Discomfort and cultural rupture
Today, I combine two articles that may be helpful in different ways, but I see a connection between them First, Murray & Koopmann-Holm (2024) published “Facing Discomfort: Avoided negative affect shapes the acknowledgment of systemic racism” in Emotion. Here’s the edited abstract:
Why can some Americans acknowledge the deeply rooted racism in the United States while others cannot? Past research suggests that the more people want to avoid feeling negative (“avoided negative affect; ANA”), the less likely they focus on and even perceive someone’s suffering. Because acknowledging racism is one specific instance of noticing and acknowledging that people are suffering, the present research investigates whether ANA might also affect the degree to which people acknowledge racism. We predicted that the more people want to avoid feeling negative, the less they will acknowledge systemic racism and the more they will deny negative aspects of their country’s history and current policies, that is, the more blindly patriotic they will be. In Study 1, 104 undergraduates reported their ANA and patriotism and rated how much racism they perceived in certain situations. As predicted, the more participants wanted to avoid feeling negative, the less they acknowledged systemic racism. These findings held even after controlling for political ideology, ethnicity, moral foundations, and how people actually feel. However, ANA did not predict blind patriotism. In Study 2, we randomly assigned 116 participants to either an increase ANA, decrease ANA, or control condition. As predicted, participants in the increase ANA condition acknowledged systemic racism less than those in the decrease ANA and control conditions. Wanting to avoid feeling negative might be one barrier to dismantling racial inequalities. Given the high degree of ANA in the United States, we discuss the implications of this work.
I was drawn to this study because it seems to introduce an idea very helpful in understanding resistance to acknowledging the effects of systemic racism. I was especially struck by the finding, though the sample is small, the drive to avoid negative affect is associated with denying systemic racism regardless of political ideology, ethnicity, moral foundations, and how people actually feel. The second study suggests that a brief manipulation can lead people to be less likely to acknowledge systemic racism. The next study looks directly at therapists. Freetly Porter & Owen (2024) published “Therapists’ Responses to Cultural Ruptures: A pilot study of external ratings of multicultural orientation” in Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. The edited abstract and impact statements follow:
In the field of counseling and clinical psychology, the last several decades have been characterized by a strengthened recognition of the importance of cultural factors in psychotherapy. While this has been impactful, there is evidence that racial/ethnic disparities in psychotherapy outcomes persist. Cultural ruptures, defined as subtle misattunements impacting the therapeutic alliance, may play a role in maintaining these outcome disparities. The present study sought to pilot a practice-oriented method for defining and measuring cultural ruptures, specifically related to race and racism. Four mock counseling videos were created depicting different types of cultural ruptures related to race. In total, 88 white counseling trainees were recruited. Participants recorded themselves responding to cultural rupture videos, and they were asked to self-rate their level of understanding and effectiveness. Coders were trained to rate participants’ levels of cultural comfort, cultural humility (CH), cultural opportunities, and overall effectiveness. Results revealed that cultural ruptures could be reliably coded and measured in this practice-oriented way. Secondly, results suggested that white therapists tend to overestimate their effectiveness in responding to cultural ruptures in comparison to coders. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.
This study pilots a method for assessing therapists’ responses to cultural ruptures. The results indicate that simulation videos portraying cultural ruptures can be reliably coded for cultural humility, among other variables. This contributes to practice-oriented and observer-measured methods for studying cultural processes in therapy.
Here again, I liked learning a new term – cultural ruptures – and its implications. Just as, in the first study, it’s easy to think about those people who just can’t see systemic racism, in this study, it’s easy to see it as the client’s problem when therapy stops prematurely. I think it’s important to reiterate the finding that “white therapists tend to overestimate their effectiveness in responding to cultural ruptures in comparison to coders.” One response to both articles is to think more about both the importance of cultural humility and the need to confront one’s own discomfort.