Clinical Brown Bag

Jackie Kim, Clinical Doctoral Student

Thursday, April 18, 2013, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
3021 East Hall

Event Information

When faced with the same traumatic experience, people are different in their ability to cope and to recover from it. Depending on the type of trauma and cultural construal of the event, reactions can also vary, further determining the level of post-traumatic adjustment. Past studies of mass trauma have found significant group differences in well-being and Japanese Americans have been found to be particularly resilient with the least conditional probability for PTSD. While it is informative to examine group differences in relation to post-traumatic adjustment, it is also important to examine the individual differences within these groups to determine more predictors of resiliency.

I will be presenting on how Japanese American internment survivors’ personality dispositions may indicate better coping. More specifically, their just world belief and locus of control are examined in relation to self-reported coping from the internment. Also, given the unique instance of U.S. governmental apology and reparation towards an act of injustice against an entire group, we will be examining how personality dispositions may be associated with their attitudes towards redress, an outcome of the historical trauma.