Collective memory and genetic social psychology: A necessary rediscovery in times of polycrisis.

Social representations of mental illness among martial arts instructors: An ethnomethodological study.

Navigating complex social environments requires understanding how individuals are connected within social networks. People are highly efficient at integrating dyadic relationships into larger network structures. However, social networks are embedded within different types of groups (e.g., task groups vs. social categories), raising the question of how group typology shapes the learning and representation of social networks. Across four experiments, we demonstrate that group-related network schemas-specifically, expectations that task groups are more interconnected and centralized than social categories-systematically guide social network learning and representation. Participants exhibited prior expectations about the relational structure of different group types, and memory for social relationships was enhanced when the learned network structure aligned with these schematic expectations, producing a matching effect that was correlated with schema strength (Experiment 1). This effect was causally driven by schema strength: Weakening group-related schemas through explicit descriptions attenuated the matching effect (Experiment 2). Critically, the effect was domain specific: When social relationships were replaced with nonsocial connections (airport-flight networks), the matching effect disappeared despite comparable structural properties and task demands (Experiment 3). Computational modeling using the Successor Representation framework further revealed that schema-structure misalignment reduced multistep abstraction, reflected in lower successor discount parameters (γ), yielding less integrated global representations of social networks (Experiment 4). Together, these findings show that social network learning is guided by top-down group-related schemas. It advances our understanding of social network cognition by highlighting the importance of schema-driven abstraction and by bridging local learning mechanisms with global representational structure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

ABSTRACT Equity and justice-centered professional organizations, such as the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), often make statements about global and local political matters. Yet many of these organizations have neglected to speak out about Palestinian dispossession and claims for liberation. These silences dehumanize Palestinians and contribute to conditions that allow for genocide to occur. This article presents critical analysis of four statements related to Palestine issued by groups within NCTE to identify where power is evident in each text and how context and social structures shape texts. Analyses suggest NCTE groups presented conflicting social representations, claims to authority, and evidence. Implications to help professional organizations like NCTE move beyond rhetoric toward justice-centered praxis include: 1) limiting executive power through democratic processes; 2) building grassroots power through member organizing; and 3) grounding statements in an extensive evidentiary base.

Socially shared emotions shape the activity of the medial prefrontal cortex during inference of others' emotional states.

This study highlights the importance of cultural dimensions in Arabic language teaching through theatre at two Islamic universities in Malang, where language is viewed as a reflection of identity and social values, not merely a communication tool.This study aims to analyze the forms Insertion of Culture. This study employs a qualitative approach with a multi-site case study design using observation, interviews, documentation, drama scripts, and YouTube performance recordings. Data were analyzed through the Miles, Huberman, and Saldana interactive model, while credibility was ensured through triangulation and prolonged field engagement. The findings of the study reveal three main conclusions. In terms of the forms of insertion in Arabic Education Study Program (PBA) at Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, the findings include: (1) linguistic-cultural aspects, (2) Islamic social values, and (3) visual and performative representations. In the Arabic Language and Literature Study Program (BSA) at the same university, the findings encompass: (1) dramatic script forms, (2) social values, (3) language and dialogue, and (4) character representation. Meanwhile, in Arabic Education (PBA) at Universitas Islam Malang, the results indicate: (1) ideological and local Islamic values, (2) social practices and local traditions, (3) text structure and characterization, and (4) the integration of Arab culture as a linguistic instrument. The contribution of this research is to strengthen culturally-based learning through a drama while enriching theories of communicative competence, performative learning, and Arabic language education from a comparative perspective on the implementation of cultural dimension.

This study examines the therapeutic pathways of elderly diabetic patients in Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire, using a methods approach that combines quantitative surveys (60 structured questionnaires) and qualitative data (30 semi-structured interviews). The findings reveal complex trajectories shaped by social representations of illness, economic constraints, symbolic affiliations, and the coexistence of biomedical and traditional healing practices. Drawing on the theory of reasoned action and the concept of therapeutic capital, the analysis shows that care decisions are not solely based on accessibility or cost, but stem from a socially situated rationality. Patients alternate between modern medicine and traditional care depending on chronicity, cultural legitimacy, and the relational quality of care. While biomedicine is often associated with technical rigor, endogenous practices are perceived as more accessible, culturally legitimate, and imbued with human proximity. This therapeutic hybridity reflects adaptive strategies in response to aging and structural inequalities. The study advocates for a culturally sensitive integration of both systems, based on therapeutic education, practitioner collaboration, and public policies that acknowledge traditional knowledge. It calls for inclusive, sustainable health models centered on the social realities of aging.

