Advisory Committee Chair
Shelia R Cotten
Advisory Committee Members
Gail Wallace
Sylvie Mrug
Michael Howell-Moroney
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2014
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
This dissertation examines the relationship between sociocultural disposition, as protective factors, and social and psychological adjustment among urban minority youth. Pierre Bourdieu's concept of the habitus provides the theoretical foundation for sociocultural disposition as a factor influencing the reproduction of poor psychosocial adjustment. Sociocultural disposition is operationalized as self-efficacy, optimism, and hopelessness. Data from this study are from the Birmingham Youth and Technology Study (BYTS) which was conducted during the 2008-2009 school year by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression was used to test six hypotheses regarding the relationship between sociocultural disposition and the outcome variables. Three of the six hypotheses were fully supported by the findings and partial support was found for the other three. Overall, the findings support sociocultural disposition as a protective mechanism for social and psychological adjustment. Participants who had a more positive disposition had better adjustment outcomes. These findings have significant implications for the long-term well-being of urban minority youth as sociocultural disposition could be used to develop interventions that reduce health and educational inequalities experienced by this social group.
Recommended Citation
O'Neal, Latoya J., "Sociocultural Disposition and Psychosocial Adjustment: An Examination of the Relationship of Self-Efficacy, Optimism, and Hope to Social and Psychological Adjustment Among Urban Minority Youth" (2014). All ETDs from UAB. 2628.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/2628