to challenge the MMM, anti-Blackness, and beliefs about affirmative action among Asian Americans. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Distinguishing "I don't see color" from "Racism is a thing of the past": Psychological correlates of avoiding race and denying racism.

Scholars have proposed 2 separable dimensions of racial colorblind ideology: the first is centered on "not seeing color" (i.e., color evasion), and the second is centered on denying racism (i.e., power evasion). Yet, to date, there is no psychometric evidence for this distinction. In this article, we aim to fill this gap by establishing the presence of and characterizing differences between these 2 dimensions using both variable-centered and person-centered approaches. Study 1A (n = 707) provides exploratory factor analytic evidence supporting the separability of power and color evasion. Study 1B (n = 710) provides confirmatory evidence of this factor structure and evidence of discriminant validity. In Study 1B, 3 latent profiles based on power and color evasion were identified: acknowledgers (low color evasion, low power evasion), evaders (high color evasion, average power evasion), and deniers (average color evasion, average power evasion), which differed on relevant variables (e.g., modern racism, support for affirmative-action). In Study 2 (n = 546), these profiles were replicated and extended by examining differences in attitudes and desire to engage in campus diversity activities. Implications for racial colorblind ideology theory and practical applications are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Racial Colorblindness and Confidence in and Likelihood of Action to Address Prejudice.

In this study, we examined the association between racial colorblindness and inaction to address prejudice. Conceptualized as a type of legitimizing ideology that maintains societal inequality, we hypothesized that colorblindness would be associated with less confidence in and lower likelihood of engaging in action to address prejudice. Our study examined the role of affective variables in explaining the link between colorblindness and inaction, as well as explored potential racial group differences. We used multigroup structural equation modeling analysis to test for measurement and structural invariance of our hypothesized model across White, Asian American, and Underrepresented racial minority (i.e., African American, Latinx American, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Native American, and Multiracial students from Underrepresented groups) college students. In Study 1 (n = 1,125), we found that greater colorblindness was indirectly associated with less confidence in action through affective variables (e.g., intergroup empathy, and positive and negative emotions during intergroup interactions). In Study 2 (n = 1,356), we found that greater colorblindness was indirectly related to less likelihood of action through intergroup empathy. In both studies, we demonstrated measurement and structural invariance across racial groups, indicating that our hypothesized model functioned similarly across White, Underrepresented, and Asian American students. Our findings have implications for future research and practice to challenge colorblindness and to promote engagement in actions to reduce prejudice.

A Social Network Analysis of Friendship and Spiritual Support in a Religious Congregation.

Religious congregations are social settings where people gather together in community to pursue the sacred (Pargament, 2008). Such settings are important to understand as they provide a context for individuals to develop relationships, share ideas and resources, and connect individuals to larger society (Todd, 2017a). Yet, research to date has not deeply examined the inherently relational nature of religious congregations. Thus, in this study, we used social settings theory (Seidman, 2012; Tseng & Seidman, 2007) to develop and test hypotheses about relationships within one Christian religious congregation. In particular, we used social network analysis to test hypotheses about relational activity, popularity, and homophily for friendship and spiritual support types of relational links. Our findings demonstrate how relational patterns may be linked to participation in congregational activities, occupying a leadership role, a sense of community and spiritual satisfaction, stratification, socialization, and spiritual support. Overall, this advances theory and research on the relational aspects of religious congregations, and more broadly to the literature on social settings. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for theory and religious congregations also are discussed.

Christian and Political Conservatism Predict Opposition to Sexual and Gender Minority Rights through Support for Christian Hegemony.

Although significant strides have been made for sexual and gender minority (SGM) rights in the United States, there continues to be opposition to SGM rights from many conservative Christians and political conservatives. In this study, we investigate this opposition by examining support for Christian hegemony (i.e., the idea that Christianity should be the norm and Christians should be in power in the United States) and unawareness of Christian privilege (i.e., unearned advantages for Christians) as religiopolitical variables that help to explain the association between Christian and political conservatism and opposition to a host of SGM rights (same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption, nondiscrimination policies in jobs and housing for SGMs, and bills regarding transgender public bathroom use). Based on structural equation modeling analysis with heterosexual cisgender Christian (n = 688) and Areligious (n = 327) students, we demonstrate that support for Christian hegemony and unawareness of Christian privilege help to explain the association between Christian and political conservatism and opposition to SGM rights. These findings advance our understanding of a new type of religious-based variable focused on religious power and privilege to help understand conservative religious and political opposition to SGM rights. Limitations, implications, and directions for future research also are discussed.

Overcoming the "Holy Hush": A Qualitative Examination of Protestant Christian Leaders' Responses to Intimate Partner Violence.

