ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 (this volume) described standard and multicultural assessment and presented a psychological-psychometric context for multicultural assessment. This chapter provides an overview of cultural differences inherent in the self-presentations of multicultural clients that affect their responses to standard tests. An understanding of cultural differences embodied in worldview is necessary for the development of multicultural assessment competencies. Ethnic/racial group identities and individual cultural identities may be distinguished within worldviews. Group identity is an immutable life circumstance, whereas individual cultural identity or the cultural self is susceptible to modification by acculturation status and/or racial identity development. An examination of ethnic/racial group identities as well as individual identity embodied in the cultural self is essential for understanding the impact of several overarching belief systems on assessment instruments and service delivery.
