Understanding what students bring to the classroom: Moderators of the effects of diversity courses on student attitudes.

Cole, Elizabeth R.; Case, Kim A.; Rios, Desdamona; Curtin, Nicola

doi:10.1037/a0025433

Cited by 67 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Polyculturalism could also be incorporated into curricula across disciplines by highlighting cross‐cultural interactions and influences when teaching about topics ranging from art to philosophy to medicine. Many universities and colleges, as well as some specific disciplines (e.g., the American Psychological Association's inclusion of diversity as a core competency), offer and even require students to take courses addressing diversity and multiculturalism (e.g., Cole, Case, Rios, & Curtin, ). These diversity‐related courses could have content about polycultural influences and connections added to them, and/or standalone courses that focus on polycultural content could be sought out and developed for students to be encouraged or required to take.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyculturalism among Undergraduates at Diverse Universities: Associations through Intergroup Anxiety with Academic and Alcohol Outcomes

Rosenthal

Levy

London

et al. 2016

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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U.S. universities are increasingly racially/ethnically diverse. Simultaneously, undergraduate graduation rates and alcohol use remain important concerns. Understanding factors that contribute to success and well-being among students in these diverse college settings is critical to informing educational policy and programming. Polyculturalism is the belief that different racial/ethnic groups have always interacted, exchanged, and influenced each other, and it has been associated with more positive intergroup attitudes and greater comfort with diversity. Across four studies (three cross-sectional, one longitudinal) with racially/ethnically diverse undergraduates at two diverse institutions in the Northeastern United States, controlling for potentially confounding variables (year in college, age, race/ethnicity, nativity, high school GPA, current GPA, endorsement of multiculturalism and colorblindness, self-esteem, ethnic identification, general social anxiety, and mood across time points), greater endorsement of polyculturalism was associated with greater academic self-efficacy, greater sense of belonging, less use of alcohol to cope with intergroup anxiety, and fewer adverse alcohol-related consequences;

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyculturalism among Undergraduates at Diverse Universities: Associations through Intergroup Anxiety with Academic and Alcohol Outcomes

Rosenthal

Levy

London

et al. 2016

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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“…For example, in a study of Spanish older adults, instructions to take the perspective of a Moroccan immigrant reduced scores on a measure of racial prejudice, but were more effective in those with initially lower levels of empathy toward the target (Álvarez Castillo et al, 2014). In contrast, in a study of US college students, trait levels of cognitive empathy did not moderate the effectiveness of a diversity awareness course on either comfort with an ethnic outgroup or willingness to act to promote diversity (Cole et al, 2011). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Social Dominance Orientation, Dispositional Empathy, and Need for Cognitive Closure Moderate the Impact of Empathy-Skills Training, but Not Patient Contact, on Medical Students' Negative Attitudes toward Higher-Weight Patients

et al. 2017

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Anti-fat bias in healthcare providers and medical students has serious implications for quality of care of higher-weight patients. Studies of interventions aimed at reducing anti-fat attitudes in medical students have generally been disappointing, with little enduring effect. It is possible that some students may be more receptive to prejudice-reducing influences than others, due to underlying differences in their personal characteristics. It is also possible that attitudes toward patients, specifically, may differ from anti-fat attitudes in general, and prejudice-reduction effectiveness on patient-specific attitudes has not yet been evaluated. The present study explored the effect on general and patient-specific anti-fat attitudes of (1) contact with higher-weight individuals prior to and during medical school; and (2) training designed to increase medical students' empathy toward patients by encouraging them to take the patient's perspective during clinical encounters. The moderating role of individual difference factors on effectiveness of contact and student-reported hours of empathy training on patient-specific attitudes was assessed. A total of 3,576 students enrolled across 49 US medical schools completed an online survey at the start of their first year of medical school and at the end of their fourth year. Favorable contact experience with higher-weight patients predicted improved attitudes toward heavier patients after 4 years of medical school, and appeared sufficient to partially offset the effects of dislike of higher-weight individuals at baseline. The impact of favorable contact on general anti-fat attitudes was less strong, highlighting the importance of using target-specific outcome measures. The positive effects of favorable contact on attitudes toward higher-weight patients did not differ based on students' baseline levels of social dominance orientation, dispositional empathy, or need for cognitive closure. In contrast, the effectiveness of training did vary by student characteristics, generally being more effective in students who were more egalitarian and empathic at baseline, with little effect, or even adverse effects in students low in these traits. Overall, however, perspective-taking training produced only small improvements in attitudes toward higher-weight patients.

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“…Indeed, privilege interventions can increase awareness of social disparities (e.g., Case, 2007;Cole, Case, Rios, & Curtin, 2011). Privilege awareness, in turn, predicts more positive attitudes towards Black Americans among Whites (Steward, Latu, Branscombe, Phillips, & Denney, 2012).…”

Section: Privilege Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reminders of ingroup privilege often threaten identity but rarely change beliefs

Puryear¹,

Lm²,

Lawler³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Despite progress over the past century, social inequality remains pervasive in the United States. One approach for addressing inequality is persuading members of high-status groups that their status is partly a product of privilege––that is, unearned advantages that are shared by most members of their group. However, telling people that the accomplishments of their group are not fully earned often elicits defensiveness. Acknowledging ingroup privileges can threaten ingroup identity, raising concerns that attempts to raise awareness of group-based advantages can backfire, making people less supportive of equality efforts. Two studies (N = 773) test the effects of exercises intended to raise privilege awareness. In Study 1, men completed checklists describing privileges men have relative to women. In Study 2, White people completed checklists describing White privileges and received feedback informing them of their privilege. People who acknowledge inequity felt guilt and gratitude after text-based privilege exercises, while people who deny inequity felt threatened by them. However, we find weak and inconsistent evidence that privilege awareness polarizes attitudes about race, gender, and social policy. While privilege awareness activities often appear to evoke defensiveness, they do not consistently polarize attitudes or backfire against their intended goals.

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Understanding what students bring to the classroom: Moderators of the effects of diversity courses on student attitudes.

Cited by 67 publications

References 57 publications

Polyculturalism among Undergraduates at Diverse Universities: Associations through Intergroup Anxiety with Academic and Alcohol Outcomes

Polyculturalism among Undergraduates at Diverse Universities: Associations through Intergroup Anxiety with Academic and Alcohol Outcomes

Social Dominance Orientation, Dispositional Empathy, and Need for Cognitive Closure Moderate the Impact of Empathy-Skills Training, but Not Patient Contact, on Medical Students' Negative Attitudes toward Higher-Weight Patients

Reminders of ingroup privilege often threaten identity but rarely change beliefs

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