Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology最新文献

Australia Day continues to be a divisive event in Australia. The contentious public holiday currently falls on January 26, a date which marks the beginning of colonisation in Australia and the subsequent persecution of Australian First Nations peoples. Despite the date's controversial historical ties, some Australians remain in support of ‘saving the date’. The current study aimed to deepen understanding of Australians' thoughts and opinions regarding Australia Day, including their reasons in support of changing or saving the January 26 date. Responses from 208 Australian citizens, collected via a national survey, were thematically examined. While analysis confirmed a division in attitudes towards Australia Day, greater support for date change was found among younger Australians. The current study applies and extends Social Identity Theory, identifying key themes which were linked to support for date change and improved intergroup relations within the Australia Day context. Themes included acknowledgement of colonisation and the damage done to First Nations peoples, participants' political views, and educational awareness. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications which may assist with breaking down the social barriers that support date-change resistance, helping Australians move towards a more inclusive future.

One's health security (i.e., the ability to minimize risks and respond to public health threats) is a conferred right of citizenship but individuals construct identities during the process of securing their health. However, how this occurs, in relationship to the state, remains largely implicit or taken-for-granted. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)' provided a unique opportunity to explore the relationship between oneself and governing social norms of health citizenship. We drew on secondary analysis of data from a previous (published) qualitative descriptive study that was conducted during May to September 2020 of COVID-19, to explore 72 immigrants' experience (from 21 countries) of health security in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using critical realism. The majority of participants were women. We demonstrate how individuals implicitly engaged in ‘extra’ work—gendered and driven by mechanisms of good citizenship—connected to the will to health, against ethopolitical work to regulate risks, of and for themselves, in public discourse. Public discourse tended to follow racialized hegemonic norms, which also reproduced systemic cultural racism. We argue that empathetic understanding of this process is conducive to enhancing one's resistance to stereotypes, and to bolstering immigrants' resilience to seeking health security during public health emergencies.

The rapid development of electronic communication technology has brought about a revolutionary transformation in health information seeking and medical consultation. Beyond traditional avenues like seeking assistance from doctors in hospitals, individuals now have the option to engage in online medical consultations, enhancing their ability to manage routine health effectively. However, an overreliance on online medical consultations driven by heightened health anxiety may contribute to the surge in online health information inquiries, a phenomenon positively associated with the emergence of cyberchondria. In the context of China, where HIV/AIDS is socially stigmatised, cyberchondria related to HIV infection becomes particularly noteworthy. This study delves into the potential consequences of online health information seeking (OHIS) with a specific focus on Kongai BBS, a platform catering for individuals with a fear of AIDS. Our research collected data from 309 male users actively participating in the BBS, who had engaged in high-risk sexual behaviours in the past 6 months. Applying structural equation modelling (SEM), this study examines the intricate relationships between OHIS, health anxiety, online and offline medical consultations, and cyberchondria. The results indicate that online medical consultation serves as a mediator in the relationship between OHIS and cyberchondria, whereas offline medical consultation does not significantly impact this relationship. These findings contribute valuable insights into the interactive dynamics between online and offline medical consultations, offering practical implications for the prevention of HIV infection in China. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Instagram is the social network with the largest number of adolescent users in Italy; it is also the social network with the largest number of suicide-related posts. Suicide is the third leading cause of death in Italy in the 15–19 age group. This study aims to describe Italian posts on Instagram related to suicide and to investigate whether there are differences in the number of likes, comments, and hashtags in relation to the characteristics of the posts. We searched for Italian-language Instagram posts by typing ‘#suicidio’, an Italian translation of the English word ‘suicide’, and found 303 posts between January and May 2022. Most of the posts were written by ordinary people, while only a small percentage of posts were written by professionals; moreover, the content was predominantly biographical and pro-suicide, and most posts had no reference to adolescence. Posts with a neutral approach received the most likes, while posts with a negative or positive approach to suicide or that contained references to psychiatric disorders had the most hashtags. These results provide insight regarding guidelines that can be implemented for suicide online prevention and encourage psychologists to enhance online prevention and support using the online community inherent to the Instagram social network.

