Psychological Inquiry Research Articles

The psychological is crucial: why Erich Fromm’s understanding of human needs contributes to defeating fascism

This article uses Erich Fromm’s list of five fundamental human needs discussed in The Sane Society (1955) to critically explore the role of psychological needs and desires in the concerning resurgence of fascist and far-right movements globally and especially in the United States. First, the article addresses the hesitancy expressed by some activists and theorists about engaging psychology in relation to fascism. I critique the view that such psychological inquiry undermines structural critique of society. I demonstrate that unproductive and harmful attempts to meet human needs outlined by Fromm are contributing to fascist resurgence and also to the rise of the ‘fascistic’ mass shooter, who must be understood as both influenced by structural/political dynamics and by the personal attempt to resolve the ‘existential’ problems of human life described by Fromm.

Temperamental Shyness, Peer Competence, and Loneliness in Middle Childhood: The Role of Positive Emotion.

Guided by the conceptual frameworks of social withdrawal (Rubin, K. H., & Chronis-Tuscano, A. (2021). Perspectives on social withdrawal in childhood: Past, present, and prospects. Child Development Perspectives, 15(3), 160-167.) and emotion socialization (Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (1998). Parental socialization of emotion. Psychological Inquiry, 9, 241-273.; Morris, (A) S., Criss, M. M., Silk, J. S., & Houltberg, (B) J. (2017). The impact of parenting on emotion regulation during childhood and adolescence. Child Development Perspectives, 11(4), 233-238.), the current study examined multifaceted relations among temperamental shyness, peer competence, and loneliness and focused on the role of socializing and expressing positive emotion in middle childhood. Participants included 1,364 families, among whom mothers reported children's temperament when children were 4.5 years old. Mothers and alternative caregivers (usually fathers) independently rated family expressiveness when children were 8-9 years old. Mothers rated their children's peer competence, and children's positive affect with peers were observed when children were ages 8-9 and 10-11. Children self-rated their loneliness levels at ages 10-11. A path model revealed a moderated mediation effect, such that family positive expressiveness moderated the sequential mediation pathway from child temperamental shyness through child peer competence at ages 8-9 and positive affect with peers at ages 10-11 to loneliness at ages 10-11. This sequential mediation was significant only under low but not high levels of family positive expressiveness. Findings support the importance of socializing positive emotion in the context of temperamental shyness and have implications for family-based intervention strategies aimed at children exhibiting high temperamental shyness.

Social Group Membership, Social Identities, and Mental Health Experiences in Urban Poor Communities in Ghana: A Critical Social Psychology Inquiry.

Social groups and identities significantly influence mental health outcomes, yet their impact in resource-poor communities remains understudied. We explored the role of social group memberships and identities in shaping mental health experiences in two urban poor communities in Ghana. Data from 77 participants were analyzed thematically, revealing widespread engagement in social groups that provide access to both material and symbolic resources. However, these groups also serve as sources of tension and contribute to the stigmatization and marginalization of vulnerable members. Those affected include individuals with severe mental disorders, men experiencing depression, young men involved in substance abuse, family caregivers, migrant and tenant households, and otherwise healthy individuals with recurring psychosocial challenges. The groups exacerbate mental health challenges and restrict access to care among marginalized populations. The findings underscore the need for targeted interventions aimed at enhancing mental health support and reducing stigma in resource-poor settings.

Исторические подходы к исследованию лжи и их трансформация в культуре

The article analyzes the process of understanding the concept of lies in the history of culture. The relevance of the problem is due to the obvious transformation of the content of the concept over time, changes in the semantic volume and status of lies in different fields of knowledge. Based on the analysis of historical and philosophical material and modern domestic literature, historically formed approaches to the interpretation of the concept of lie are identified. Such approaches include religious, ontological, epistemological, ethical, axiological, instrumental, cultural and psychological approaches to the interpretation of lies. In the religious approach, God is the absolute truth; lies come from the devil and are a phenomenon of the lower world. In the ontological approach, lies are presented as a phenomenon in the world of things. In the epistemological approach, lying is not associated with a person; denotes the discrepancy between knowledge and reality and is a hypostasis of truth. The ethical approach connects truth with duty, and lies with violation of people’s rights and internal moral imperative (Kant). In cultural, axiological and instrumental approaches, lies are interpreted as a utilitarian value that ensures the realization of communicative needs and the achievement of cultural goals. The psychological approach associates lies with interpersonal communication between people and the volitional action of a person. The historical conditionality and interrelation of the selected approaches is shown. By tracing the evolution of approaches to studying lying, from religious condemnation to psychological inquiry, the article contributes to a deeper understanding of human behavior and societal norms.

