How does the geography of surveillance affect collective action?

How does residing in the proximity of surveillance infrastructure—i.e., checkpoints, the separation barrier, and military installations—affect support for cooperative and confrontational forms of collective action? Cooperative actions involve engagement with outgroups to advance the ingroup cause (e.g., negotiations, joint actions, and peace movements), whereas confrontational actions involve unilateral tactics to weaken the outgroup (e.g., boycott, armed resistance). In the context of West Bank and Jerusalem, we combine geo‐coded data on the surveillance infrastructure with a representative survey of the adult population from 49 communities (N = 1,000). Our multilevel analyses show that surveillance does not affect support for confrontational actions but instead decreases support for cooperative actions. Moreover, we identify a new, community‐level mechanism whereby surveillance undermines cooperative actions through weakening inclusive norms that challenge dominant us‐versus‐them perspectives. These effects are empirically robust to various individual‐ and community‐level controls, as well as to the potential of reverse causality and residential self‐selection. Our findings illustrate how cooperative voices and the fabric of social communities become the first casualties of exposure to surveillance. They also speak to the importance of considering structural factors, with broader implications for the socio‐psychological study of collective action

Talking to a (Segregation) Wall: Intergroup Contact and Attitudes Toward Normalization Among Palestinians From the Occupied Territories

This article examines how Palestinians' intergroup contact experiences relate to their attitudes towards interactions with Israelis (i.e., normalization). We draw on four recent advances in intergroup contact literature. First, recent research indicates that positive contact can impede disadvantaged groups' motivation to challenge inequalities. Second, increased endorsement of normalization mediates this sedative effect of positive contact on motivation to resist in the West Bank. Third, negative contact has been related to increased motivation for social change. Fourth, institutions and societal norms shape the meaning of intergroup contact and its effect on intergroup relations. We hypothesize that negative experiences at checkpoints can act as reminders of institutionalized inequalities and thus attenuate sedative effects. Furthermore, we explore the contextual boundary conditions of such reminder effects. Analyses of cross-sectional survey conducted among a representative sample (N = 1,000) in the West Bank including Jerusalem showed that (1) positive intergroup contact related to normalization endorsement (sedative effect), (2) negative intergroup contact related to decreased normalization endorsement (mobilizing effect), and (3) negative contact experiences (at checkpoints) canceled out the effect of positive contact (reminder effect), but only in Jerusalem. Results suggest that the impacts of intergroup contact need to be interpreted in light of institutionalized forms of group inequality and segregation.</p

It’s not just ‘us’ versus ‘them’: moving beyond binary perspectives on intergroup processes

The social psychology of intergroup relations has emerged largely from studies of how one group of people (e.g., whites) think and feel about another (e.g., blacks). By reducing the social world to binary categories, this approach has provided an effective and efficient methodological framework. However, it has also obscured important features of social relations in historically divided societies. This paper highlights the importance of investigating intergroup relationships involving more than two groups and of exploring not only their psychological but also their political significance. Exemplifying this argument, we discuss the conditions under which members of disadvantaged groups either dissolve into internecine competition or unite to challenge the status quo, highlighting the role of complex forms of social comparison, identification, contact, and third-party support for collective action. Binary conceptualizations of intergroup relations, we conclude, are the product of specific sociohistorical practices rather than a natural starting point for psychological research

Climate anxiety, pro-environmental action and wellbeing: antecedents and outcomes of negative emotional responses to climate change in 28 countries

This study explored the correlates of climate anxiety in a diverse range of national contexts. We analysed cross-sectional data gathered in 32 countries (N = 12,246). Our results show that climate anxiety is positively related to rate of exposure to information about climate change impacts, the amount of attention people pay to climate change information, and perceived descriptive norms about emotional responding to climate change. Climate anxiety was also positively linked to pro-environmental behaviours and negatively linked to mental wellbeing. Notably, climate anxiety had a significant inverse association with mental wellbeing in 31 out of 32 countries. In contrast, it had a significant association with pro-environmental behaviour in 24 countries, and with environmental activism in 12 countries. Our findings highlight contextual boundaries to engagement in environmental action as an antidote to climate anxiety, and the broad international significance of considering negative climate-related emotions as a plausible threat to wellbeing

Climate anxiety, wellbeing and pro-environmental action: correlates of negative emotional responses to climate change in 32 countries

This study explored the correlates of climate anxiety in a diverse range of national contexts. We analysed cross-sectional data gathered in 32 countries (N = 12,246). Our results show that climate anxiety is positively related to rate of exposure to information about climate change impacts, the amount of attention people pay to climate change information, and perceived descriptive norms about emotional responding to climate change. Climate anxiety was also positively linked to pro-environmental behaviours and negatively linked to mental wellbeing. Notably, climate anxiety had a significant inverse association with mental wellbeing in 31 out of 32 countries. In contrast, it had a significant association with pro-environmental behaviour in 24 countries, and with environmental activism in 12 countries. Our findings highlight contextual boundaries to engagement in environmental action as an antidote to climate anxiety, and the broad international significance of considering negative climate-related emotions as a plausible threat to wellbeing