People are sensitive to norms, but under what conditions promoting anti-prejudice norms reduce prejudice remains unclear. Three studies among Dutch participants (total N = 700) examined the effects of (in)equality norms on prejudice towards migrants. To gain greater clarity, we also examined how potential boundary conditions—namely economic and social ideologies—moderate this relationship. A norm of equality was measured (Study 1) or manipulated (Studies 2a and 2b). In Study 1, a perceived norm of equality predicted lower prejudice towards migrants, operationalised as cold feelings, social distance, and perceived outgroup threat, through the increased personal endorsement of equality, particularly among (economic) rightists. In two experiments (Studies 2a and 2b), as well as in a joint analysis of both studies, we found that inducing an equality norm (vs. not) mitigated prejudice towards migrants, but only among (social) rightists. These findings highlight the positive role of social norms promoting equality in combating prejudice and the importance of considering boundary conditions for this role, such as ideology. We discuss the implications for theory and practice regarding prejudice (reduction). Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

The lives of sex workers feature varying issues of marginalisation. Regardless of the geographical location and surrounding culture, sex work and sex workers face a huge amount of stigma throughout the world. Over time, this prevailing stigma creates stereotypes that mainstream society reinforces through their attitude and daily discourse. Moreover, the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the inequalities and marginalisation experienced by this population group. This ethnographic research explores the changing dynamics of communication post-COVID-19 among female sex workers in the Kalighat red light district of Kolkata. To conclude, the researcher engages in audio-recorded in-depth interviews with 15 female sex workers chosen with the help of the snowball sampling technique. The findings of this research add to the almost non-existent literature concerning sex work and communication and are also helpful to bureaucrats and other policymakers formulating policies for the vulnerable and marginalised. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Historical trauma impacts the affected groups long after traumatic events. In response to such experiences, people may make sense of this history through collective victimisation beliefs that compare their ingroup's experiences to outgroups' experiences. Additionally, they may perceive these collective experiences as central to their self and group identity, or distance themselves from them. However, it is not yet well understood how distinct beliefs about historical trauma are linked to psychological well-being. The present study examined this question among the Polish diaspora in the United States (N = 280). Mediation analyses showed a negative indirect effect of exclusive victim beliefs and centrality of collective victimisation on psychological well-being, while inclusive victim beliefs and decentring collective victimisation had positive indirect effects on psychological well-being. Structural equation modelling examining all collective victim beliefs simultaneously highlighted historical victimisation as identity content (a subscale of centrality of collective victimisation) as a particularly important predictor of psychological well-being, through historical trauma emotions. Overall, in line with appraisal theory, these findings suggest that how a group's historical victimisation is construed is linked to emotional processes and can predict psychological well-being. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

The present study explored the role of perceived societal norms of multiculturalism in the engagement of cultural identity styles (hybridising-HIS and altenating-AIS) and, in turn, their impact on bicultural identity consolidation and cultural identity conflict. We examined 293 Chinese Americans' perceptions about the extent to which culturally diverse groups are in contact with one another (multicultural contact); whether diversity is valued and appreciated (multicultural ideology); and whether there are policies and practices that support and accommodate diversity (multicultural policies and practices) in the United States. Results from a path analysis showed that multicultural ideology was negatively associated with AIS and cultural identity conflict. Multicultural contact was positively associated with HIS and bicultural identity consolidation. Multicultural policies and practices had no significant associations. The findings underscore the important role of perceived societal acceptance of multicultural ideology and perceived norms of multicultural contact in managing cultural identities. Furthermore, the study highlights that perceived multiculturalism norms as societal-level factors combined with individual-level cultural identity styles can influence the identity outcomes of multicultural individuals. Further research into the role of perceived societal norms for both majority and cultural minority individuals in identity integration is warranted.