Human Agency in the Tensional Space of Existence

This article presents lived tensions as a significant aspect of human agency and suggests what this concept can contribute to the formulation of rich understandings of psychological phenomena. In this argument, the notion of lived tensions refers to the competing demands, contradictions, oppositions, strains, resistances, and pulls that are ubiquitously encountered as part of meaningful, agential involvement in the world. An indication of how lived tensions can be explored in psychological inquiry is provided in an example qualitative study that foregrounds tensions in different ways. Implications for future research that aims to study agential human phenomena in terms of lived tensions, or that seeks to study the nature of lived tensions per se, are offered.

A drop of light: an interactive new media art investigation of human-technology symbiosis

Human-technology interactions have constantly exposed humans’ technologically mediated perception to a psychological paradox of two conflicting coupled states. The first supports human capabilities, whereas the second affects individuals’ self-perceptions. “A Drop of Light” is an interactive new media art investigation based on human-computer interaction. It seeks to reproduce this paradox by developing a computer-generated holographic spot. This spot acts as a responsive technological hypermedium with which participants interact, and their technologically mediated perceptions are embodied, expressed, and analyzed. By defining and applying three structural principles of an assumed technological embodiment model of human perception, a dialogue was established between the generated holographic spot and the participants to facilitate three levels of integration with the technological hypermedium. The project culminated in the creation of an empirical interactive installation performance employed as an experimental psychology lab. In this exhibition-based lab, the interaction zone embodied the performer’s hesitation mode. Her technological attitude and consequent responsive activities oscillated between technophilia and technophobia. These are two conflicting psychological states. By analyzing the interactions’ real-time-based processes, the role of the structural principles was validated. They were instrumental in developing the technologically mediated symbolic conversation between the performer and the hypermedium. Operationally, the principles equipped the conversation’s two parties to upgrade their mutual interactions toward a symbiotic coexistence in the installation’s ecosystem. Through this, the performer’s hesitation mode was reduced, and her balanced technological attitudes were validated. Within this context, the project emphasizes how interactive new media practices contribute. They help investigate participants’ technologically mediated experiences and behaviors. They also aid in the derivation of related quantitative and qualitative data in favor of human perception studies and related psychological inquiries.

Dreamscapes of Belonging : Draft, based on the presentation at the IAJS Conference 2023, work in progress

Jungian Art-Based Research (JABR) is a distinctive methodological framework that explores the intersection of analytical psychology and the arts. It primarily utilizes Jung's theories of the psyche, integrating these with artistic processes to investigate and express unconscious dynamics. Susan Rowland, a pivotal figure in this field, has significantly advanced the understanding of how Jungian theories can be applied within art-based research (Rowland, 2023). Her contributions elucidate how artistic expressions act as mediums through which the unconscious can be explored and articulated, thereby offering profound insights into both individual and collective unconscious processes. The objectives of Jungian Art-Based Research are manifold. Firstly, JABR aims to provide a methodological approach that allows researchers and practitioners to delve deeper into the symbolic and transformative potential of art. This is achieved through the engagement of the unconscious in the creation and interpretation of art, thereby fostering a holistic understanding of the psyche. Secondly, JABR seeks to expand the scope of psychological inquiry by incorporating artistic expressions as legitimate sources of psychological data. Lastly, it aspires to foster a dialogue between psychology and art, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration that can enrich both fields. By integrating analytical psychology with artistic creativity, JABR contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the human experience, offering valuable perspectives that challenge conventional research paradigms. This paper presents a personal journey through the application of Jungian Art-Based Research (JABR), initiated by attending a course by Susan Rowlands. It delves into the transformative experience of exploring the multiverse of dreams and their impact on the author's professional and personal development. The exploration began with the author’s repetitive dreams, characterized by detailed urban landscapes, serving as the primary material for research. By physically mapping these dreamscapes and integrating various symbolic materials, the author engaged in a deep, introspective process, highlighting the non-linear and spiraling nature of JABR. This journey further intertwined with reflections on identity, homelessness, and the longing for a sense of belonging, amplified by historical and cultural dislocations. Through spontaneous dance and subsequent reflections, the author confronts the disillusionment with idealized spaces and faces the reality of changing perspectives and attachments. The paper concludes by pondering the broader implications of our attachment to the Earth, suggesting that our efforts to save it might be hindered by our need to name and possess, rather than embrace its intrinsic, unnamed existence. Through a Jungian lens, the author proposes a reevaluation of our relationship with the planet, advocating for a detachment from specific names to foster a more universal and sustainable connection.

