The present article provides an update of the author’s evolving theory of the “multicultural personality” (MP). The MP is conceptualized as a narrow matrix of personality traits or dispositions (characteristic adaptations) that can be subsumed under broad trait models of personality (e.g., Big Five). MP theory posits that its constituent factors will demonstrate incremental validity over broad personality traits in predicting adaptive human behavior in increasingly culturally heterogeneous societies. The present theory of the MP is anchored across the disciplines of evolutionary biology, human ecology, personality and developmental psychology, and counseling and positive psychology. The specific definition of the MP is based on an integration of leading theories and constructs in multicultural psychology. Limitations of MP theory are highlighted, future directions for research presented, and tentative implications for counseling training and practice noted.
gisdottir, S., & Gerstein, L.H. (2010). International counseling competencies: A new frontier in multicultural training. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed., pp. 175-188). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
2.
Allport, G.W. ( 1979). The nature of prejudice (25th Anniversary ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
3.
American Psychological Association. (2003). Guidelines on multicultural education, training, research, practice, and organizational change for psychologists. American Psychologist, 58, 377-402.
4.
Arnett, J.J. ( 2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teems through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469-480.
5.
Atkinson, R. ( 1998). The life story interview. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
6.
Baldwin, J.A., & Bell, Y.R. ( 1985). The African Self-Consciousness Scale: An Africentric personality questionnaire. Western Journal of Black Studies , 9, 61-68.
7.
Barnett, R.C., & Hyde, J.S. ( 2001). Women, men, work, and family: An expansionist theory . American Psychologist, 56, 781-796.
8.
Bouchard, T.J., Jr. (2004). Genetic influence on human psychological traits. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13, 148-151.
9.
Bronfenbrenner, U. ( 1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513-531.
10.
Bronfenbrenner, U. ( 1994). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
11.
Buss, D.M., & Cantor, N. ( 1989). Introduction. In D. M. Buss & N. Cantor (Eds.), Personality psychology: Recent trends and emerging directions (pp. 1-12). New York: Springer Verlag.
12.
Casas, J.M., Park, Y.S., & Cho, B. ( 2010). The multicultural and internationalization counseling psychology movements: When all is said and done, it’s all multicultural, isn’t it? In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed., pp. 189-200). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
13.
Caspi, A., Harrington, H., Milne, B., Amell, J.W., Theodore, R.F., & Moffitt, T.E. ( 2003). Children’s behavioral styles at age 3 are linked to their adult personality traits at age 26. Journal of Personality , 71, 495-513.
14.
Caspi, A., & Roberts, B.W. ( 1999). Personality continuity and change across the life course . In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 300-326). New York: Guilford.
15.
Cass, V.C. ( 1979). Homosexual identity formation: A theoretical model. Journal of Homosexuality, 4, 219-235.
16.
Cokley, K.O. ( 2007). Critical issues in the measurement of ethnic and racial identity: A referendum on the state of the field. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 224-234.
17.
Coleman, E. ( 1982). Developmental stages of the coming out process. In J. C. Gonsiorek (Ed.), Homosexuality & psychotherapy: A practitioner’s handbook on affirmative models (pp. 31-43). New York: Haworth.
18.
Coleman, H.L.K. ( 1995). Strategies for coping with cultural diversity. The Counseling Psychologist, 23, 722-740.
19.
Coleman, H.L.K., Casali, S.B., & Wampold, B.E. ( 2001). Adolescent strategies for coping with cultural diversity . Journal of Counseling and Development, 79, 356-364.
20.
Constantine, M.G., & Sue, D.W. ( 2006). Factors contributing to optimal human functioning in people of color in the United States. The Counseling Psychologist , 34, 228-244.
21.
Costa, P.T., Jr., & McCrae, R.R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-Pi-R) and NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
22.
Costa, P.T., Jr., & McCrae, R.R. (1994). Set like plaster? Evidence for the stability of adult personality. In T. F. Heatherton & J. L. Weinberger (Eds.), Can personality change? (pp. 21-40). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
23.
Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs, Association of Counseling Center Training Agencies, and Society of Counseling Psychology. (2009). Counseling psychology model training values statement addressing diversity. The Counseling Psychologist , 37, 641-643.
24.
Cross, W.E., Jr., & Vandiver, B.J. (2001). Nigrescence theory and measurement: Introducing the Cross Racial Identity Scale (CRIS). In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (2nd ed., pp. 371-393). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
25.
