After practicing many years as a clinically-trained psychologist studying the causes of disorders, Alejandro Leguizamo decided to turn his investigations toward “what goes right” for people

Rodrigues, Jill

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Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger4-15-20196 Questions on Psychological Well-Being Amongthe Latinx PopulationJill RodriguesRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationRodrigues, Jill, "6 Questions on Psychological Well-Being Among the Latinx Population" (2019). Featured News Story. 596.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/5964/30/2019 6 Questions on Psychological Well-Being Among the Latinx Population | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/6-questions-psychological-well-being-among-latinx-population 1/2 News Archive6 Questions on Psychological Well-Being Among the LatinxPopulationProfessor of Psychology Alejandro Leguizamo studies the factors of what enables peoplefrom diverse populations to lead happy livesApril 15, 2019 By Jill Rodrigues '05BRISTOL, R.I. – A er practicing many years as a clinically-trained psychologist studying the causes of disorders,Alejandro Leguizamo decided to turn his investigations toward “what goes right” for people.For the past several years, Leguizamo, an associate professor of psychology at Roger Williams University, has directedhis research to the  eld of positive psychology and determining which factors of psychological well-being contributethe most toward a happy life. With his most recent focus on the Latinx population, he’s conducted national surveys ofLatinx individuals measuring their feelings of optimism, satisfaction in life, hope for the future, mindfulness,interpersonal support, spirituality, how they cope with discrimination and their level of resilience, among otherfactors.“I’m studying what contributes to psychological well-being among populations – what leads people to lead goodlives, to be happy, to succeed, and to be well o  psychologically,” Leguizamo said.Recently concluding his research into the Latinx population, he’s also investigated psychological well-being in thewhite population across America and next fall plans to begin studying the African-American population. His goal is todevelop a model that illuminates which factors best predict psychological well-being, helping inform the psychologyand medical community with a way to evaluate a person’s emotional state and environmental conditions and o er aguide for boosting good practices as treatment.Why do you focus on one cultural population at a time?Traditionally in psychology, the impetus has been to compare populations. However, part of the issue with thatapproach is that populations have been compared to white, middle-class, male Christian heterosexuals, and then itbecomes a matter of seeing if di erences are found and those di erences can be seen as being strange because theydon’t fall within that societal norm. More recently, what has been recommended, and what I’m doing, is to approachthe study of diverse populations by themselves in order to understand more about them, without having to comparethem with what appears a normative population.Why is it important to understand the cultural in uences in a person’s psychological well-being?4/30/2019 6 Questions on Psychological Well-Being Among the Latinx Population | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/6-questions-psychological-well-being-among-latinx-population 2/2Once we understand a population by itself, then we can assess cultural factors that could be translated to otherpopulations. For example, increased sociability and social support may be emphasized in some cultures more thanothers, yet we know that isolation, for example, is more dangerous than smoking. In some cultures, outward expression of emotion when in distress is not encouraged, particularly in Asia, but alsoamong males in many Western and non-Western societies. Distress tends to be expressed in Asian societies asphysical ailments – headaches, digestive issues, for example – while males in many cultures opt for aggression orsubstance use as a way to express/cope with distress. For males in American culture, sociability tends to involveactivities rather than emotional rich interactions or physical a ection with other men. Yet, we know that isolation isdetrimental to the person, most of all, since it can lead to depression and poor physical functioning, but also to othersat times, since it can lead to some types of aggression for some, such as sexual aggression.What has your research revealed about ethnic di erences in predictors of psychological well-being among theLatinx population?We have found that not all of the factors have been predictive. We have found that a person’s resilience is importantand predictive, and also interpersonal support, mindfulness, perceived stress – so the less stress they perceive theyare experiencing, the better o  they are. How well they think they’re doing in comparison to others, how hopefulthey are of the future, and if they experience less discrimination – all are related to well-being in the Latinx population.What was surprising for this population, was that satisfaction of life wasn’t predictive, neither was being happy,neither was spirituality. This was an initial run, so we will do further analysis to see if there are interactions among, forexample, spirituality and support to see if they’re getting the support they need from their spirituality.What will a model for psychological well-being contribute to your  eld?Because then we can know what factors outside of the therapy session will be important to keep an eye out for orhelp build up in order for the person to be better o  psychologically. Treatment can focus on building resilience skillsin order to raise their level of resilience, building hope and skills to relieve stress, fostering mindfulness. Or the personcan be connected to community support either from family members or community organizations; particularly if theperson is a recent immigrant, they may not have the network.You’re an advisor for the Hispanic and Latino Student Association (HALSA) at Roger Williams University. Why isit important for students to have community groups like these?For social support, which is tremendously important. For students to be able to have a space where other likestudents understand them and they can have fun. For Dominican Republic Independence Day they held an eventwith a poet from Providence, and a erward students put on Dominican music and played dominoes.Why do you bring the study of diverse populations into your classroom?This is important work, because as a  eld we have ignored minority populations for a long time. My goal is to havestudents get used to the ideas of considering diversity issues in their research, whether they’re minority students ornot, and to consider how important those factors are for their own research. And it’s important for students of color tosee professors engaged in this work, to have role models and to know that it’s possible, and for them to becomeinvolved in research that they would see as relevant and important for them.ACADEMICS LIFE @ RWU FEINSTEIN SCHOOL OF SOCIAL AND NATURAL SCIENCES

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