ABSTRACT This study advances a novel understanding of overtourism by integrating Large Language Model-assisted qualitative analysis with Social Representation Theory. Based on an analysis of 10,543 comments discussing overtourism, the study examines how public discourse cognitively constructs and affectively moralizes the phenomenon. Findings reveal that overtourism is not merely framed as a problem of excessive visitation but as a moral and symbolic crisis reflecting collective anxieties about greed, vanity, corruption, and the loss of authenticity. These representations assign moral identities to key stakeholders – tourists, residents, governments, industry actors, and influencers – turning overtourism into a social drama of blame and loss.

Social representations of mental illness in India: Convergence and divergence among mental health professionals, psychology students and lay people.

ABSTRACT This paper introduces and explains an experimental pedagogical exercise that employs LEGO® bricks to explore vague legal concepts. Drawing inspiration from the social representations paradigm, which conceptualises meaning as continuously shaped through communicative and cultural practices, I approach vagueness not as a flaw in legal language but as evidence of law’s social embeddedness and its reproduction of dominant norms and categorisations. The exercise, designed for an introductory class in courses on law and language, invites students to collaboratively build metaphorical representations of an unfamiliar legal concept using a method adapted from social representations research (hierarchical evocations) combined with LEGO® construction. Through this material and playful mode of inquiry, students confront the contingent, negotiated and contested nature of legal meaning-making, challenging traditional assumptions of legal objectivity and formalism. The paper outlines the theoretical framework underpinning the exercise, situates it within critical pedagogy and LEGO® Serious Play, and reports on insights from a recent implementation of this exercise, drawing on students’ reflections and the artefacts they produced. The findings suggest that creative, metaphor-driven learning activities can reveal the limitations and possibilities inherent in the collective construction of legal concepts, highlighting the pedagogical value of making legal meaning-making visible, tangible and open to critique.

Entrepreneurship and innovation: A comparative analysis of social representations among nursing students

• The order of presentation likely shapes consumers’ evaluation of upcycled food • The stimuli’s order aligns with the inward and outward factors of upcycled food in the food systems • Anchoring familiarity aids consumer’s understanding of the impact of upcycled food Food processing technologies are rapidly evolving to develop ingredients from side streams of food production, known as upcycled food. Besides its technological and supply chain challenges, consumer acceptance is among the main barriers to commercialization. An approach yet to be explored is the order in which side streams and processing technologies are presented to influence consumers’ understanding of upcycled ingredients and ultimately, cue acceptance. This study employed the basic concepts of the social representation theory through an experimental design in focus groups. The sessions were organized into two treatments based on the mechanism of anchoring, where the sequence of presentation prompted participants to anchor the stimuli. In our split-sample design, the anchored group was first presented with familiar ingredients, namely mechanically processed vegetables. In contrast, the unanchored group was presented first with hydrolysates as unfamiliar ingredients processed chemically. The thematic analysis revealed that different themes were discussed in each treatment, thereby the order of presentation of the stimuli influenced consumer’s perception of upcycled food. Further analysis revealed that the themes could be categorized as outward and inward factors of upcycled food, referring respectively to its broader impact on food systems and its specific characteristics, which notably aligned with the order in which the stimuli were presented. The findings introduce a novel lens for examining consumer acceptance through a social psychology framework, highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary perspectives in food consumer science. Methodologically, including the order as a variable in focus groups highlights the strength of qualitative methods in consumer research.

ABSTRACT This study explores social representations of sustainable practices in Physical Education among 110 undergraduate students in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Using the Free Word Association Technique (FWAT), participants associated five words with the stimulus “Sustainable Practices in Physical Education” and provided justifications. Responses were lemmatized and analyzed via IRAMUTEQ alpha 0.7, enabling Prototypical Analysis and Similarity Tree construction. “Health” emerged as the most frequent term (F = 35), followed by “Recycling” and “Nature,” revealing a strong yet narrow conceptualization of sustainability centered on individual and environmental well-being. Socioeconomic and political dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were largely absent. Findings underscore the need to broaden sustainability education in Physical Education curricula. This study thus highlights a strong conceptual connection between health and sustainability within the social representations of these students.

