28th International Congress of Psychology August 8 ... - U-netSURF

Massarrat 1 , Joel Flores 2 , 1 University of Barcelona, Spain, 2 Univesidad de Lima, Peru
Social globalization is changing The Earth into one country and humanity into its citizens, as a
natural consequence of the integration of diverse cultures. Intercultural marriages are increasingly
more frequent, developing a new set of values through integration processes. This study evaluates,
from systemic point of view, the relational values that can help intercultural couples achieve
greater enrichment in their relationship. It examines strategies that can prevent or help to solve
their conflicts. Results show that acceptance of each other’s cultural differences, is key to their
success.
3109.6 The acculturative stress experience of Chinese and Indonesian international students,
Hugo Gonzales, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Australia
The aim of this longitudinal study was to ascertain the influence of everyday stresses, ethnic
identity and acculturative stress in the mental health reported by international students from
mainland China and Indonesia at different stages of their sojourn to Australian universities namely
entry level, four and eight months. This study challenged the traditional U-curve assumption of
cultural shock which indicated that sojourners went through different phases in their process of
adjustment to the host society and supported the stress and coping model stating that sojourners
experienced high levels of stress from their initial interaction to the host society.
3109.7 A cross-cultural study on attitudes towards suicide and suicide prevention in Norway
and Uganda, Heidi Hjelmeland 1 , Eugene Kinyanda 2 , Birthe Loa Knizek 3 , Vicki Owens 4 ,
Hilmar Nordvik 5 , 1 Department of Psychology, Norway, 2 Butabika National Referral Hospital,
Uganda, 3 Department of Psychology, NTNU, Norway, 4 Department of Mental Health and
Community Psychology, Makerere University, Uganda
Studying attitudes towards suicide is one of several gateways to increasing the understanding of
meanings(s) of suicidal behaviour in different cultures. In the present study a questionnaire on
attitudes towards suicide was distributed to students in Norway and Uganda. Factor analysis was
performed on the data in the two countries separately. The results showed large differences in
factor structure making comparisons on factor level virtually impossible. This result indicates that
different latent variables are underlying the responses, which in turn might be an indication of
different meaning(s) of suicidal behaviour in the two counties. Implications for suicide prevention
are discussed.
3109.8 Cross cultural validity of intellectual assessment: Recent developments, John E. Lewis,
Nicole Richardson, Amber Stirlen, Nova Southeastern University, USA
This paper examines current methods to assess the intellectual level of culturally diverse clients in
the United States. In particular, it looks at historical biases in assessing children and adolescents
from culturally diverse backgrounds. The newly published Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Children (WISC-IV) is analyzed as to its cross cultural validity. The developers of this measure of
intelligence attempted to make it more culturally viable than the previous edition. A clinical
evaluation of these specific attempts is delineated. In addition, advances in the informal and
formal process of assessment are presented, including the adequacy of using nonverbal
instruments and translations.
731