David, E.J.R., Okazaki, S., & Saw, A. ( 2009). Bicultural self-efficacy among college students: Initial scale development and mental health correlates. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 56, 211-226.
26.
Demorest, A. ( 2005). Psychology’s grand theories: How personal experiences shaped professional ideas. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
27.
Erikson, E. ( 1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York : Norton.
28.
Fassinger, R.E. ( 1998). Lesbian, gay, and bisexual identity and student development theory. In R. L. Sanlo (Ed.), Working with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender college students: A handbook for faculty and administrators (pp. 13-22). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
29.
Fassinger, R. ( 2005). Paradigms, praxis, problems, and promise: Grounded theory in counseling psychology research. Journal of Counseling Psychology , 52, 156-166.
30.
Fassinger, R.E., & Miller, B.A. ( 1997). Validation of an inclusive model of homosexual identity formation in a sample of gay men. Journal of Homosexuality , 32, 53-78.
31.
Fischer, A.R., Tokar, D.M., Mergl, M.M., Good, G.E., Hill, M.S., & Blum, S.A. ( 2000). Assessing women’s feminist identity development: Studies of convergent, discriminant, and structural validity. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 24, 15-29.
32.
Fuertes, J.N., Miville, M.L., Mohr, J.J., Sedlacek, W.E., & Gretchen, D. ( 2000). Factor structure and short form of the Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 33, 157-169.
33.
Garrett, M.T., Garrett, J.T., Torres-Rivera, E., Wilbur, M., & Roberts-Wilbur, J. (2005). Laughing it up: Native American humor as spiritual tradition. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 33, 194-204.
34.
Gelso, C.J. ( 2009). The real relationship in a postmodern world: Theoretical and empirical explorations. Psychotherapy Research, 19, 253-264.
35.
Gelso, C.J., & Fassinger, R.E. (1992). Personality development and counseling psychology: Depth, ambivalence, and actualization. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 39, 275-298.
36.
Gerstein, L. H., Heppner, P. P., gisdottir, S., Leung, S.-M. A., & Norsworthy, K. L. (Eds.). (2009). International handbook of cross-cultural counseling: Cultural assumptions and practices worldwide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
37.
Greenson, R.R. ( 1965). The working alliance and the transference neurosis. Psychoanalysis Quarterly, 34, 155-181.
38.
Grills, C., & Ajei, M. ( 2002). African-centered conceptualizations of self and consciousness: The Akan model. In T. A. Parham (Ed.), Counseling persons of African descent: Raising the bar of practitioner competence (pp. 75-99). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
39.
Grills, C., & Longshore, D. ( 1996). Africentrism: Psychometric analyses of a self-report . Journal of Black Psychology, 22, 86-106.
40.
Helms, J. E. (Ed.). (1990). Black and White racial identity: Theory, research, and practice. Westport, CT: Greenwood.
41.
Helms, J.E. ( 1995). An update of Helms’s White and people of color racial identity models. In J. G. Ponterotto , J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (pp. 181-198). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
42.
Hofstede, G. ( 1991). Culture and organizations: The software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill.
43.
Huang, J. ( 2010). Counseling persons from Eastern religions and spiritualities . In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed., pp. 491-501). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44.
Hyde, J.S. ( 2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60, 581-592.
45.
Jones, J.M. ( 2003). TRIOS: A psychological theory of the African legacy inAmerican culture. Journal of Social Issues, 59, 217-242.
46.
Kwan, K.-L.K., Gong, Y., & Maestas, M. ( 2010). Language, translation, and validity in the adaptation of psychological tests for multicultural counseling. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed., pp. 397-412). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
47.
LaFromboise, T., Coleman, H.L.K., & Gerton, J. ( 1993). Psychological impact of biculturalism: Evidence and theory . Psychological Bulletin, 114, 392-412.
48.
Leung, K.-Y.A., Maddux, W.W., Galinsky, A.D., & Chiu, C.-J. ( 2008). Multicultural experience enhances creativity: The when and how. American Psychologist, 65, 169-181.
Little, B.R. ( 1999). Personality and motivation: Personal action and the conative evolution. In L. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 501-524). New York: Guilford.
51.
Loewy, M.I., Juntunen, C.L., & Duan, C. ( 2009). Application of the counseling psychology model training values statement addressing diversity to the admission process. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 705-720.