Dreamscapes of Belonging

Jungian Art-Based Research (JABR) is a distinctive methodological framework that explores the intersection of analytical psychology and the arts. It primarily utilizes Jung's theories of the psyche, integrating these with artistic processes to investigate and express unconscious dynamics. Susan Rowland, a pivotal figure in this field, has significantly advanced the understanding of how Jungian theories can be applied within art-based research (Rowland, 2023). Her contributions elucidate how artistic expressions act as mediums through which the unconscious can be explored and articulated, thereby offering profound insights into both individual and collective unconscious processes. The objectives of Jungian Art-Based Research are manifold. Firstly, JABR aims to provide a methodological approach that allows researchers and practitioners to delve deeper into the symbolic and transformative potential of art. This is achieved through the engagement of the unconscious in the creation and interpretation of art, thereby fostering a holistic understanding of the psyche. Secondly, JABR seeks to expand the scope of psychological inquiry by incorporating artistic expressions as legitimate sources of psychological data. Lastly, it aspires to foster a dialogue between psychology and art, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration that can enrich both fields. By integrating analytical psychology with artistic creativity, JABR contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the human experience, offering valuable perspectives that challenge conventional research paradigms. This paper presents a personal journey through the application of Jungian Art-Based Research (JABR), initiated by attending a course by Susan Rowlands. It delves into the transformative experience of exploring the multiverse of dreams and their impact on the author's professional and personal development. The exploration began with the author’s repetitive dreams, characterized by detailed urban landscapes, serving as the primary material for research. By physically mapping these dreamscapes and integrating various symbolic materials, the author engaged in a deep, introspective process, highlighting the non-linear and spiraling nature of JABR. This journey further intertwined with reflections on identity, homelessness, and the longing for a sense of belonging, amplified by historical and cultural dislocations. Through spontaneous dance and subsequent reflections, the author confronts the disillusionment with idealized spaces and faces the reality of changing perspectives and attachments. The paper concludes by pondering the broader implications of our attachment to the Earth, suggesting that our efforts to save it might be hindered by our need to name and possess, rather than embrace its intrinsic, unnamed existence. Through a Jungian lens, the author proposes a reevaluation of our relationship with the planet, advocating for a detachment from specific names to foster a more universal and sustainable connection.

EquiP – the first European association for qualitative researchers in psychology

ABSTRACT In 2018, the Association of European Qualitative Researchers in Psychology (EQuiP) was founded – a society that aims to create bridges among qualitative researchers in psychology across Europe – between researchers from different European countries but also between different traditions of qualitative inquiry in psychology, and bridges between academics and practitioners. In this paper, we will present the work of EQuiP in order to make it known do a wider audience. We will start by providing an overview of the history of EQuiP and the aims it pursues. We will also present an update on past and present activities and events of the association, including an outlook on the upcoming international conference in 2024 in Milano. We invite scholars to join us in our endeavour not only to strengthen qualitative research in psychology across Europe but also to highlight the plurality and heterogeneity that are inherent to this kind of research.

Society for the History of Psychology news and notes.

