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Drawing from the rejection-identification model, acculturation, and acceptance threat literatures, we examined how Indigenous and mainstream identification influence the effect of discrimination on acculturative and physical stress. A community sample of 126 Indigenous Alaskans reported discrimination, identification with Indigenous Alaskans and mainstream Americans, and acculturative and physical stress. As perceptions of personal discrimination increased, so did Indigenous identification and reports of acculturative and physical stress. Contrary to the rejection-identification hypothesis, Indigenous identification did not reduce the effect of discrimination on stress. Instead, following personal discrimination, Indigenous and mainstream identification interacted to predict acculturative stress. As Indigenous identification increased, so did acculturative stress – particularly among those who strongly identified with mainstream culture. These associations were not present for group-based discrimination. Thus, experiencing personal rejection from mainstream society may be particularly stressful for Indigenous people who strongly identify with their ethnic group, placing them at higher risk for mental and physical illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is a pressing social problem. Attempts to increase conservation that focus on education or attitudes produce limited success. Installing efficient appliances reduces water use, but can be costly. Drawing from research that links identity to pro-social behavior, we reduce water use by creating a conservation self-identity using an existing collective identity. Students in apartment-style residence halls ( n = 303) experienced a “water saver” identity-building campaign, received retrofitted fixtures that limited water use, received both, or received neither intervention. Appliance retrofits reduced actual water consumption. By itself, the identity-building campaign also reduced actual water use, but only for those who successfully internalized a water-saver self-identity. In isolation, the identity-building campaign produced as much actual water conservation as installing retrofits. Interestingly, combining retrofits and the identity-building campaign cancelled out conservation efforts, producing no change in water use. Thus, residents may exhibit reactance when interventions simultaneously target structural and personal factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A feeling of belonging to an academic context is a critical determinant of academic achievement and persistence, particularly for students of color. Despite the fact that students of color are generally more susceptible to fluctuations in belonging uncertainty than White students, survey design can unintentionally mask this reality. We investigated whether context effects undermine the accurate assessment of belonging uncertainty in junior high and high school students (Study 1) and college students (Study 2). Considering one's ethnic identification (Study 1) and personal experiences with discrimination (Study 2) threatens sense of belonging in students of color, but not White students. Researchers should consider question order within surveys so as not to artificially mask belonging uncertainty in students of color. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined majority group members' collective action on behalf of a minority group, focusing on the role of outgroup perspective taking and group-based guilt. As expected, outgroup perspective taking was positively associated with heterosexuals' collective action in response to hate crimes against non-heterosexuals and Whites' action in response to hate crimes against Blacks (Studies 1 and 2). This association was partially mediated by group-based guilt (Studies 2 and 3). We also examined the role of group-based anger; although it directly related to collective action, it did not mediate the association between perspective taking and collective action. Finally, we manipulated outgroup perspective taking to demonstrate its causal role in the subsequent outcomes (Study 3). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]