Dealing With Diversity in Psychology: Science or Ideology?

The increasing use of political activist arguments and reasoning in scientific communication about diversity is criticized. Based on an article of Roberts et al. (2020) on "racial inequality in psychological research," three hallmarks of the intrusion of activist thinking into science are described: blindness to the multidimensional nature of diversity, the failure to distinguish psychological mechanisms from the impact of moderators, and a blindness to agency as an explanation for psychological observations. It is argued that uncritically accepting and introducing political activist arguments into science is likely to damage scientific freedom and independence.

The impact of accredited social health activists in India on uptake of modern contraception: A nationally representative multilevel modelling study.

The government of India introduced the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) programme in 2006 to connect marginalised communities to the health system. ASHAs are mandated to increase the uptake of modern contraception through the doorstep provision of services. There is currently no evidence on the impact of ASHAs on the uptake of contraception at the national level. This paper examines the impact of ASHAs on the uptake of modern contraception using nationally representative National and Family Health Survey data collected in 2019-21 in India. A multilevel logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the effect of contact with ASHAs on the uptake of modern contraception, controlling for regional variability and socio-demographic variables. The data provide strong evidence that ASHAs have succeeded in increasing modern contraceptive use. Women exposed to ASHAs had twice the odds of being current users of modern contraception compared to those with no contact, even after controlling for household and individual characteristics. However, only 28.1% of women nationally reported recent contact with ASHA workers. The ASHA programme should remain central to the strategy of the government of India and should be strengthened to achieve universal access to modern contraception and meet sustainable development goals by 2030.

Misunderstood and underappreciated: a critical review of mental health advocacy and activism in low- and middle-income countries.

Mental health advocacy and activism have been highlighted as important in the effort towards creating environments for better mental health. However, relevant research in low- and middle-income country settings remains limited and lacks critical exploration. We seek to contribute to filling this gap by exploring driving factors behind mental health advocacy and activism efforts in low- and middle-income country settings. This review uses a critically informed thematic analysis employing conceptual frameworks of productive power to analyse peer-reviewed articles on mental health advocacy or activism over the last 20 years. We suggest that the current body of research is marred by superficial explorations of activism and advocacy, partly due to a lack of cohesion around definitions. Based on our findings, we suggest a conceptual framework to guide deeper explorations of mental health advocacy and activism. This framework identifies 'legitimacy', 'context' and 'timing' as the main dimensions to consider in understanding activism and advocacy efforts. The fact that they remain misunderstood and underappreciated creates missed opportunities for meaningful inclusion of lived experience in policy decisions and limits our understanding of how communities envision and enact change.

Political activism and wellbeing among older adults in Israel.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aging process is characterized by encountering challenging situations and losses that may influence the subjective wellbeing of older adults. This study investigates the influence of the political-social crisis that unfolded in Israel in 2023 on the wellbeing of senior citizens. Additionally, it explores whether their participation in protests has contributed to their wellbeing. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We conducted interviews with 30 older adults who were actively engaged in the protest movement against the judicial overhaul. Our sampling approach was designed to encompass a diverse range of factors, including various age groups beyond 65 years, prior involvement in protest activities, geographical distribution, religious involvement, professional backgrounds, and differing political viewpoints. RESULTS: Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed three key findings: (1) The participants reported feeling fear and anxiety due to the conflict, leading to a decrease in their wellbeing. (2) Participating in protests uplifted their spirits and provided social support, resulting in improved emotional and social wellbeing. (3) When asked about their perception of the crisis in the future, the participants expressed mixed views: Some were cautiously optimistic and others profoundly pessimistic, while the sentiments of some participants fluctuated. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: This qualitative study indicates the negative impact of political-social crisis on older adults' wellbeing, as well as the limited contribution of political activism to its improvement. Equally important, the research highlights the need for stakeholders in aging and gerontology to prioritize promoting older adults' mental health regularly and during political crises.

Reinforcing or challenging the status quo: A grounded theory of how the model minority myth shapes Asian American activism.

