Tag: psychology

All the papers and articles with the tag "psychology".

Papers

Existential Concerns Arising From a Threat to the Belief in a Just World: A Mixed-Methods Study

Evgeny Smirnov, Maria MakarovaJournal of Humanistic Psychology

doi:10.1177/00221678251322250

abstract

This paper studies the connection between existential concerns and the belief in a just world. We hypothesized that people who cannot cope with the threat to their belief in a just world will face existential concerns. To justify this hypothesis, we used a mixed-methods approach starting with a qualitative part and followed by a quantitative one. The qualitative part involved in-depth interviews with individuals (N=31, ~3.5h per interview) who have experienced situations perceived as unjust. The analysis of the interviews revealed that the experiences of unjust events actualize existential anxiety causing participants to confront existential problems arose. For the quantitative part we used the scales measuring existential concerns and the belief in a just world for several groups (500 participants in total) that had different strategies to cope with a critical event. The results demonstrated that participants facing threats to their belief in a just world had higher levels of existential anxiety. The effect size between the groups is large or medium depending on the scale.

How do people experience innocent suffering?

Evgeny SmirnovFrontiers in PsychologyV.14

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1148902

abstract

The paper examines the psychological facet of innocent suffering. One can find a description of this phenomenon in social psychology as a factor that affects the belief in a just world, but there is a lack of qualitative scientific data about related psychological features, processes, copings, and consequences on the personality level.

Articles