Multicultural Psychology - Jennifer T. Pedrotti

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had much more control over their own lives than non-White Americans, both in terms of physical freedom (e.g., not enslaved, represented by legislature and judicial systems) and in being less likely to experience discrimination, while racial and ethnic minorities have not always enjoyed this same level of control. Even today, they may be exposed to many more institutional forms of racism and other prejudices based on their belonging to a nonmajority group. That said, if there is a personal sense of control maintained to some extent, there may be more positive psychological antecedents. Consider two African American individuals who would be found in two different quadrants (see table on p. 77).

      As you can probably tell, Ben is likely not suffering as many ill effects of the discrimination that appears to be occurring as Michael is, because of Ben’s worldview that this wasn’t really to do with him as a person as much as it was to do with the professors as people. Sue and Sue (2016) have noted that racial and ethnic minorities in this quadrant, who are able to recognize that some forces such as racism or other types of discrimination are external to them as people, often have a higher sense of ethnic identity and pride. An individual like Michael, however, who adopts the dominant cultural norm of an idea like “hard work always equals success,” does not allow himself to consider the fact that his supervisor may be operating based on some biases, however implicit, regarding who “looks like a leader.” Of course, these scenarios are very simplistic—many factors may be at play in both of these situations—but one can still see that a particular type of worldview may impact the psychological health of those in nondominant cultural groups who are experiencing some type of discrimination.

      Worldviews in Day-to-Day Life

      In this section, we offer you several vignettes that detail worldviews from many different social identity groups. In most, we offer the perspective as coming from one prominent identity (e.g., gender, race, etc.), but it is important to remember that as individuals we are often coming from multiple identity points at the same time. As mentioned in Chapter 1, intersectionality is an important part of our experiences as individuals, and so nuances exist between the different facets that make us who we are. In thinking about the impact of worldview in the field of multicultural psychology, it becomes important to clarify differences in the way different cultural groups see the world. Depending on our level of exposure to people who differ from us culturally, these different worldviews can be the source of disagreements or tensions when first encountered. There are many pieces of cultural identity that shape our worldview, and the intersection of these identities is influential as well.

      Worldview Related to Gender Identity

      I know that as a woman, I make many choices in my day that focus on making sure that I am safe in my day-to-day routine. For example, it’s important to me to be able to get some exercise each week, and my favorite way to do this is to take a run outside. There are a lot of great trails in my area, but because of my work schedule I usually need to be working out pretty early in the morning, and there aren’t very many people out at that time. As a young woman, I don’t feel comfortable being all alone on my own out there, just in case someone with bad intentions was out there too, so I paid to join a gym instead. Another example is after work. Sometimes I’ll have to park pretty far away from my office downtown, and so on those days I know I need to leave before it gets dark, because my office isn’t in a very well-lit area. It’s frustrating sometimes to have to stop working on something because of that—I’d rather stay and get my work done, but I know I’m taking a risk walking by myself as a woman after dark. Sometimes when I think of all the changes I make in my daily life just to keep myself safe from risk of sexual assault, it boggles my mind. I know my male friends don’t worry so much about physical safety.

      —Janie, age 28

      Gender is one identity facet that shapes our worldview. In the vignette above, it’s easy to see that Janie’s worldview includes the idea that because of her gender, she might not be safe physically from sexual assault. Many women might make changes in their daily schedule, plans to walk together after dark to avoid being caught alone, or other changes to their daily schedules because they perceive the world as less safe through their lens as a woman. In large-scale studies conducted within the United States, stark differences are often found in many everyday practices of women and transgender individuals as compared to those of male identified individuals. Gallup polls regularly find that women worry more than men about sexual assault, with 36% of female participants in 2018 reporting “frequent or occasional worry about sexual assault” in comparison to just 4% of men surveyed responding in this way (McCarthy, 2018). In another study, 50% of men in the study stated that they “do not worry about safety” as compared with only 26.9% of women (Logan & Walker, 2017). Transgender individuals are also at risk in terms of safety, with one in four trans individuals reporting being assaulted because of their gender identity (James et al., 2016).

      In addition to safety, gender identity may also impact other pieces of worldview. Gender may impact the amount of choices one sees available in terms of career, for example. In our current workplace landscape, only 5% of CEOs on the 2018 Fortune 500 list in the United States are female, and zero are transgender. Seeing so few examples of themselves in these types of high-power occupations may cause young girls to rule out positions such as these (Rios, Stewart, & Winter, 2010).

      Worldview Related to Socioeconomic Status

      I’m a hard worker and I always have been. There wasn’t much money growing up, and so I had to work a lot on our family’s farm just to make sure we made ends meet. No time to play sports or sit around reading a bunch of books. I worked from the time I was 8 years old to help my parents out, and I was glad to do it. There were a few times when I was growing up that we almost lost the farm because of taxes and poor crops. We all had to pitch in double during that time, and sometimes that meant skipping school or sleep, but we made it work. I’m raising my kids this same way, and so when my son turned 14 this last year, I told him that he needed to start putting in more time on the farm so that he can start contributing to the family. I told him he couldn’t try out for the track team because practice is every day, and there’s way too much to do on the farm to be able to adhere to that kind of schedule. His teacher called me and said that his homework is slipping, but I told her that he is lucky to be learning in school—after school he needs to do real work that adds up and prepares him for the real world too. She didn’t get it. Books can’t help you lift bales of hay or drive equipment, and we don’t have money for college anyway—what’s the point?

      —Steve, age 58

      If you are a student in college right now, the worldview above might be one to which you have a strong reaction. A common response from someone who feels college has value might view Steve’s comments above as shortsighted and even as problematic parenting. Others of you might have heard Steve’s ideas from some of your own family members as you began your journey as a first-generation college student. Regardless of your potential agreement or disagreement with Steve’s ideas above, consider some of the reasons he may have adopted this worldview. First, it seems clear that hard work as a positive activity was ingrained early on in Steve’s worldview from his parents. In addition, “work” appears to be defined for him more as manual labor than as studying or other activities. In Steve’s view, this type of work is what will help his son the most to prepare for life. In addition, Steve’s view doesn’t include the option of a college education because of his limited socioeconomic status. In our country, approximately 30% of adults are college graduates (US Census Bureau, 2017). The price of tuition and fees for a four-year, in-state, public college education rose approximately 3.2% beyond inflation every year from the 2007–08 academic year to the 2017–18 academic year (College Board, 2017). Therefore, many families may not be able to see a way to put their children through college. Thus, worldviews such as Steve’s may be supported by many who do not have the experience of college themselves. It is important to be able to understand the potential origins for this type of worldview even if one does not hold the same ideas.

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