Compared to other People of Color in the United States, Asian Americans are often seen as uninterested in activism. Furthermore, the widespread model minority myth (MMM) perpetuates the monolithic image of Asian Americans as successful in society and thus unaffected by racial oppression and uninterested in activism. Despite others' perceptions, Asian American college students have historically engaged in activist efforts and worked to reject the stereotypical views of their racial group as apolitical under the MMM. However, much remains to be learned about the consequences of the MMM on Asian American college students' perceptions and engagement in activism, and how such individuals make sense of the MMM and activism through interacting with their ecological contexts. Thus, the present study addresses this gap in the literature and is guided by the question: How do Asian American college students' perspectives and engagement in activism develop and operate in relation to the MMM? Using a constructivist grounded theory analytic approach, 25 Asian American college students participated in semistructured interviews, and our findings developed a grounded theory of how Asian American college students are embedded within micro- and macrolevel environments (e.g., familial, cultural, and societal contexts) that uphold the MMM and further shape how they make sense of and engage in activism. Results further revealed the consequences of the MMM as a legitimizing ideology on Asian American students' attitudes toward and involvement in challenging and/or reinforcing the status quo. Implications for future research and practice supporting Asian American activism and the broader pursuit for social justice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Activisme contra l’estigma: Exploració d’activitats de sensibilització al context sanitari / Activism against stigma: Exploring awareness-raising activities in the healthcare context

L’estigma que pateixen les persones amb diagnòstics de salut mental és quelcom freqüent dins l’àmbit sanitari. Entitats i campanyes de lluita contra l’estigma han centrat els seus esforços en la disminució de la discriminació en aquest àmbit. La figura de l’activista és fonamental per tal de que les pròpies persones que han experimentat aquest estigma siguin protagonistes d’aquest canvi.El nostre objectiu en aquest estudi ha estat aprofundir en l’experiència que les i els activistes contra l’estigma en salut mental tenen en participar en accions de sensibilitza-ció al context sanitari. Hem realitzat una anàlisi temàtica d’entrevistes semiestructurades a cinc activistes. S’han identificat dos blocs temàtics: Estigma i Activisme. El bloc d’Estigma consta dels temes Prejudicis, Conductes discriminatòries i Autoestigma, mentre que el bloc d’Activisme està compost pels temes Efectes positius, Estratègies i Impacte. El present estudi ens ha permès conèixer en profunditat les experiències subjectives d’estigma dins l’àmbit sani-tari a través de l’experiència de les persones participants en campanyes per combatre’l i en-tendre per què l’activisme pot ser una estratègia beneficiosa per sensibilitzar els professionals i per al benestar i apoderament dels propis activistes. (AU)

Stigma suffered by people labelled with mental health diagnoses is something frequent within the healthcare context.Anti-stigma organizations and campaigns have focused their efforts on reducing discrimination in this area. The activist figure is fundamental for people who have experienced this stigma to be the protagonists of this change. Our aim in this study has been to deepen the experience that anti-stigma activists in mental health have when participating in actions to raise awareness in the healthcare context. We carried out a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with five activists. We identified two thematic blocks: Stigma and Activism. The Stigma block consists of the themes Prejudice, Discriminatory Behav-iours, and Self-Stigma, while the Activism block is composed of the themes Positive Effects, Strategies, and Impact. The present study has allowed us to have deeper knowledge of the subjective experiences of stigma in the healthcare field through the experience of partici-pants in campaigns to combat it, and to understand why activism can be a beneficial strategy to raise awareness among professionals and for the well-being and empowerment of the activ-ists themselves. (AU)

Insurgências Poéticas-Políticas: epistemologias e metodologias negras, descoloniais e antirracistas / Poetic-Political Insurgencies: black, decolonial and anti-racist epistemologies and methodologies methodologies

O sexto volume da Série Pensamento Negro Descolonial, "Insurgências poéticas-políticas: epistemologias e metodologias negras, descoloniais e antirracistas", é resultado da poética-política de pessoas pretas, pesquisadoras, estudantes, militantes, artivistas e poetas da palavra recitada, cantada, dançada, desenhada, cujas produções estão encharcadas pela poesia da existencialidade amefricana. Convidamos você a navegar por itinerários e imaginários que gingam atrevidas pelas encruzilhadas da produção de conhecimento, operando ­ na partilha de palavras pronunciadas, desenhadas e inundadas de significados ­, a enunciação de epistemologias destemidas que gestam metodologias para fazer Arte-Ciência. Desejamos que este volume da Série encontre você, leitora ou leitor, desde as memórias que escapam e remontam narrativas por onde é possível experimentar a si, desde a diferença e a poesia. Venha mergulhar por produções que enunciam que nunca estivemos passivas/os e imperceptíveis nos lugares anunciados pela branquitude como não sendo nossos. Venha sentir produções encarnadas nas poéticas viscerais do corpo memória, corpo documento de Beatriz Nascimento, que narram nossos registros vivos de resistência ao sequestro transatlântico, fluindo nossos sentidos e existencialidades. Afinal, carregamos e desenrolamos em nós a meada da memória que tece os espaços onde habita a performance da oralitura de Leda Martins, constituída do arranjo entre a oralidade transmitida por saberes ancestrais do pensamento africano e afrodiaspórico e a litura da escrita do corpo que tentaram apagar.

