Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences current issue

Measuring the Wage Costs of Limited English: Issues With Using Interviewer Versus Self-Reports in Determining Latino Wages

Hamilton, D., Goldsmith, A. H., Darity, W. — 2008-07-14

Scholars have found that poor English proficiency is negatively associated with wages using self-reported measures. However, these estimates may suffer from misclassification bias. Interviewer ratings are likely to more accurately proxy employer assessment of worker language ability. Using self-reported and interviewer ratings from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality, the authors estimate the impact of English proficiency on wages for men (n = 267) and women (n = 178) with Mexican ancestry residing in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Use of interviewer proficiency ratings suggests a larger and more gradational language penalty as fluency falls, and women face a stronger penalty than their male counterparts. Moreover, controlling for worker accent and skin shade does little to alter these effects.

The Ethnic Niche as an Economic Pathway for the Dark Skinned: Labor Market Incorporation of Latina/o Workers

Morales, M. C. — 2008-07-14

A significant number of Latina/os are turning to employment in ethnic niches as an alternative to general labor markets. This study places special focus on how skin color segmentation or colorism influences job-market allocation. The hypothesis is that dark-skinned Latina/os are more likely to be employed in ethnically homogeneous jobsites or niches. The author tests the hypothesis using survey logistic regression on a sample of 322 Central American-(Guatemalan, Nicaraguan, and Salvadoran) and Mexican-origin workers utilizing data from the Los Angeles Study of Urban Inequality. The results show that dark-skinned Latina/o workers are more likely to be employed in ethnic niches as opposed to lighter-skinned individuals. It is concluded that skin color stratifies Latina/o workers into distinct markets that can have implications for their socioeconomic incorporation.

Beliefs, Fertility, and Earnings of African American, Hispanic, and Non-Hispanic White Mothers

Keil, J. M., Christie-Mizell, C. A. — 2008-07-14

This study explores gender ideology, fertility factors (e.g., age at first birth, number of children), and their effects on earnings of African American (n = 413), Hispanic American (n = 271), and White (n = 817) mothers. An analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth over a 10-year period (1988 to 1998) shows that, on average, Hispanic American and White mothers have a significantly more conservative gender ideology than African American mothers. Nevertheless, a conservative gender ideology significantly reduces African American, Hispanic American, and White mothers' earnings when controlling for a variety of important labor force factors. Regarding fertility, the number of children is detrimental to the earnings of White mothers but has no effect on African American or Hispanic mothers in the sample. Although early childbearing significantly depresses the earnings of African American and Hispanic mothers, it does not do so for their White counterparts.

Is Acculturation a Dynamic Construct?: The Influence of Method of Priming Culture on Acculturation

Lechuga, J. — 2008-07-14

Recent evidence suggests that culture is a dynamic construct activated in response to cues encountered in a given situation. Research on acculturation indicates that this is a complex construct that might be domain specific. Two studies were undertaken to investigate the effect of two ways of priming culture on acculturation and enculturation scores in a Hispanic population. In study 1 (N = 59) culture was primed by exposing participants to cultural icons and symbols representative of Mexican and American Culture. In study 2 (N = 145) culture was primed by randomly assigning participants to answer questionnaires in English or Spanish. Results suggest that affiliation with host and/or heritage cultures is a malleable construct. Implications for acculturation measurement are discussed.

Coping With Daily Stressors: Modeling Intraethnic Variation in Mexican American Adolescents

Aldridge, A. A., Roesch, S. C. — 2008-07-14

Using daily diary methodology, 67 Mexican American adolescents completed measures assessing daily stressors experienced, specific coping strategies employed with reference to these stressors, and indices of psychological health over 5 consecutive days. With respect to coping usage, adolescents reported they most often used planning and least often used humor to cope with stress. Significant intraindividual and interindividual variability was found for each coping strategy and psychological health. When this variability was modeled, adolescents who reported using more direct problem solving, positive thinking, acceptance, and humor reported more positive affect. Adolescents who reported using more religious coping, distancing, and acceptance reported more negative affect. These findings indicate that intraethnic variability exists at the daily stressor level in Mexican American adolescents and that this variability in coping is predictive of daily psychological health. Discussion focuses on the developmental importance of flexible coping repertories in Mexican American adolescents and the (mal)adaptive nature of specific coping strategies.

Family Cohesion and Its Relationship to Psychological Distress Among Latino Groups

2008-07-14

This article presents analyses of a representative sample of U.S. Latinos (N = 2,540) to investigate whether family cohesion moderates the effects of cultural conflict on psychological distress. The results for the aggregated Latino group suggest a significant association between family cohesion and lower psychological distress, and the combination of strong family cohesion with presence of family cultural conflict is associated with higher psychological distress. However, this association differs by Latino groups. In this study, no association for Puerto Ricans is seen; Cuban results are similar to the aggregate group, family cultural conflict in Mexicans is associated with higher psychological distress whereas family cohesion in other Latinos is associated with higher psychological distress. Implications of these findings are discussed to unravel the differences in family dynamics across Latino subethnic groups.

Predictors of Condom Use in Latino Migrant Day Laborers

Organista, K. C., Ehrlich, S. F. — 2008-07-14

This article reports on predictors of condom use with casual female sex partners on the part of Latino migrant day laborers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Results come from a secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling to interview 290 sexually active adult, male, migrant Latino day laborers. Regression analysis of sociodemographic background, behavioral, and psychosocial predictor factors revealed a number of significant findings. Men with wives or partners currently living in Mexico were almost 4.5 times more likely to use condoms with casual female sex partners compared to men accompanied by wives or partners in California. It was also found that men at high sexual risk for HIV with casual female partners were more than 5.5 times more likely to use condoms than men at low risk. Interpretations of findings and implications for HIV prevention with this unique and especially marginalized population of Latinos are discussed.