This historical note describes the book Primer in critical personalism: A framework for reviving psychological inquiry and for grounding a socio-cultural ethos by James T. Lamiell. The overriding purpose of this book is to introduce psychologists, other social scientists, and thoughtful laypersons to that comprehensive system of thought developed by the German philosopher and psychologist William Stern (1871-1938) under the name "critical personalism." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Social psychological pathways to climate justice: Emerging insights and intersecting challenges

As the impacts of climate change grow in frequency and intensity, climate justice—the recognition of climate change’s unequal impacts across populations, as well as inequities in the benefits and burdens from societal responses to climate change—has become a central focus of climate policymaking, advocacy, and scholarship. In this review, we take stock of these trends to consider what social psychologists can contribute to this discourse. We draw from integrative perspectives within the environmental social sciences, as well as emerging insights from psychology, communication, and public health, to highlight three areas with growing policy relevance that are ripe for social psychological inquiry: (a) understanding factors that influence climate vulnerability, its causes, and remediation; (b) identifying barriers and pathways to inclusive climate governance and decision-making; and (c) enhancing justice in climate solutions. For each, we consider the relevance of group and intergroup processes and highlight emerging empirical insights and key unanswered questions. We conclude by considering the urgency and challenges of translating psychological research to address climate injustice and highlighting opportunities for advancing the societal relevance of this research.

The critical posthumanities and postqualitative inquiry in psychology

ABSTRACT This article inaugurates a special issue on the critical posthumanities and postqualitative inquiry. Within psychology, more of us agree we dislike these ‘post’ approaches than can agree what they are about. The purpose of this article is not to make the ‘posts’ more likable for psychologists. Instead, we make a case for refining the contempt towards ‘post inquiry’ and raising the level of our connoisseurship in order to pass judgement on it in a fair and ethical manner. Our arguments are followed by some thoughts about the process and product of the special issue, which aims to support connoisseurship and answers essential questions about the critical posthumanities and postqualitative inquiry, while originating new ones. We hope this work contributes to expand the horizons of qualitative psychology.

Advancing equity in cross-cultural psychology: embracing diverse epistemologies and fostering collaborative practices.

Psychology, and cross-cultural psychology (CCP) in particular, plays a pivotal role in understanding the intricate relationship between culture and human behavior. This paper sheds light on the challenges of inequity and marginalization, especially concerning scholarship from the Global South, which have roots in historical colonial practices. It highlights how intellectual extractivism and the predominance of Western research methodologies often overlook the contributions of Global South scholars and indigenous ways of knowing. Such imbalances risk narrowing the scope of psychological inquiry, privileging American and European perspectives, and undermining the richness of global human experiences. This paper calls for a shift toward more equitable collaborations and the recognition of diverse epistemologies. By advocating for genuine representation in research and valuing local knowledge, it proposes pathways for a more inclusive and authentic exploration of human behavior across cultures.

“You take my place; let’s switch!” What It Means to Be a Woman Powerlifter in Parasport

Gendered disability in elite sport has emerged as a pertinent area of inquiry in sport psychology. However, qualitative research aimed at amplifying the voices of marginalized subgroups is notably sparse. Employing a phenomenological approach, we examined the lived experience of a Filipina para powerlifter, probing the intersection of gender, disability, and socioeconomic status in shaping how the participant made sense of life and identity, both within and outside the realm of sport. Three personal experiential themes were generated from the interview data's interpretative phenomenological analysis: “survival of the fittest,” “the voices in my head did not allow me to give up,” and “I am deeply human with a heart.” Narrating the trials she surpassed from childhood to adulthood as an athlete/person with disability (A/PWD), she realized the environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions that handicap her more than her physical impairment alone. Despite bouts with self-pity and disempowerment, the participant drew strength from internal resilience and external support systems, ultimately achieving recognition as her country's first bemedaled Paralympian. This journey fostered profound compassion for her fellow athletes/persons with disabilities. Notwithstanding the limitations of a single-participant study, this research asserts its significant contribution to the scholarly discourse on cultural sport psychology, particularly concerning women of low socioeconomic status in sport for A/PWD. Upholding that the viewpoints and agency of marginalized individuals are heard and respected confirms their position as active participants in knowledge generation within the discipline.

