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Studied 120 biologically related families with 234 children aged 16–22 yrs and 115 adoptive families with 194 children in the same age range. Ss were assessed for introversion–extroversion and neuroticism, measured with the Differential Personality Questionnaire, Eysenck Personality Inventory, and Activity Preference Questionnaire. The modest degree of personality resemblance among biological relatives exceeded the minimal similarities of adopted relatives. The estimated heritabilities for the personality measures were much lower than those obtained in studies of identical and fraternal twins, which suggests that twin studies have exaggerated the degree of genetic variation in personality. The results indicate that most of the variance in personality measures is due to individual differences among siblings within the same families. (31 ref)

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A national, web-based survey of 1,222 African-American, Latina/o, Asian-American and European-American psychology graduate students revealed both similarities and differences in experiences and perspectives. Mentoring was found to be the strongest predictor of satisfaction across groups. Academic supports and barriers, along with perceptions of diversity were also important predictors of satisfaction. Students of color differed from European-American students in perceptions of fairness of representation of their ethnic group within psychology, and in aspects of the graduate school experience perceived as linked to ethnicity. Limitations of the study and implications for future research and action are discussed.

Research on contact theory has typically presented four major situational conditions of intergroup contact as separate and equally important in creating an environment that leads to lower levels of racial/ethnic prejudice. We empirically test this "separate and equal" assumption with a variety of student samples and outcome variables. Using data from three cohorts of high school students, as well as one middle school sample, we demonstrate that acquaintance potential and interdependence are the most consistent and robust predictors of prejudice reduction, outgroup orientation, and perceptions of a common ingroup identity. Findings concerning differences in the relative importance of these situational conditions for different racial/ethnic groups are also reported. Implications for implementing optimal contact conditions for prejudice reduction among various ethnic groups are drawn.Allport's (1954) specification of the conditions under which intergroup contact is likely to reduce prejudice has been one of the most influential approaches in social psychology for understanding the nature of intergroup relations. In brief, the contact hypothesis proposes that contact between individuals of different groups can lead to positive outcomes (e.g., lower prejudice) if certain conditions are