Described as a "holy hush," past research has noted a general silence about and reluctance to address intimate partner violence (IPV) in religious congregations. To explore this, we interviewed 20 Protestant Christian religious leaders about how they understood and responded to IPV. Based on a thematic content analysis, our study revealed some of the challenges, tensions, and complexities that may be barriers to leaders speaking about and responding to IPV, and also the ways religious leaders in our sample attempted to overcome these challenges. For example, results revealed religious leaders understood violence on a gradation from less to more severe, and linked a need for and type of response to the level of violence. Throughout, religious leaders expressed a tension between their leadership role and responding to IPV. Furthermore, religious leaders acknowledged their need for greater training and connections to service providers, however, they reported not currently being connected to other IPV resources or organizations in the community. We discuss how the findings illuminate challenges and tensions for religious leaders in responding to IPV and how some leaders in this study were navigating these tensions to respond. We also discuss how findings may inform future research and the development of trainings and protocols for religious leaders and congregations on responding to IPV, promoting survivor safety, and fostering a greater understanding of IPV. Implications for collaboration with other community-based IPV organizations are also discussed.

Okay to say?: Initial validation of the Acceptability of Racial Microaggressions Scale.

Despite a growing body of research documenting the negative impact of racial microaggressions on racial and ethnic minorities' wellbeing, there remains debate in society about whether it is acceptable to say racially microaggressive statements. However, no scale exists to assess attitudes about the acceptability of saying such statements. OBJECTIVES: In this study we present an initial validation of a new scale, the Acceptability of Racial Microaggressions Scale (ARMS), which assesses attitudes about how "okay" it is for White individuals to say different types of racially microaggressive statements to racial and ethnic minorities in an interpersonal interaction. METHOD AND RESULTS: We provide exploratory (Study 1; n = 596) and confirmatory (Study 2; n = 404) factor analytic support for the presence of four factors regarding acceptability of saying different types of microaggressive statements: Victim Blaming, Color Evasion, Power Evasion, and Exoticizing. We present evidence for construct validity by testing associations with several race-related, ideological, and personality measures. We provide evidence in Study 3 (n = 90) for test-retest reliability over a 2-week time period, and show associations between attitudes toward acceptability and self-reported likelihood of personal commission. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we provide initial psychometric and validity evidence for the ARMS and discuss implications and potential uses of the scale. (PsycINFO Database Record

Ethical Challenges of Personal Disclosure in Gaining Entry with Religious Congregations.

This is a story about learning how to navigate my social identities as a non-religious gay man attempting to conduct data-based consultation with a religious congregation. Beyond my own growth in knowing myself better, this story speaks to the larger ethical challenge of how we build trust in community relationships, and in particular how much of our personal selves we need to disclose in the process of an individual or group deciding to work with us. Individuals and groups make decisions to work with us based on who they perceive us to be; thus, what is our ethical obligation to disclose aspects of who we are to promote full informed consent? To illustrate this ethical challenge of personal disclosure, I tell the story of discussions I had with three different religious leaders and a congregational committee about potentially working together. Throughout these stories, I reflect on my own messy process of growth as a window into the more general question of how we navigate our identities and values as community psychologists in the work we do with communities.

Interfaith Groups as Mediating Structures for Political Action: A Multilevel Analysis.

This study investigates interfaith groups from across the United States to understand how these religious settings may serve as mediating structures to facilitate individual political action. Based on a multilevel modeling analysis with 169 individuals from 25 interfaith groups, we found that core activities of the group, such as group members sharing community information (e.g., announcing upcoming events, political meetings, community issues) or sharing religious information (e.g., educating members about their religion) positively and negatively predicted individual political action as a result of group participation, respectively. Moreover, a sense that the interfaith group served as a community to work for local change, but not trust within the group, predicted political action as a result of group participation. However, this effect for a sense the group served as a community to work for local change was stronger and more positive as the degree of community information sharing in the group increased. These results show that a core activity of sharing community information may enhance the ability of a group to mediate political action. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential role of interfaith groups to mediate political action, and show the importance of considering both individual and group characteristics when understanding these religious settings. Limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.

Examining the Presence of Congregational Programs Focused on Violence Against Women.

Religious congregations are uniquely poised to provide programs to support survivors of violence against women; yet little is known regarding the prevalence of such programs. In this study, we used data from three waves of the National Congregation Study (N = 3334) to examine change across time in the presence of a congregational program to support survivors of sexual assault or domestic violence. We also explored results among different Christian religious traditions across time. Given the gendered nature of this violence, we also tested whether the (a) gender of the head clergy (i.e., religious leader), and (b) ability of women to serve in congregational leadership roles predicted the presence of programs. As points of comparison, we also examined the total number of congregational social service programs and food programs in particular. Overall, we found different patterns of change across religious traditions for the different programs. Moreover, clergy gender and the ability of women to serve in leadership roles predicted the presence of different types of programs. Limitations, implications, and directions for future research also are discussed.

