Psychological Research On Social Change

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102176/1/ijop8247226.pd

On the nature of national involvement: a preliminary study

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67978/2/10.1177_002200276901300303.pd

Researchers on ice? How the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted Antarctic researchers

The COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-related measures have impacted the lives and work-related activities of Antarctic researchers. To explore these impacts, we designed, piloted and disseminated an online survey in English, Russian, Spanish and Chinese in late 2020 and early 2021. The survey explored how the pandemic affected the productivity of Antarctic researchers, their career prospects and their mental wellbeing. Findings exposed patterns of inequities. For instance, of the 406 unique responses to the survey, women appeared to have been affected more adversely than men, especially in relation to mental health, and early-career researchers were disadvantaged more than their mid- or late-career colleagues. Overall, a third of the research participants reported at least one major negative impact from the pandemic on their mental health. Approximately half of the participants also mentioned that the COVID-19 pandemic had some positive effects, especially in terms of the advantages that working from home brought and opportunities to attend events, network or benefit from training workshops online. We conclude with a series of recommendations for science administrators and policymakers to mitigate the most serious adverse impacts of the pandemic on Antarctic research communities, with implications for other contexts where scientific activities are conducted under extreme circumstances

Migration and identity processes among first-generation British South Asians

There has been little scholarly attention to the identities and migratory experiences of first-generation British South Asians, especially from social psychologists. Drawing upon Identity Process Theory, this article examines the inter-relations between migration and identity processes among twenty first-generation British South Asians. The interview data were analysed using qualitative thematic analysis. Results suggested that migration was perceived as a means of enhancing identity and that following migration individuals acquired a ‘higher’ social status in the homeland. Moreover, the psychologically traumatic aspects of migration, such as the loss of community and ‘otherisation’ from one's ethnic ingroup, were outlined. It is argued that migration can have profound socio-psychological implications and that decades later it can continue to shape individuals' sense of self and their attachment to relevant social categories. Furthermore, migration has important outcomes for the extent and nature of British national identification as well one's relationship with the ethnic ‘homeland’

Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation: A Social-Psychological Perspective on Ending Violent Conflict Between Identity Groups

My work over more than three decades has focused on the development and application of interactive problem solving: an unofficial, scholar-practitioner approach to the resolution of protracted, deep-rooted, and often violent conflicts between identity groups, which is derived from the pioneering work of John Burton and anchored in social-psychological principles. My primary focus over the years has been on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but my students and associates have also applied the approach in a number of other arenas of ethnonational conflict, including Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Colombia, and South Africa. A starting point of this work has been the assumption that the nonviolent termination of such conflicts must go beyond conflict settlement centered on interest-based bargaining, and aim for conflict resolution centered on joint development of solutions that address the needs and allay the fears of both parties. We have viewed interactive problem solving as a form of conflict resolution that is conducive to ultimate reconciliation. Increasingly, however, we have come to see reconciliation as a distinct process of peacemaking, which must accompany conflict resolution in deep-rooted conflicts between identity groups. Whereas conflict resolution refers to the process of shaping a mutually satisfactory and hence durable agreement between the two societies, reconciliation refers to the process whereby they learn to live together in the post-conflict environment. Following this logic, the paper conceptualizes conflict settlement, conflict resolution, and reconciliation as three qualitatively distinct processes, operating at the level of interests, relationships, and identity respectively. These three processes may be related sequentially, but they may also operate independently and simultaneously. The paper addresses the special challenge of reconciliation, which requires some changes in each party’s identity, without threatening the core of its identity; and concludes with a brief discussion of the conditions conducive to reconciliation