Psychological trauma is an increasingly prominent construct in contemporary culture, invoked across diverse contexts of policy, practice, and public discourse. However, little is known about how laypeople conceptualise trauma in everyday life. This qualitative study explored social representations of trauma among residents of the Republic of Ireland. Twenty participants completed interviews that elaborated their associations with the term ‘trauma’. Thematic analysis identified three overarching themes, which represented trauma as (a) an individual journey, (b) a byproduct of social ills, and (c) a cultural construct. More specifically, participants viewed trauma as highly subjective, shaped by individual differences in experiences, responses and outcomes. In parallel, trauma was linked to societal-level phenomena such as war and violence, with social support positioned as key to coping and recovery. Participants were highly sensitive to the growing cultural prominence and widening uses of trauma and expressed ambivalence regarding this trend, welcoming trauma’s de-stigmatisation but decrying its potential trivialisation. These findings offer original insights into how trauma is understood beyond clinical settings, informing responsible uses of the concept and ongoing debates about its cultural significance. • Psychological trauma is an increasingly prominent construct in contemporary culture • Qualitative interviews explored lay associations with the concept of trauma • Trauma was construed as an individual journey, byproduct of social ills, and cultural construct • Lay understandings of trauma have potential implications for clinical, personal and societal contexts

The article reveals the epistemological consequences of the introduction of artificial intelligence for the interpretation of political truth. It is proven that to ensure social cognition and democratic social representation, artificial intelligence acts as one of the powerful means of codifying the existing social world, allows collecting and identifying large amounts of political data. It is determined that the dilemma of political epistemology is to establish the truth of digital public statements regarding the unambiguous positive meaning, the use of technologies for modifying the human genome, improvement, selection, modification, features of human nature in the digital age. It is demonstrated that the development of technologies and the change of political consciousness require the search for a political authority that will be competent in resolving controversial and problematic issues, accumulating knowledge and its use in modern society, in the conditions of the collapse of traditional ideologies, class and other social-group communities that do not act as authoritative regarding the use of technologies and their distribution, prohibitions, etc. It is found that the development of empirical research in modern political science is aimed at establishing the truth in the description of political facts and establishing the truth in the connection between individual objects of the social world. It is specified that the disclosure of a multipolar interpretation of scientific social artificial intelligence is possible only if the greatest possible number of requirements of the subjects of knowledge is taken into account and, at the same time, the creation of a universal structure that will allow differentiating knowledge, facts and analytical positions on the basis of a common coordinate system. It is shown that in the near future the predictive capabilities of modern political science will be determined by the change in the social structure of human society, which is becoming increasingly technologized, the emergence of new socio-political subjects who are likely to demand attention to their rights and status, socio-economic competition for the use of technologies, the extension of life and changes in quality, etc.

ABSTRACT This article questions environmental values in the context of contemporary social transformations, through a sociological approach based on [Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity (M. Ritter, Trans.). SAGE Publications. (Original work published 1986)] framework of the Risk Society, [Moscovici, S. (1961). La Psychanalyse, Son Image et Son Public. Presses Universitaires de France] sociology of social representations, and [Bourdieu, P. (1990). The logic of practice (R. Nice, Trans.). Stanford University Press. (Original work published 1980)] concept of symbolic capital. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with a random sample of citizens, the article analyzes individuals’ social representations of the environment and the extent to which environmental values are reflected in their behavior. The results reveal a clear cognitive gap between environmental discourse and practice, explained by disparities in, to use Bourdieu’s phrase, cultural capital, the plurality of representations, and weak trust in institutions. The study concludes that environmental values are not only based on knowledge, but also on individuals’ social and living contexts that give meaning to action. Finally, it proposes the need to shift from awareness-raising approaches to building an environmental culture grounded in symbolic and social justice.

ABSTRACT This study investigates the linguistic insecurity and discrimination experienced by Turkish-origin return migrants born and/or raised in Western European countries (Germany, Belgium, and France), the individual and structural factors shaping these experiences, and their impact on reintegration. For this purpose, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 returnees who returned to Türkiye over the past 15 years. Employing qualitative research methods, the study draws on interview data and researcher's observation notes. Findings reveal that most return migrants experienced linguistic insecurity and discrimination when using Turkish in social interactions in Türkiye. These experiences were shaped by individual factors – including personal traits and perceived Turkish language deficiency – as well as structural factors such as gender roles, hierarchical relationship patterns, social representations of language, and experiences of linguistic discrimination. The study further demonstrates that migrants’ transnational identities and sense of belonging influence linguistic security, and that the insecurity and discrimination they encounter when speaking Turkish complicates their sociocultural reintegration.

