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Acculturative stress and relevant demographic variables, including immigration status, English skills, level of education, age, gender, country of origin, and years since immigration to the U. S. are examined along with their relationship to depressive symptoms. The 200 Arab-American and recent Arab immigrant participants ranged from age 60-92 and represented eight countries of origin. Most had limited fluency in English. Arabic versions of the Multi-dimensional Acculturative Stress Inventory (MASI) and Geriatric Depression Scale were administered. MASI and GDS results indicated greater degrees of acculturative stress and depression for those with a refugee or temporary resident status. More recent entry into the U.S. also predicted greater stress, while greater levels of education and English skills predicted lower levels of stress and depression. Composite stress levels and the nature of stress varied by country of origin. Although demographic variables were predictive of depression when examined separately, multiple regression analyses revealed that perceived acculturative stress, particularly pressure to learn English, provided a notable increment in prediction of depression over the demographic variables.

This study examined the cultural generalizibility of the negative relationship between depression and self-enhancement. Japanese (n = 116) and American (n = 125) students completed the Zung (1965) Self-Rating Depression Scale and three measures of self-enhancement (i.e., the tendency to see oneself in a positive light). As expected, Japanese subjects were found to be more depressed and less self-serving than Americans. Negative correlations between depression and self-enhancement measures were obtained for both samples. Regression analyses of the relationships between measures indicated that sample differences in self-enhancement were explained largely by sample differences in depression. It is proposed that, relative to the Americans, Japanese students had a negative self-schema that led to higher depression and lower self-enhancement.

Racial bias appears to lead jurors in trials of stranger rape to convict Black defendants more readily and to sentence them more harshly than White defendants. It was hypothesized that jurors in an acquaintance rape case would demonstrate a different pattern of bias, based not only on the race of the defendant but also on the racial nature of the defendant-victim relationship. White American undergraduates read a trial transcript that established defendant-victim familiarity and sexual contact but was ambiguous about the victim's consent. Race of defendant and of victim (Black or White) were varied on a 2 × 2 design. The participants were asked to rate the guilt of the defendant and to recommend a sentence. Both Black and White defendants were rated as more guilty when the victim's race differed from their own.