Performance comparison ensemble classifier’s performance in answering frequently asked questions about psychology

In today’s era of digital healthcare transformation, there is a growing demand for swift responses to mental health queries. To meet this need, we introduce an AI-driven chatbot system designed to automatically address frequently asked questions in psychology. Leveraging a range of classifiers including Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and Naïve Bayes, our system extracts insights from expert data sources and employs natural language processing techniques like LDA Topic Modeling and Cosine similarity to generate contextually relevant responses. Through rigorous experimentation, we find that SVM surpasses Naïve Bayes and KNN in accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score, making it our top choice for constructing the final response system. This research underscores the effectiveness of ensemble classifiers, particularly SVM, in providing accurate and valuable information to enhance mental health support in response to common psychological inquiries.

Meaning in elite sport – A narrative review of scholarship in sport psychology

Introduction Athletes’ heart-felt stories about their experiences in elite sport almost naturally evoke the notion of meaning. However, although various scholars and practitioners have suggested the concept of meaning to the sport psychology audience in the past two decades (e.g., Beckmann, 2023; Ravizza, 2002; Ronkainen & Nesti, 2020), its study in this discipline is still in the early stages compared to established psychological scholarship on the topic. To promote meaning as a complementary lens for research and applied work in sport psychology, the presentation aims to introduce the concept informed by psychological inquiry, and to synthesize and critically comment on the extant scholarship. For this, the wider meaning in life literature will be drawn on to give an overview of components, sources, pathways, and qualities of meaning and set it apart from the related concept of purpose. Methods A narrative review of 15 studies on meaning (n = 10) and purpose (n = 5) from elite sport contexts was conducted. Results The scholarship on meaning and purpose in elite sport revealed itself diverse in terms of employed study designs (quantitative, qualitative), methodologies and theoretical frameworks (e.g., narrative inquiry, phenomenology), conceptualizations of meaning and purpose (e.g., existential meaning, purpose in coaching), interpretations of meaning (intrapsychic or relational), and topics researched in relation to it (e.g., forced migration, injury experiences). To date the literature base on meaning and purpose in elite sport is characterized by fragmentation and largely imprecise use of the concept. Discussion/Conclusion To assist future empirical research and increase conceptual clarity of meaning in elite sport, sport psychology should integrate knowledge from its parent discipline psychology. Additionally, to make the somewhat abstract notion of meaning tangible for sport practitioners, more applied questions must be addressed. Through this, meaning could offer a truly holistic approach to well-being and mental health research and practice in sport. Importantly, “working” with meaning requires personal positioning, since conceiving of meaning as performance enhancement tool or as existential concern has major implications for how it is investigated and for how or whether it should be increased.

Raising Questions with Lamiell about Future Research Directions of Critical Personalism: A Book Review Essay.

The present article is a book review essay about James T. Lamiell's Primer in Critical Personalism: A Framework for Reviving Psychological Inquiry and for Grounding a Socio-cultural Ethos published in February 2024. In the beginning of the paper, I am outlining the core tenets of the book that is its separation into two major sections. In the first, Lamiell shows us the origins of psychological research in Germany in the laboratory of Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig and his peculiar notion of generalizing knowledge. Here, the American psychologist explains that Wundt and his assistants were far away of generalizing knowledge in the way mainstream psychology does today - that is on an aggregate, population-based knowledge. On the contrary, Wundt and his colleagues were generalizing knowledge more in a systemic manner - something which is also in line with the work of William Stern and his critical personalism. Lamiell applies the core tenets of critical personology - that originate in the notion of the adoption of self-purposes (values) which become then linked to foreign purposes/values and produces something higher over the course of that process. Lamiell expands this successfully to the domain of informal focus groups discussing racial issues and how psycho-demographic research comes to fixate individuals into categories that do not apply to the individual level. As such, the American psychologist accomplishes to show that inferential statistics is not only scientifically unsound for many research questions but that it also comes with moral and ethical concerns that should be addressed by scientists. At the end of the book review essay, I point out several pathways of future research - that is the link between critical personalism, phenomenology, existentialism and psychoanalysis as well as how Lamiell would construct and co-construct concrete interventions to facilitate introception to take place in his informal focus groups. I conclude the article by stressing the major highlight of Lamiell's book - that is the interpersonal benefits of adopting a critical personological perspective in science and in life.

Aesthetic experiences and their transformative power: a systematic review.