52.
Lopez, S.J., & Edwards, L.M. ( 2008). The interface of counseling psychology and positive psychology: Assessing and promoting strengths. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (4th ed., pp. 86-99). New York: Wiley.
53.
Lopez, S.J., Magyar-Moe, J.L., Petersen, S.E., Ryder, J.A., Krieshok, T.S., O’Byrne, K.K., et al. (2006). Counseling psychology’s focus on positive aspects of human functioning. The Counseling Psychologist , 34, 205-227.
54.
Maddi, S.R. ( 2006). Building an integrated positive psychology. Journal of Positive Psychology, 1, 226-229.
55.
Maddux, W.W., & Galinsky, A.D. (2009). Cultural borders and mental barriers: The relationship between living abroad and creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 1047-1061.
56.
Marcia, J. ( 1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159-187). New York: Wiley.
57.
McAdams, D.P., & Pals, J.L. ( 2006). A new big five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. American Psychologist, 61, 204-217.
58.
McCarn, S.R., & Fassinger, R.E. (1996). Revisioning sexual minority identity formation: A new model of lesbian identity and its implications for counseling and research. The Counseling Psychologist, 24, 508-534.
59.
McCrae, R.R. ( 2004). Human nature and culture: A trait perspective. Journal of Research in Personality, 38, 3014.
60.
McCrae, R.R., & Costa, P.T., Jr. (1999). A five-factor theory of personality . In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 139-153). New York: Guilford.
61.
Millon, T. ( 2004). MIPS Revised: Millon Index of Personality Styles Revised (manual). Minneapolis, MN: NCS Pearson .
62.
Millon, T., Grossman, S., Millon, C., Meagher, S., & Ramnath, R. ( 2004). Personality disorders in modern life (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley.
63.
Miville, M.L., Gelso, C.J., Pannu, R., Liu, W., Touradji, P., Holloway, P., et al. (1999). Appreciating similarities and valuing differences: The Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 291-307.
64.
Mohr, J., & Fassinger, R. ( 2000). Measuring dimensions of lesbian and gay male experience . Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development , 33, 66-90.
65.
Moodley, R., & West, W. ( 2005). Introduction. In R. Moodley & W. West (Eds.), Integrating traditional healing practices into counseling and psychotherapy (pp. xv-xxvii). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
66.
Myers, L.J. ( 1993). Understanding an Afrocentric world view: Introduction to an optimal psychology (2nd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
67.
Neville, H.A., & Mobley, M. ( 2001). Social identities in context: An ecological model of multicultural counseling psychology processes. The Counseling Psychologist, 29, 471-486.
68.
Page, S.E. ( 2007). The difference: How the power of diversity creates better groups, firms, schools, and societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
69.
Parham, T. A. (Ed.). (2002). Counseling persons of African descent: Raising the bar of practitioner competence . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
70.
Paunonen, S.V. ( 1998). Hierarchical organization of personality and prediction of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 74, 538-556.
71.
Pedrotti, J.T., & Edwards, L.M. ( 2010). The intersection of positive psychology and multiculturalism in counseling. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed., pp. 165-174). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
72.
Phillips, S.T., & Ziller, R.C. ( 1997). Toward a theory and measure of the nature of nonprejudice . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 420-434.
73.
Phinney, J.S. ( 1992). The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure: A new scale for use with diverse groups. Journal of Adolescent Research, 7, 156-176.
74.
Phinney, J.S., & Ong, A.D. ( 2007). Conceptualization and measurement of ethnic identity: Current status and future directions. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 271-281.
75.
Plomin, R., & Caspi, A. ( 1999). Behavioral genetics and personality. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 252-276). New York: Guilford.
76.
Ponterotto, J.G. ( 2008). Theoretical and empirical advances in multicultural counseling . In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (4th ed., pp. 121-140). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
77.
Ponterotto, J.G. ( 2010). Learning from voices of wisdom: Reflections on multicultural life stories. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed., pp. 107-124). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
78.
Ponterotto, J.G., & Austin, R. ( 2005). Emerging approaches to training psychologists to be culturally competent. In R. T. Carter (Ed.), Handbook of racial-cultural psychology and counseling: Training and Practice (Vol. 2, pp. 19-35). New York: Wiley.
79.
Ponterotto, J. G., Casas, J. M., Suzuki, L. A., & Alexander, C. M. (Eds.). (2001). Handbook of multicultural counseling (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
80.