Climate anxiety, wellbeing and pro-environmental action: correlates of negative emotional responses to climate change in 32 countries

This study explored the correlates of climate anxiety in a diverse range of national contexts. We analysed cross-sectional data gathered in 32 countries (N = 12,246). Our results show that climate anxiety is positively related to rate of exposure to information about climate change impacts, the amount of attention people pay to climate change information, and perceived descriptive norms about emotional responding to climate change. Climate anxiety was also positively linked to pro-environmental behaviours and negatively linked to mental wellbeing. Notably, climate anxiety had a significant inverse association with mental wellbeing in 31 out of 32 countries. In contrast, it had a significant association with pro-environmental behaviour in 24 countries, and with environmental activism in 12 countries. Our findings highlight contextual boundaries to engagement in environmental action as an antidote to climate anxiety, and the broad international significance of considering negative climate-related emotions as a plausible threat to wellbeing.publishedVersio

Climate anxiety, wellbeing and pro-environmental action : correlates of negative emotional responses to climate change in 32 countries

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The AuthorsThis study explored the correlates of climate anxiety in a diverse range of national contexts. We analysed cross-sectional data gathered in 32 countries (N = 12,246). Our results show that climate anxiety is positively related to rate of exposure to information about climate change impacts, the amount of attention people pay to climate change information, and perceived descriptive norms about emotional responding to climate change. Climate anxiety was also positively linked to pro-environmental behaviours and negatively linked to mental wellbeing. Notably, climate anxiety had a significant inverse association with mental wellbeing in 31 out of 32 countries. In contrast, it had a significant association with pro-environmental behaviour in 24 countries, and with environmental activism in 12 countries. Our findings highlight contextual boundaries to engagement in environmental action as an antidote to climate anxiety, and the broad international significance of considering negative climate-related emotions as a plausible threat to wellbeing.Peer reviewe

Climate anxiety, wellbeing and pro-environmental action: Correlates of negative emotional responses to climate change in 32 countries

This study explored the correlates of climate anxiety in a diverse range of national contexts. We analysed cross-sectional data gathered in 32 countries (N = 12,246). Our results show that climate anxiety is positively related to rate of exposure to information about climate change impacts, the amount of attention people pay to climate change information, and perceived descriptive norms about emotional responding to climate change. Climate anxiety was also positively linked to pro-environmental behaviours and negatively linked to mental wellbeing. Notably, climate anxiety had a significant inverse association with mental wellbeing in 31 out of 32 countries. In contrast, it had a significant association with pro-environmental behaviour in 24 countries, and with environmental activism in 12 countries. Our findings highlight contextual boundaries to engagement in environmental action as an antidote to climate anxiety, and the broad international significance of considering negative climate-related emotions as a plausible threat to wellbeing

The Deconstruction of the Concept of Normalization within the Context of the Settler-Colonialism in Palestine: The Duality of Acceptance and Rejection

The concept of normalization was associated with the peace process with Israelis, in both, Arab and Palestinian context. The term has different interpretations depending on context, and it becomes more complex when referring to a direct relationship between the colonized and their colonizers in the context of the settler colonialism in Palestine, therefore, it is a highly controversial concept. The political debates over the concept, mostly describe it as a term that refers to recognizing the state of Israel and conducting normal relations with Israelis. The term ‘normalization’ has been used by Michel Foucault in describing the processes of psychological dominance imposed by an authority’s penal role in modern societies and its influence on human groups. One of the most prominent purposes of “Post-modern” theories is to resist the colonial dominant narratives by discovering the Scattered Historical Contingencies. Given this premise, this paper has the following objectives: To offer a critical, deconstructivist analysis for the concept of normalization in the context of the settler-colonial regime, and to study the genealogies of this concept (Généalogie) by investigating the relevant historical hypotheses: 1) there are historical differences regarding the appearance of the expression phonologically and its practice (political, official, and public practice); and 2) there are historical epistemological transformations that took place with regards to Arabs’ perceptions, and the political reflection, which shaped the image and the relationship with the colonizer, due to the practice of the concept normalization in politics. I will analyse these historical hypotheses by using a synthesis of settler colonial theoretical frameworks and those of socio-political psychology such as Frantz Fanon’s theoretical contributions, to investigate political discourse, including discourse in peace treaties, politics related to the Palestinian and Arab national identities, and the relevant political discourses used by politicians who reject normalization

Representations of Normalization among Palestinians: From Political Discourse to Intergroup Contact with Israelis