Os Fenômenos de Massa e as Redes Sociais no Contexto Político Brasileiro: Uma Leitura Psicanalítica / Mass Phenomena and Social Networks in the Brazilian Political Context: A Psychoanalytic Reading / Fenómenos de Masas y Redes Sociales en el Contexto Político Brasileño: Una Lectura Psicoanalítica

O presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar os movimentos de massa contemporâneos presentes no cenário político brasileiro nos anos de 2013 e 2015, assim como seus efeitos no laço social, a partir das contribuições da psicanálise, valendo-se, em especial, dos textos clássicos de Freud que tratam sobre as massas e o mal-estar na cultura e das elaborações lacanianas sobre os discursos que sustentam o laço social. Com isso, busca-se levantar algumas hipóteses e refletir acerca do fenômeno de formação de massas na atualidade, onde se destaca a mais potente ferramenta de mobilização política contemporânea: as redes sociais. Atualmente, avolumam-se os exemplos no Brasil e no mundo de manifestações convocadas pelas redes sociais, com seu poder de propagação e disseminação de informação e desinformação. Nos últimos dez anos, o que colhemos é a intensificação e complexificação desses processos, conforme avança o "poder" das redes sociais e a forma como ela vem se estabelecendo em nossas sociedades. Na copulação entre ciência e capitalismo observada nas redes, os algoritmos respondem e operam de acordo com os interesses do mercado, manipulando as subjetividades.

This article aims to analyze the contemporary mass movements present on the Brazilian political scenario in the years 2013 and 2015, as well as their effects on the social bond, based on the contributions of psychoanalysis, using, in particular, Freud's classic texts that deal with the masses, civilization and its discontents and the lacanian elaborations on the discourses that sustain the social bond. With this, we seek to raise some hypotheses and reflect on the phenomenon of mass formation today, where the most powerful tool of contemporary political mobilization stands out: the social networks. Currently, examples in Brazil and around the world of demonstrations convened by social networks, with their power to propagate and disseminate information and misinformation, are growing. In the last ten years, what we have seen is the intensification and complexity of these processes, as the "power" of social networks advances and the way in which it has been establishing itself in our societies. In the copulation between science and capitalism observed in the networks, the algorithms respond and operate according to the interests of the market, manipulating subjectivities.

Este artículo tiene como objetivo analizar los movimientos de masas contemporáneos presentes en el escenario político brasileño en los años 2013 y 2015, así como sus efectos en el lazo social, a partir de las contribuciones del psicoanálisis, utilizando, en particular, de los textos clásicos de Freud que tratan sobre las masas y el malestar en la cultura y las elaboraciones lacanianas sobre los discursos que sustentan el lazo social. Con ello, buscamos plantear algunas hipótesis y reflexionar sobre el fenómeno de la formación de masas en la actualidad, donde se destaca la herramienta más poderosa de la movilización política contemporánea: las redes sociales. Actualmente, crecen los ejemplos en Brasil y en el mundo de manifestaciones convocadas por las redes sociales, con su poder de propagar y difundir información y desinformación. En los últimos diez años lo que hemos visto es la intensificación y complejidad de estos procesos, a medida que avanza el "poder" de las redes sociales y la forma en que se ha ido instalando en nuestras sociedades. En la cópula entre ciencia y capitalismo observada en las redes, los algoritmos responden y operan de acuerdo a los intereses del mercado, manipulando subjetividades.

Height and political activism in rural Aragón (Spain) during the 20th century. A new perspective using individual-level data.

This article explores the relationship between the political leanings of more than 1000 men born in the 1870-1970 s in 11 rural Aragonese villages and their biological well-being during childhood and adolescence, proxied by height. The aim is to test whether an individual was more likely to be left-wing if his level of biological well-being was lower and, therefore, with more incentives to fight against the social inequality that had negatively affected his family. Our results confirm that, for most of the study period, there was a strong relationship between shorter height and political activism1 in left-wing parties and organizations.