The Psychologist, May 2024
Can psychologists help to achieve discourse despite disagreements in these divisive times?
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Can psychologists help to achieve discourse despite disagreements in these divisive times?
This is a member only download
Access to PDFs of Psychologist issues is restricted to members of the society. Join us to enjoy this and a host of other benefits.
Editorial, May 2024
Editor Jon Sutton introduces the issue.
‘Social justice and activism are core tenets of counselling psychology’
Ella Rhodes spoke to Dr Sue Whitcombe, Chair of the Division of Counselling Psychology (DCoP), ahead of their 30-year anniversary and annual conference.
‘We need better services, but not always reactive services’
Ella Rhodes meets Dr Gita Bhutani, winner of the British Psychological Society's 2024 Distinguished Contribution to Practice Award.
Five minutes with… Dr Danijela Serbic
Winner of the British Psychological Society’s DART-P’s (Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology) 2023 Higher Education Psychology Teacher of the Year Award.
Rule benders make more appealing leaders than rule abiders
Leaders who find a way around the rules, rather than technically disobeying them, are perceived as more dominant and prestigious, according to new research.
Pain sensitivity predicts support for political opponents
New research shows link between sensitivity to pain and sympathy for the views of those across the aisle.
Being political in divisive times
Kesi Mahendran, Sandra Obradović, Sue Nieland and Ashley Weinberg introduce this guest-edited special issue.
‘If there is no tension, there is no reason to talk’
Ivana Marková tells fellow dialogical psychologist Nicola Magnusson how growing up in a totalitarian regime shaped her interest in dialogue.
Political polarisation: Are you part of the problem?
Sandra Obradović and Anthony English.
Voting for who we want to be
Gordon Sammut with a social psychological perspective on why and how we vote.
On memes and mugs: Everyday extremism in the (digital) mainstream
Tina Askanius and Jullietta Stoencheva, Media and Communications scholars at Malmö University, with examples from Sweden which some readers may find offensive.
What colour is your Hijab?
Fathali M. Moghaddam, author of 'The Psychology of Revolution' (2024), on ‘being political’ in America, the UK and Iran.
The legitimacy of protest
Colin Wayne Leach, Cátia P. Teixeira and Shaunette T. Ferguson, with a focus on Black Lives Matter.
The silent generation
Sue Nieland, Sarah Crafter and Kesi Mahendran explore the narrative that older people were responsible for taking the UK out of the European Union.
Divided cities?
Ursula Reeger and Miriam Haselbacher, from the Institute for Urban and Regional Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, look to navigate political polarisation in urban spaces.
‘Psychology has a fundamental role to play in forging a politically constituted society of equals’
Open University OppAttune Project PhD students Tetiana Shyriaieva and Evangelia Vergouli sit down with Stephen W. Sawyer, Ballantine-Leavitt Professor of History and Director of the Center for Critical Democracy Studies at The American University of Paris, and author of Demos Assembled.
When breathing clean air becomes political
Ashley Weinberg talks with Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose daughter Ella’s death in 2013 was the first to be attributed to air pollution.
Politics ‘beneath the surface’
Tabitha Baker asks whether reflective emotional literacy can help ease political tension and social polarisation.
Encountering the unknown other
Mónica González Gort and Laura Fonseca Durán consider the role of youth and education initiatives in Colombia, for peacebuilding efforts in divided societies.
‘Democracy means people successfully speaking and listening to each other’
Dr Harald Weilnböck, Cultures Interactive e.V., on a ‘narrative dialogue group work’ approach to understanding and fostering political communication in divisive times.
Just another day in politics?
Ashley Weinberg, University of Salford, on changing working practices in Parliament.
‘We must find a way to disagree that does not ultimately undermine us all’
Kesi Mahendran meets Ali Goldsworthy and Laura Osborne, authors of 'Poles Apart: Why People Turn Against Each Other, and How to Bring Them Together'.
‘For me, it's just about telling complicated, grey area human stories’
Jon Ronson and Sander van der Linden in conversation.
Books and culture: Being political in divisive times
Recommended by the guest editors and contributors…
Making sense of the world, challenging truths
Neil Ferguson (Professor of Political Psychology, Liverpool Hope University), considers what Political Psychology is, through a historical lens.
A home for environmental psychology in uncertain times
The proposers of a new British Psychological Society Section write.
From the Archive, and Where does this image take you?
Kesi Mahendran closes the special issue by delving into past pages, and leaving you with a thought-provoking photo…
If you don’t do politics, politics will do you
Matteo Bergamini MBE works to increase democratic engagement.
Lies, damn lies and statistics
Two MSc students at The Open University – Monica Hope, and Kayleigh Laughlin – on understanding homelessness, and the impact of crime statistics on millennials, respectively.
Ageing women’s workplace wellbeing: A global political imperative
Dr Clare Edge and Dr Emma Swift look at policies and evidence, with a focus on the menopause.
The intuitions that divide us
Bogdan Ianosev on the cognitive science of populist belief.
Populism and ‘the People’
Ioannis Ntotsikas, Antonis Dimakis, Myrto Droumpali, Dimitrios Barkas and Xenia Chryssochoou look at the construction of a political community in crisis-ridden Greece.
Playing politics in Serbia: Dare to go there
Iris Žeželj and Jovan Ivanović have asked people what they associate with 'politics' and 'politicians'.
What does it mean to be a politician in Iraq?
William Warda explores how democracy can develop in post-war Iraq, in the face of deeply entrenched corruption.
My journey in Political Psychology
Rozena Nadeem BSc MSc GMBPS
Ethnonationalist populism in India?
Sammyh S. Khan and Yashpal A. Jogdand consider the allure of Narendra Modi’s leadership.
Bridging the divides
Noemi Hrvatin on how we might rein in some of our defensiveness when in dialogue with those with whom we disagree.