Examining the Role of Sibling Interaction in Multiethnic-racial Identity Development

Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is tied to wellbeing, especially for ethnic-racial minority individuals (Smith & Silva, 2011; Phinney, 2000), and the process of ERI development is inherently social. However, much of our research on ERI development has focused on ethnic-racial socialization processes between parents and children, despite the fact that sibling relationships tend to be integral to individuals’ development and adjustment. Further, ethnic-racial socialization research tends to focus on monoethnic-racial individuals, despite our increasingly multicultural world. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the role that sibling interaction plays in multiethnic-racial identity development. 21 ME-R individuals were interviewed about their ME-R identity development process as well as what it was like growing up as a ME-R individual with siblings. Interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006) and results show that contextual factors shape the role that siblings play in ME-R identity development by shaping the ways siblings engage with difference, the ways siblings discuss race and ethnicity, and the ways siblings identify as individuals in terms of race and ethnicity. Implications and opportunities for future research are discussed. Advisor: Jordan Soli

The Hard Work Is Worth It: Overcoming Unfavorable Determinants to Pass Pro-Immigrant Education Policy in a Conservative State Legislature

Immigrants, English learners (ELs), and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD)students often lag behind their White, monolingual peers in academic achievement and English language proficiency. While there are policy solutions to improve academic and linguistic opportunities and outcomes for immigrant/EL/CLD students, such as implementing bilingual instructional models and increasing teacher diversity, these pro-immigrant policies can be hard to come by in some legislative contexts due to unfavorable economic, social, or political determinants. This qualitative case study analyzed the multifaceted political work that contributed to the passage of two pro-immigrant education policies in the Arkansas 93rd General Assembly: a bill for bilingual education and dual immersion programs and a bill to expand teacher licensure to noncitizens with DACA. The three-phase qualitative methodology led to four key findings: the unfavorable determinants for pro-immigrant policy adoption within the legislative context, the primacy and centrality of interest convergence in the political work that mitigated those determinants, the unexpected salience of educational interests in the policy debate, and the influence of educator expertise and practice in garnering support for the two proposals. These findings led to the development of the “5E” framework of political work: emulate prior successes, ensure bipartisan support, employ interest convergence, educate using best practices, and elevate heroic voices. This framework, while context-specific, has implications for pro-immigrant education policy advocacy in other challenging contexts

Examining the Role of Sibling Interaction in Multiethnic-racial Identity Development

Ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is tied to wellbeing, especially for ethnic-racial minority individuals (Smith & Silva, 2011; Phinney, 2000), and the process of ERI development is inherently social. However, much of our research on ERI development has focused on ethnic-racial socialization processes between parents and children, despite the fact that sibling relationships tend to be integral to individuals’ development and adjustment. Further, ethnic-racial socialization research tends to focus on monoethnic-racial individuals, despite our increasingly multicultural world. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the role that sibling interaction plays in multiethnic-racial identity development. 21 ME-R individuals were interviewed about their ME-R identity development process as well as what it was like growing up as a ME-R individual with siblings. Interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach (Charmaz, 2006) and results show that contextual factors shape the role that siblings play in ME-R identity development by shaping the ways siblings engage with difference, the ways siblings discuss race and ethnicity, and the ways siblings identify as individuals in terms of race and ethnicity. Implications and opportunities for future research are discussed. Advisor: Jordan Soli

Critical incidents in the development of (multi)ethnic-racial identity: Experiences of individuals with mixed ethnic-racial backgrounds in the U.S.

Secure ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is tied to well-being, especially for minority individuals; however, there is still little consensus on the key processes and optimal outcomes of various multiethnic-racial (ME-R; i.e., individuals with parents from different ethnic-racial groups) identity development models. In this study, we examine the critical incidents in personal and social relationships that are central to ME-R identity development. Twentynine ME-R individuals provided retrospective accounts of incidents and conversations they self-perceived to be critical to their ERI development. Four major themes emerged: incidents and conversations surrounding intergroup contact, confrontation, heritage, and appearance were all recalled as critical to ME-R identity development. These findings highlight the importance of studying the ways that ERI is constituted through interaction with others. Implications and directions for future research are discussed

Interrogating the Links between Complex Social Identity Structures, Communicative Factors, and Psycho-Social Wellbeing in Multiethnic-Racial Populations in the United States and Canada

Multiethnic and multiracial populations are among the fastest growing demographic groups in North America. Despite this fact, and a societal shift toward discussing race as a social construction, biological lay theories of race remain pervasive. Thus, those that are members of more than one ethnic-racial group face unique liminal identity experiences that monoethnic-racial individuals do not. In this dissertation I aim to explore these unique identity experiences, as well as their links to communication and wellbeing, through a lens of social identity complexity theorizing. In chapter one, I offer a brief history of miscegenation and amalgamation in North America to situate the study in the current sociocultural context. Following this, I review and synthesize research and theorizing on social identity complexity, multiethnic-racial identity, and the communicative factors that may affect the relationship between multiethnic-racial identity complexity and wellbeing. In chapter two I outline the methods, including procedures, measures, and analyses, which were used to answer my research questions. This dissertation employed a multimethod survey design including open-ended questions and scale items. In chapter three, I report the findings of the phronetic iterative qualitative analysis wherein I found five themes and seven subthemes surrounding multiethnic-racial individuals’ experiences having multiple ethnic-racial ingroup memberships. In chapter four I report the results of the quantitative analyses which estimated a number of multiple regression models to assess the relationships between multiethnic-racial identity complexity and wellbeing. Additionally, I estimated several moderation models to assess how the relationships between participants’ multiethnic-racial identity complexity and wellbeing was moderated by communicative factors. Finally, in chapter four I discuss the integration and interpretation of the qualitative and quantitative findings, outline major implications of the study, and report on limitations and directions for future research

Critical incidents in the development of (multi)ethnic-racial identity: Experiences of individuals with mixed ethnic-racial backgrounds in the U.S.