Purpose This study investigates the interdependencies among environmental activism, materialism, cosmopolitanism, and consumer responsibility for sustainable consumption. Specifically, it examines dual-pathways of activism's role in sustainability – weakening materialism and reinforcing cosmopolitanism – and how these dynamics vary across cultural and institutional contexts. Design/methodology/approach Grounded in Value-Belief-Norm theory, social representations theory, and institutional theory, we develop and test a cross-national structural equation model using representative survey data from Canada (n = 673) and Spain (n = 2,589). The model assesses direct and mediated pathways linking environmental activism, materialism, cosmopolitanism, and consumer responsibility for sustainable consumption. Findings Results reveal that environmental activism significantly predicts sustainable consumption behavior both directly and indirectly through value orientations. Cosmopolitanism acts as a value reinforcement mechanism, amplifying the activism–consumption link, while materialism operates as a resistance mechanism, weakening this link. These effects are context-dependent in that cosmopolitanism plays a stronger mediating influence in Canada, while materialism is more salient in Spain, illustrating how cultural and institutional environments moderate the pathways from activism to consumption. Originality/value Our research advances sustainable consumption scholarship by positioning activism as a driver of value change and by integrating culturally embedded value systems as mediators. It proposes a dynamic, context-sensitive framework that enriches the classic Value-Belief-Norm model and offers psychographically grounded insights for international market segmentation and strategy.

ABSTRACT Many social factors influence decisions to approach or avoid social targets, but less research has directly investigated the impact of cognitive factors, such as memory, on such social decisions. Recent work has shown that social episodic memory (i.e., memory for specific details associated with specific social targets based on prior experiences) can influence subsequent approach/avoidance decisions. The goal of the current study is to investigate the influence of social episodic memory strength (i.e., comparing stronger versus weaker memory representations) on approach/avoidance decisions. In this investigation, participants viewed social targets represented by a face image and a trait-implying behaviour and formed positive or negative impressions of targets viewed twice (double presentation) or once (single presentation). Participants then completed two different memory measures (impression memory, behavior memory) followed by an approach/avoidance decision task. By presenting some targets twice and others once, this allowed us to compare stronger (double presentation) versus weaker (single presentation) social episodic memory representations on subsequent social decisions. Results showed support for the role of memory in approach/avoidance decisions (regardless of memory strength), where correct memory for targets associated with positive impressions induced approach decisions, whereas correct memory for targets associated with negative impressions induced avoidance decisions. Importantly, results further showed stronger impact of social episodic memory on decisions for targets seen twice relative to once, suggesting that stronger social episodic memory representations have a larger effect on approach/avoidance judgments. These findings add to a growing body of work suggesting that memory plays an essential role in social decision-making.

ABSTRACT This study investigates how stigma surrounding depression is subtly produced in news discourse and how such communicative practices frame public representations of mental health. Drawing on a corpus-based discursive news values analysis integrated with multimodal analysis, we examine English-language media coverage of depression in China and the United States. Rather than relying on overtly negative labeling, stigma is enacted through implicit communicative strategies: expert voices dominate while people with lived experience are marginalized, referential patterns repeatedly associate depression with postpartum women and suicide, and visual resources index emotional distance and role-bound femininity. Together, these discursive and visual configurations constitute what we term silent stigma—a mode of meaning-making that constrains interpretive possibilities, structures audience stance, and normalizes limited social representations of depression. Cross-national comparison further reveals culturally patterned strategies. Chinese media tend to externalize depression through foreign exemplars and symbolic imagery, while U.S. media personalize it through maternal identity and individual narratives, reflecting different communicative logics of distancing versus individualization. The findings suggest communicative considerations for mental health reporting, including broadening narrative voices, avoiding narrow demographic framing, and adopting culturally responsive textual and visual strategies. The study thus contributes to health communication scholarship by showing how everyday media practices discursively configure the visibility and legitimacy of depression in public news discourse.