University of Helsinki
Professor Nyla Branscombe, the University of Kansas Friday, November 2 nd 2018, at 2-4 PM The Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Research/Social Psychology Unioninkatu 35, room 113
‘When and why are victims expected to be more humanitarian than non-victims?’
Aims and learning outcomes: The lecture aims to develop an understanding of how group and individual history influence judgments of individuals and groups in the present. The role of perceiver motivation to maintain belief in a just world in this process is emphasized. It is argued that by believing that suffering and injustice is redeemed with psychological benefits or strengths, this frequently results in victims being held to higher moral standards of conduct compared to non-victims. Along to the theoretical perspectives on how people make sense of other people’s suffering, the student will gain an acquaintance with meaning-making processes, including benefit-finding as a form of mentally redeeming good from bad; familiarize themselves with third-party inferences about Holocaust and Cambodian survivors’ descendants, as well as victims of a variety forms of social discrimination and exclusion; and learn to compare and contrast third-party observer and victim motivations when reminded of suffering history.
Preliminary reading list:
Branscombe, N.R., Warner, R.H., Klar, Y., & Fernández, S. (2015). Historical group victimization entails moral obligations for descendants. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 59, 118-129.
Branscombe, N.R., Wohl, M.J.A., & Warner, R.H. (2016). Remembering historical victimization: Potential for intergroup conflict escalation and conflict reduction. In A. Miller (Ed.), The social psychology of good and evil (2nd ed., pp. 367-389). New York: Guilford Press.
Warner, R.H., Wohl, M.J.A., & Branscombe, N.R. (2014). When victim group members feel a moral obligation to help suffering others. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 231-241.
Nyla Branscombe is Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kansas since 1987. She received her BA (1980) and MA (1982) degrees in Canada, and Ph.D. (1986) from Purdue University. Her research has concentrated on the role that group memberships and identities play in shaping people’s emotions, thoughts, and behavior. She has published more than 150 articles and chapters, co-authored and co-edited several textbooks and scholarly volumes. She has been recipient of numerous research prizes—most recently the Higuchi Research Achievement Award from the State of Kansas. She is also the proud recipient of the 2015 University of Kansas Graduate Research Mentor Award.
Contact Info:
The Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Social Research, Unit of Social Psychology Postal address: P.O. Box 54 FIN-00014 University of Helsinki Visiting address: Unioninkatu 37
Doctoral Programme in Social Sciences Coordinator: Tiina Käkelä E-mail: tiina.kakela@helsinki.fi
The Research Area of Cultural and Social Diversities and Intergroup Relations Contact person: Prof. Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti E-mail: inga.jasinskaja@helsinki.fi