Units

Center for Social and Cultural Psychology

Center for social and intercultural psychology.

Projetcs

A crisis in Europe or Europe in crisis? The effect of citizens’ evaluation of recent European crises on national and European identity, and support for populist parties.

PhD student: Kathleen Massart, Université de Gand - Promotor: Prof. Alain Van Hiel (Université de Gand) - Co-promotor: Jasper Van Assche.

In recent years, Europe encountered several crises, starting with the financial crisis in 2008, followed by the migration crisis in 2013, and currently it’s facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the motto ‘Never waste a good crisis’, we want to investigate the impact of these European crises on citizens’ identification with the EU and the national level. Moreover, many studies revealed a positive association between political discontent and voting for populist parties, and we expect that discontent with the performance of governments with respect to crisis management may have similar effects. We are particularly interested in the interaction between the two governance levels and if one level can have a positive influence on the other, or conversely, can take the other level down. We hypothesize that identification with Europe will prevent people to fall for populist party programs which are mostly Eurosceptic and nationalistic. On the other hand, we expect that a strong identification with the national level and a disidentification with the EU or a disidentification with both levels, will make people more attracted to the populist discourse.

Beyond strength of ingroup identification: What dimensions of ingroup identity suppress outgroup forgiveness attitudes?

PhD student : Iwan Dinnick, Keele University, UK - Promotor : Prof. Masi Noor (Keele University, UK) - Co-promotor : Jasper Van Assche.

In the present project, we present a more refined analysis of the negative relationship between social identity and outgroup forgiveness attitudes. Across multiple studies, conducted in the real-world intergroup conflict sparked by the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union (i.e., Brexit), we utilized a multicomponent model of social identity to determine what dimension of ingroup identification is responsible for suppressing outgroup forgiveness attitudes. In a first study, we already revealed that it is the self-investment dimension of group members’ social identity which suppresses the desire to forgive an adversarial outgroup, and this finding held for both groups involved in the conflict (i.e., Leavers and Remainers). A second, three-wave longitudinal, study replicated the between-person effect of the self-investment dimension and revealed a negative within-person effect of self-investment on forgiveness. Additionally, Remainers (vs. Leavers) were significantly less forgiving, but both groups’ levels of forgiveness increased overtime. The present findings yield important theoretical contributions to multicomponent models of social identity, intergroup forgiveness, and the interplay of these constructs.

Psychological challenges of diversity and inclusion policies.

PhD student : Julia Oberlin, Université libre de Bruxelles - Promotor : Prof. Claudia Toma (Université libre de Bruxelles) - Co-promotor : Prof. Jasper Van Assche.

The Brussels Region is characterized by multiculturality and diversity. In order to improve the access of different target groups to the job market and to better represent the Capital’s diversity in the workplace, the Brussels government has taken various diversity initiatives. Actiris Inclusive is the main actor in charge of accompanying organizations in developing diversity plans. A Diversity Plan is a set of measures and actions taken by a specific organization with the aim of increasing and valuing the diversity of its personnel. When a diversity plan is carried out successfully, the organization receives the Diversity Label. In this context, a collaboration between practitioners in charge of elaborating and evaluating diversity plans and academics with research interests in diversity and inclusion is timely. Hence, we are collaborating with Actiris on a project aiming at better understanding the diversity plans from a more psychological perspective.

Unraveling polarization and mobilization processes underlying intergroup tolerance and prejudice

Conflicts between ethnic-cultural groups regularly flare up (cf. the recent BLM-protests). Nonetheless, the scholarly focus on reducing prejudice often includes either individual difference (e.g., social-ideological beliefs) or contextual factors (e.g., diversity and group norms). This project brings together psychological and sociological research traditions in a unified person-within-context perspective. In Line 1, I propose that greater diversity leads to attitude polarization between individuals (making the cleavage between the political left and right even larger), but simultaneously consolidates these attitudes within individuals (solidifying the individual’s specific opinion). In Line 2, I predict that the social groups closest to us (e.g., family, peers) provide us norms and a shared reality. Such climates mobilize us towards either prejudice or tolerance. To address these issues and unravel how harmonious intergroup dynamics can develop, I employ a series of multinational, multilevel and longitudinal studies.