Complicating Counterspaces: Intersectionality and the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival.

The counterspaces framework articulated by Case and Hunter (2012), follows from community psychology's long-standing interest in the potential for settings to promote well-being and liberatory responses to oppression. This framework proposes that certain settings (i.e., "counterspaces") facilitate a specific set of processes that promote the well-being of marginalized groups. We argue that an intersectional analysis is crucial to understand whether and how counterspaces achieve these goals. We draw from literature on safe spaces and present a case study of the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (Michfest) to illustrate the value of an intersectional analysis and explore how these processes operate. Based on 20 in-person interviews, 23 responses to an online survey, and ethnographic field notes, we show how Michfest was characterized by a particular intersection of identities at the setting level, and intersectional diversity complicated experiences at the individual level. Moreover, intersectional identities provided opportunities for dialogue and change at the setting level, including the creation of counterspaces within counterspaces. Overall, we demonstrate the need to attend to intersectionality in counterspaces, and more broadly in how we conceptualize settings in community psychology.

Trans women and Michfest: An ethnophenomenology of attendees' experiences.

The rise of queer and transgender studies has greatly contributed to feminist and lesbian understandings of sex, gender, and sexuality and also has resulted in rifts, tensions, and border wars. One such tension is around the inclusion of trans women in women-only space, such as the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (Michfest). In this ethnophenomenological study, we interviewed and surveyed 43 cisgender women who attended Michfest in 2013. Participants had a variety of perspectives on trans inclusion and on the dialogue surrounding it, and these paralleled intersections, frictions, and tensions between feminism, queer theory, and transgender studies.

The role of attitudes toward White privilege and religious beliefs in predicting social justice interest and commitment.

The current study examines links among attitudes toward White privilege, religious beliefs, and social justice interest and commitment for White Christian students. Two distinct patterns of results emerged from a path analysis of 500 White Christian students. First, a willingness to confront White privilege was positively associated with the sanctification of social justice (i.e., attributing spiritual significance to working for social justice) and both were positively associated with social justice interest and commitment. Second, awareness of White privilege was negatively associated with religious conservatism, and religious conservatism was negatively associated with social justice interest. These patterns show that White privilege attitudes directly (i.e., willingness to confront White privilege) and indirectly (i.e., awareness of White privilege through religious conservatism) predicted social justice interest and commitment. Moreover, religious beliefs demonstrated opposite patterns of association with social justice interest and commitment such that the sanctification of social justice positively predicted social justice interest and commitment whereas religious conservatism negatively predicted social justice interest. Overall, findings demonstrate direct and indirect links between White privilege attitudes, religious beliefs, and social justice interest and commitment. Limitations and implications for future community psychology research and collaboration also are discussed.

Ethnography in community psychology: promises and tensions.

Community psychology recognizes the need for research methods that illuminate context, culture, diversity, and process. One such method, ethnography, has crossed into multiple disciplines from anthropology, and indeed, community psychologists are becoming community ethnographers. Ethnographic work stands at the intersection of bridging universal questions with the particularities of people and groups bounded in time, geographic location, and social location. Ethnography is thus historical and deeply contextual, enabling a rich, in-depth understanding of communities that is aligned with the values and goals of community psychology. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the potential of ethnography for community psychology and to encourage its use within the field as a method to capture culture and context, to document process, and to reveal how social change and action occur within and through communities. We discuss the method of ethnography, draw connections to community psychology values and goals, and identify tensions from our experiences doing ethnography. Overall, we assert that ethnography is a method that resonates with community psychology and present this paper as a resource for those interested in using this method in their research or community activism.

Examining patterns of political, social service, and collaborative involvement of religious congregations: a latent class and transition analysis.

This investigation examines typologies of congregations based on patterns of congregational political and social service activities and collaborative partners. Based on a latent class analysis of a national random sample of 2,153 congregations, results indicated four distinct types of congregations with unique patterns of political, social service, and collaborative partnerships labeled: (a) Active, (b) Not Active, (c) Social Service Not Political, and (d) Political Not Social Service. Moreover, congregational characteristics such as religious tradition and clergy characteristics predicted membership in certain types. A latent transition analysis using an additional 262 congregations revealed distinct patterns of how congregations changed types across a nine year period. Results showed both congregational continuity (e.g., Not Active congregations remained Not Active) and change (e.g., Active congregations were likely to change type membership). This study advances congregational research by examining congregational types, what predicts certain types, and how congregations change types across time. Implications for future research and partnership with religious congregations also are discussed.