Search

Julia Richardson examines how she used mandala-making with her first-grade class during the COVID-19 pandemic and her school went virtual. A mandala (Sanskrit for "circle") is an "artistic representation of higher thought and deeper meaning given as a geometric symbol used in spiritual, emotional, or psychological work to focus one's attention," according to the "World History Encyclopedia." Over the course of the school year, her class made mandalas integrating state standards in geometry, science, art, and history. She wove in mindfulness techniques to support my students' coping skills: focusing on our senses, breathing consciously, making mistakes and letting them go, noticing what emotions or thoughts present themselves. Studying geometric shapes and patterns, the class observed and discussed mandalas in architecture around Los Angeles and in photos from around the world. Learning about the different cultures that have used and use mandalas encouraged a celebration of commonality and unity with people across the globe.

Being on a career plateau is widely regarded as an undesirable career experience characterised by a lack of individual proactivity, ability, or opportunity for promotion. In this paper, we present an alternative view arguing that some employees may choose to plateau their careers and deliberately forego opportunities for hierarchical progression. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with 75 law enforcement officers in the US and Australia, we explore why they declined a promotion opportunity or elected not to apply for promotion. Drawing on social cognitive career theory, we develop a provisional taxonomy characterised by individual proactivity: self‐initiated and self‐resigned career plateaus. Specifically, we report how the decision to remain on either of these career plateaus is informed by either the low valence accorded to a promoted position or, paradoxically, the reduced self‐efficacy in navigating what is viewed as a flawed promotion system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Racial discrimination is an unfortunately common experience for Black Americans with detrimental physical and mental health consequences. Prior research has established an association between discrimination and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS); yet, trauma-related cognitions have not been studied. The majority of the existing empirical work in this area has not examined specific forms of discrimination experiences, despite potential key differences in these adversities. Relatedly, some forms of discrimination constitute "traumatic" events as defined by Criterion A for PTSD in the DSM-5 while others do not, and these distinctions have also been overlooked. Thus, the present study aimed to (a) examine discrimination, including specific types, in relation to PTSS and posttraumatic cognitions and (b) investigate whether Criterion A and non-Criterion A discrimination experiences were tied to PTSS and trauma-related thoughts. Participants were 172 undergraduate students who identified as Black or African American (M age = 25.11, SD = 8.25, range = 18–56; 84.9% female). Results indicated that while cumulative trauma was unrelated to PTSS, discrimination experiences were linked with higher PTSS and negative posttraumatic cognitions. Specifically, avoidance discrimination experiences were associated with both outcomes. Criterion A discrimination events were not tied to PTSS. These findings support previous research showing a link between racial discrimination and trauma-related outcomes. In addition, the results suggest that avoidance discrimination, while not classified as "traumatic," may have an important contribution to PTSS and posttraumatic cognitions among Black individuals. The study underscores the need to address racial discrimination experiences, including microaggressions, within a traumatic stress context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Given the concerning rise in hate crimes in recent years, it is critical to better understand factors associated with racist beliefs. As suggested by terror management theory (TMT), trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) may activate existential distress and anxiety, which may strengthen worldviews, including prejudiced beliefs (Greenberg & Kosloff, 2008; Weise et al., 2012). Although PTSS include negative alterations in beliefs about other people and the world, the connection between trauma and racist beliefs has not been investigated. There may also be key differences in terms of types of trauma exposure, such as interpersonal and noninterpersonal trauma, and racial beliefs., Method: The present study aimed to determine: (a) whether cumulative trauma exposure and PTSS are associated with endorsement of racist perceptions and stereotypes regarding Black people, and (b) if interpersonal trauma is more strongly tied to prejudiced and stereotyped beliefs than noninterpersonal trauma among 277 White undergraduates ( M age = 23.33, SD = 6.11; 76.4% female)., Results: Neither cumulative trauma nor PTSS were found to be related to elevated racist beliefs or positive or negative stereotypes. However, noninterpersonal trauma exposure was associated with stronger endorsement of racist beliefs and negative stereotypes (η p ² = .03, .01). Surprisingly, interpersonal trauma exposure corresponded with lower racist beliefs (η p ² = .02)., Conclusions: Noninterpersonal trauma exposure may thus activate TMT and strengthen prejudiced ideology, whereas interpersonal traumatic experiences and PTSS may not. More research is needed to better understand how types of traumatic events may relate to the development of prejudiced beliefs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).