Content area
Abstract
This study examined the relationships among acculturation, worldviews, and the ratings of dissociative experiences for White American and international graduate students in a Midwestern university in the United States (U.S.). Worldviews were operationalized as the attitudinal dimensions of Normativism and Humanism; acculturation as the preferences for Language Usage and Social Customs; reactions to cultural discrimination as Perceived Prejudice; and dissociative experiences as unusual perceptions that were labeled as Pathology, Nonpathology, and Culture-Bound syndrome. Using the survey method, data were collected from 125 White American students and 143 international students.
While there were no significant differences between White American and international participants on the rating of Pathological dissociation, international participants scored significantly higher on the rating of Nonpathological dissociation.
For the White American sample, a three-step hierarchical regression model indicated that Acculturation and Abuse were significant predictors for Nonpathology. While there were no significant differences between the abused and nonabused groups in the White American sample on Culture-Bound syndrome, there was a significant difference between the two abuse groups on Nonpathology scores. The White American students' degree of Acculturation to their own society made a significant contribution to their scores on the Culture-Bound syndrome.
For the international sample, a five-step hierarchical regression model indicated that Perceived Prejudice, Acculturation, and Normativism were significant predictors for Nonpathology. International students' Region of origin made a significant contribution to Culture-Bound syndrome. While international students from different Regions of Origin showed similar Nonpathology scores, there were significant differences on Culture-Bound syndrome. The mean of the Southeast Asian group was lower than the means of the South Asian-Middle Eastern and Latin groups. The latter two cultural groupings endorsed stronger culturally-related dissociations.
For both the White American and international samples, Perceived Prejudice and Acculturation entered simultaneously into a multiple regression analysis were significant predictors of both Normativism and Humanism.
This study may provide support for the theoretical assumption that experiences of dissociation have cultural explanations.