Ponterotto, J. G., Casas, J. M., Suzuki, L. A., & Alexander, C. M. (Eds.). (2010). Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
81.
Ponterotto, J.G., Jackson, M.A., & Nutini, C.D. ( 2001). Reflections of the life stories of pioneers in multicultural counseling. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (2nd ed., pp. 138-161). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
82.
Ponterotto, J.G., Potere, J.C., & Johansen, S.A. (2002). The Quick Discrimination Index: Normative data and user guidelines for counseling researchers. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 30, 192-207.
83.
Ponterotto, J.G., Stack, L., Desai, M., Fietzer, A., Woerner, S., Alba, R., et al. (2009). Development and initial score validation of the Multicultural Personality Inventory. Study in progress .
84.
Ponterotto, J.G., Utsey, S.O., & Pedersen, P.B. (2006). Preventing prejudice: A guide for counselors, educators, and parents (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
85.
Pope-Davis, D. B., Coleman, H. L. K., Liu, W. M., & Toporek, R. L. (Eds.). (2003). Handbook of multicultural competencies in counseling & psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
86.
Ramirez, M. III. ( 1995). Historical development of the concept of the multicultural personality: A mixed ethnic heritage perspective. ERIC Document Service. ED 395 252; CG 027 067, pp. 1-32.
87.
Ramirez, M., III. ( 1999a). El concepto de personalidad multicultural: Una perspectiva de origen etnico mestizo. Revisita Latinoamericana de Psicologia , 31, 231-250.
88.
Ramirez, M., III. ( 1999b). Multicultural psychotherapy: An approach to individual and cultural differences (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
89.
Santee, R.G. ( 2007). An integrative approach to counseling: Bridging Chinese thought, evolutionary theory, and stress management. Thousand oaks, CA: Sage.
90.
Sheldon, K.M. ( 2004). The psychology of optimal being: An integrated, multi-level perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
91.
Smith, E.J. ( 2006). The strength-based counseling model. The Counseling Psychologist, 34, 13-79.
92.
Steward, R.J., Jo, H.I., Murray, D., Fitgerald, W., Neil, D., Fear, F., et al. (1998). Psychological adjustment and coping styles of urban African American high school students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 26, 70-82.
93.
Tajfel, H. ( 1981). Human groups and social categories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
94.
Tellegen, A. ( 1982). Brief manual for the Differential Personality Questionnaire. Unpublished manuscript, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
95.
Tellegen, A., Lykken, D.T., Bouchard, T.J., Jr. , Wilcox, K.J., Segal, N.L., & Rich, S. (1988). Personality similarity in twins reared apart and together. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1031-1039.
96.
Umana-Taylor, A.J., Yazedjian, A., & Bamaca-Gomez, M. (2004). Developing the Ethnic Identity Scale using Eriksonian and social identity perspectives. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 4, 9-38.
97.
Van der Zee, K.I. ( 1998). Ontwikkeling en evaluatie van een vragenlijst voor multiculturele effectiviteit. De Multiculturele Persoonlijkheids Vragenlijst. Gedrag en Organisatie, 11, 232-247.
98.
Van der Zee, K.I., & Van Oudenhoven, J.P. (2000). The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: A multidimensional instrument of multicultural effectiveness . European Journal of Personality, 14, 291-309.
99.
Van der Zee, K.I., & Van Oudenhoven, J.P. (2001). The Multicultural Personality Questionnaire: Reliability and validity of self-and other ratings of multicultural effectiveness. Journal of Research in Personality, 35, 278-288.
100.
Vereen, L.G., Butler, S.K., Williams, F.C., Darg, J.A., & Downing, T.K.E. (2006). The use of humor when counseling African American college students. Journal of Counseling & Development, 84, 10-15.
101.
Wilton, L. ( 2010). Where do we go from here? Raising the bar of what constitutes multicultural competence in the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed., pp. 313-327). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
102.
Winterowd, C.L., Adams, E.M., Miville, M.L., & Mintz, L.B. ( 2009). Operationalizing, instilling, and assessing counseling psychology training values related to diversity in academic programs. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 676-704.
103.
Yeh, C.J., & Kwan, K.-L.K. ( 2010). Advances in multicultural assessment and counseling with adolescents: An ecological perspective. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural counseling (3rd ed., pp. 637-648). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