The phenomenon of "normalization" is probably one of the most debatable and problematic aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and peace relations. Using a mixed methods approach, I track the historical emergence of the term "normalization" in the Arab context, examine how Palestinians understand this concept (i.e., contact/interactions between Israelis and Palestinians), and how intergroup contact experiences shape their attitudes towards normalizing behaviors with the Israelis. To uncover the history of Arab national political discourse of normalization, in Study 1, I used critical discourse analysis and Foucault's conceptual method of genealogy to capture the emergence of the term normalization, its meaning, and its practices. This theoretical perspective relies on understanding how power relations produce the meaning of certain concepts at a specific historical moment. My analysis of Arab national discourse, before and after the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty in 1978, indicated that normalization-and its meaning-was imposed by the colonial powers, and that the practices of normalization appeared before the use of the term, but referred to it with different labels. Additionally, an extensive body of social psychological research has evidenced the beneficial effects of positive intergroup contact in improving intergroup attitudes. However, recent research has revealed that members of disadvantaged groups are Jess inclined to mobilize for social change when they have positive contact experiences with dominant groups. This phenomenon, called a sedative or paradoxical effect of intergroup contact, casts a shadow on the optimistic message delivered by intergroup contact literature. Moreover, negative contact has been shown to shape both intergroup attitudes and the relationship between positive contact and prejudice. These new strands of intergroup contact research provide the theoretical bases of Studies 2 and 3, both addressing the impact of positive and negative experiences of contact with Israelis on Palestinians' attitudes towards normalization. Based on cross-sectional survey data (N=l 50, Palestinian adults in the West Bank), Study 2 demonstrated that most definitions of normalization had negative connotations, and that Palestinians' support of normalization mediated the relationship between intergroup contact and motivation for resistance. Study 3, based on a stratified representative sample (N=l000, in the West Bank and Jerusalem), showed that both positive and negative contact shape attitudes towards normalization. Moreover, negative contact moderated the sedative effects of contact, but only in Jerusalem. Together, the findings ofthis PhD thesis have important implications for Palestinians' debates on normalization, policy makers, and social psychological theorizing of intergroup contact. -- Le phénomène de «Normalisation» est probablement un des aspects les plus controversés et problématiques du conflit israélo-palestinien. Utilisant une approche méthodologique plurielle, je retrace l'émergence historique du concept de « normalisation» dans le contexte arabe, examine comment les Palestiniens comprennent ce concept (i.e. contact/interactions entre Israéliens et Palestiniens), et comment les expériences de contact intergroupe forment leurs attitudes envers les comportements de normalisation avec les Israéliens. Dans l'étude 1, afin de retracer l'histoire du concept de normalisation dans le discours nationaliste arabe, j'ai utilisé l'analyse de discours critique et la généalogie de Foucault pour comprendre l'émergence du terme de normalisation, sa signification et les pratiques qui lui sont associées. Cette perspective théorique implique de comprendre comment les relations de pouvoir produisent la signification de certains concepts à un moment historique spécifique. Mon analyse du discours nationaliste arabe avant et après le traité de paix israélo-égyptien de 1978 indique que la normalisation - et sa signification - a été imposé par le pouvoir colonial, et que les pratiques de normalisation sont apparues avant que le terme ne soit utilisé mais étaient dénotées par des labels différents. De plus, un nombre conséquent de recherches psychosociales a montré les effets bénéfiques du contact intergroupe positif pour améliorer les attitudes intergroupes. Cependant, des recherches récentes ont révélé que les membres de groupes désavantagés sont moins enclins à se mobiliser pour le changement social quand ils ont des expériences positives de contact avec les groupes dominants. Ce phénomène, appelé effet sédatif ou paradoxal du contact intergroupe, nuance le message optimiste délivré par la littérature sur le contact intergroupe. De plus, il a été montré que le contact intergroupe négatif influence tant les a itudes intergroupes que la relation entre contact positif et préjugé. Ces nouvelles lignes de recherche sur le contact intergroupe fournissent les bases théoriques des études 2 et 3, qui portent toutes deux sur l'impact des expériences positives et négatives de contact avec les Israéliens sur les attitudes des Palestiniens envers la normalisation. Sur base d'une enquête transversale (N=l 50 Palestiniens adultes en Cisjordanie), l'étude 2 a montré que la plupart des définitions de la normalisations portaient une connotation négative, et que l'adhésion des Palestiniens à la normalisation médiatisait la relation entre contact intergroupe et motivation à la résistance. L'étude 3, basée sur un échantillon représentatif stratifié (N=1000, en Cisjoridanie et à Jérusalem) a montré que le contact intergroupe positif et négatif prédisaient tous deux les attitudes envers la normalisation. De plus, le contact négatif modérait l'effet sédatif du contact positif, mais seulement à Jérusalem. Pris ensemble, les résultats rapportés dans cette dissertation ont des implications importantes pour les débats palestiniens sur la normalisation, pour les décideurs politique, et pour la théorisation psychosociale du contact intergroupe