Transformative experiences (TEs) have been conceptualized in many ways, contexts, magnitudes, and durations, but at their heart, they entail some manner of adjustment, which contributes to changing individuals' worldviews, actions, views of others and/or their own feelings, personality, and identity. Among the many elicitors identified as being able to foster TEs, an emerging body of literature has suggested that TEs might be prevalent in aesthetics or emerged from encounters with human art. Beyond denoting ordinary moments characterizing our daily lives, art and aesthetics could occasionally represent profound changes, causing shifts in our perceptions, beliefs and understanding of the world. However, in the realm of psychological inquiry, the extent to which art and aesthetics can be considered potential catalysts for transformation remains a topic of debate. Furthermore, a comprehensive identification of the key psychological components that contribute to the process of transformation before, during, and after aesthetic engagement is still missing. This systematic review endeavors to address these gaps by synthesizing literature on aesthetic transformative experiences either from the field of psychology or explicitly delving into the psychological impact of transformative experiences within the realm of art and aesthetics. It encompasses both theoretical and empirical papers to determine key aspects and psychological components that characterize TEs. Two major electronic databases were systematically searched. The review was conducted in accordance with Liberati et al. (2009) and PRISMA guidelines. All stages of the review were conducted independently by three researchers, and the protocol was published on PROSPERO (Registration no.: CRD42022298655). Although 39.440 studies were identified, only 23 peer-reviewed articles were included in this review, as most studies did not explicitly delve into the long-lasting psychological impact of art and aesthetics. The results confirm the potential of art and aesthetics as elicitors of transformation regardless of the type of artwork and the usage context. Moreover, it also identifies some psychological components necessary for transformation in the realm of art and aesthetics, including facilitating conditions/pre-expectations, cognitive discrepancy, epiphany and insight, and several after-effects on the recipient. The review aids in refining and enriching the concept of transformative experience, paving the way for further research and applications in various fields, including not only psychology but also education and therapeutic interventions. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42022298655.

Psychological Inquiry and Scientific Methodology in the Enlightenment: Unveiling the Insights of Jean Trembley

This study delves into the intellectual milieu of the Enlightenment era, offering an in-depth exploration of Jean Trembley’s seminal contributions to empirical psychology and scientific methodology. As a fervent prot\'{e}g\'{e} of Charles Bonnet, Trembley’s work, first published in 1781, marked a significant milestone in the development of French-language discourses on empirical psychology’s methodological approaches. This paper conducts a thorough examination of Trembley’s methodological and epistemological underpinnings, elucidating his staunch advocacy for the centrality of psychology and the indispensable role of empirical evidence in scientific inquiry. In particular, the analysis focuses on Trembley’s multifaceted intellectual pursuits, encompassing domains such as mathematics, physics, psychology, aesthetics, theology, and politics. This exploration uncovers a cohesive philosophical thread that underscores his commitment to a form of cognitive morality, deeply rooted in psychological principles. The investigation highlights how Trembley’s work championed the use of experience and the systematic application of cognitive processes like curiosity, attention, imagination, as well as the dynamics of habit formation and the association of ideas, thereby positioning psychology as a crucial cornerstone in the framework of scientific methodology. Ultimately, this article offers a comprehensive evaluation of Trembley’s lasting impact on the field of empirical psychology during the Enlightenment, illuminating his role as a pivotal figure in the evolution of scientific thought and practice during this transformative period in intellectual history.

Kin relationality and ecological belonging: a cultural psychology of Indigenous transcendence.

In this article, we consider prosociality through the lens of an Indigenous "ethics of belonging" and its two constitutive concepts: kin relationality and ecological belonging. Kin relationality predicates that all living beings and phenomena share a familial identity of interdependence, mutuality, and organization. Within the value system of ecological belonging, an individual's identity is constituted in relation to the natural environment, centered on the sentiments of responsibility and reverence for Nature. We detail how Indigenous perspectives upon prosociality differ from Western scientific accounts in terms of the motives, scope, and rewards of altruistic action. Grounded in this understanding, we then profile three self-transcendent states, compassion, gratitude, and awe, and their similarities across Indigenous and Western approaches, and how kin relationality and ecological belonging give rise to cultural variations. We consider convergent insights across Indigenous and Western science concerning the role of ritual and narrative and the cultural cultivation of kin relationality and ecological belonging. We conclude by highlighting how these two core concepts might guide future inquiry in cultural psychology.