Secure ethnic-racial identity (ERI) is tied to well-being, especially for minority individuals; however, there is still little consensus on the key processes and optimal outcomes of various multiethnic-racial (ME-R; i.e., individuals with parents from different ethnic-racial groups) identity development models. In this study, we examine the critical incidents in personal and social relationships that are central to ME-R identity development. Twentynine ME-R individuals provided retrospective accounts of incidents and conversations they self-perceived to be critical to their ERI development. Four major themes emerged: incidents and conversations surrounding intergroup contact, confrontation, heritage, and appearance were all recalled as critical to ME-R identity development. These findings highlight the importance of studying the ways that ERI is constituted through interaction with others. Implications and directions for future research are discussed

Communicated perspective-taking (CPT) and storylistening: Testing the impact of CPT in the context of friends telling stories of difficulty

Grounded in communicated narrative sense-making theory (CNSM), the purpose of the current study was to test the effects of storylisteners’ communicated perspective taking (CPT) on storytellers’ well-being and evaluations of storylisteners’ communication skills in the context of telling stories about difficulty. Pairs of friends (n = 37) engaged in a storytelling interaction in which one person told a story of a difficult life experience (DLE). Listeners’ CPT was rated by observers using the Communicated Perspective-Taking Rating System (CPTRS) and tellers reported on listeners’ behaviors and their own psychosocial health. Results indicate that observed CPT relates positively to tellers’ perceptions of listeners’ communication competence and CPT, and negatively to listeners’ perceived face threat. Particularly important were the identity validation, agreement, and affective tone dimensions of the CPTRS. The links between observed CPT and communication skills were moderated by the degree to which the DLE was considered upsetting, significant, and based on how often the DLE story had been told. Despite previous research, observed CPT was not related to psychosocial health in the current study

Communicated perspective-taking (CPT) and storylistening: Testing the impact of CPT in the context of friends telling stories of difficulty

Grounded in communicated narrative sense-making theory (CNSM), the purpose of the current study was to test the effects of storylisteners’ communicated perspective taking (CPT) on storytellers’ well-being and evaluations of storylisteners’ communication skills in the context of telling stories about difficulty. Pairs of friends (n = 37) engaged in a storytelling interaction in which one person told a story of a difficult life experience (DLE). Listeners’ CPT was rated by observers using the Communicated Perspective-Taking Rating System (CPTRS) and tellers reported on listeners’ behaviors and their own psychosocial health. Results indicate that observed CPT relates positively to tellers’ perceptions of listeners’ communication competence and CPT, and negatively to listeners’ perceived face threat. Particularly important were the identity validation, agreement, and affective tone dimensions of the CPTRS. The links between observed CPT and communication skills were moderated by the degree to which the DLE was considered upsetting, significant, and based on how often the DLE story had been told. Despite previous research, observed CPT was not related to psychosocial health in the current study

Canadian patient experiences of lupus nephritis: a qualitative analysis

Objective Lupus nephritis (LN) is one of the most severe manifestations of SLE; however, we know little about the lived experience of LN. This research investigates patient experiences and perspectives of (1) LN diagnosis; (2) living with LN; and (3) LN healthcare and treatment.Methods Patients aged ≥18 years with biopsy-proven pure or mixed International Society of Nephrology/Renal Pathology Society class III, IV or V LN were purposefully recruited from a Canadian lupus cohort to participate in semistructured in-depth interviews.Results Thirty patients with LN completed the interviews. The mean (SD) age was 42.1 (16.4) years, and 86.7% were female. Participants described challenges seeking, receiving and adjusting to a LN diagnosis, and some reported that their diagnosis process took weeks to years. While 16 participants were provided resources by healthcare providers to help them through the process of diagnosis, the need for accessible LN-specific information at diagnosis was highlighted (n=18). Participants also described the unpredictability of living with LN, particularly related to impacts on physical and mental health, relationships, leisure activities, employment and education, and family planning. While most (n=26) participants reported a positive impression of their care, the side effects of LN medications and the need to increase patient and societal awareness/understanding of LN were highlighted in the context of healthcare and treatment.Conclusions The unpredictability of living with LN, the heavy treatment burden and a lack of patient/societal awareness substantially affect the lived experience of LN. These findings will inform the development of LN-specific patient resources to increase understanding of LN and improve well-being for patients

Assessing the performance of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe and in its neighbourhood

Introduction to: East European Politics Special Issue: Assessing the Performance of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe and in its Neighbourhood. The goal of this Special Issue is to examine the performance of EU policies and processes as well as their impact in the ‘wider’ Eastern Europe. We make both a conceptual and an empirical contribution. Conceptually, we link the literature on EU policy and its impact in ‘wider’ Eastern Europe with the literature on performance and distinguish between processdriven and outcome-driven performance of the EU. Under process-driven performance we evaluate the nature of the capabilities and the mechanisms and procedures used by the European Union in order to pursue its stated objectives. Subsequently, under outcome-driven performance we examined whether or not EU goals or objectives have been achieved on the basis of the effects these have. Drawing on insights from enlargement, post-enlargement and ENP partner countries, the empirical contributions to this volume examine both the processdriven and outcome-driven performance of the EU through addressing two sets of questions: (1) what is the correlation between the EU's outcome-driven performance and its internal processes of preference formation (process-driven performance)?; and (2) what is the relationship between the EU’s outcome-driven performance and the context of rewards/threats through which the EU engages with its partners? This introductory article therefore unpacks the notion of performance, proposes three modes of operationalization of performance and provides insights from the contributions to this Special Issue