On Monday, September 26, 2022, Dr. Felix Cheung from University of Toronto gave a great talk at our weekly Social-Personality Brownbag series, titled: “Social and Personality Psychology in Times of War and Conflict.”
You can find more information about Dr. Cheung’s work here and the abstract for his talk below:
Abstract:
The Russo-Ukrainian War has far-reaching consequences for the world. Not only has the War changed life in Ukraine drastically, but it has also led to the prioritization of military spending, the reconsideration of the role of international coalitions, and the additional scrutiny of refugee policies. This talk highlights 4 studies that address these issues using diverse samples across continents (total N = 1,382,294). The first study drew on representative data from 16,404 Ukrainian participants and documented Ukrainians’ historical resilience during the 2013-2014 Euromaidan Protest. The second study showed that diverting public spending towards the military poses a well-being cost to citizens. The third study found both short- and long-term well-being benefits for joining the EU. The fourth study examined the refugee crisis and found no evidence that greater influx of refugees is related to poorer life satisfaction in the host populations. Together, these studies not only introduce new conceptual insights and methodological advances on the psychology of war and conflict but also call for the prioritization of psychological research towards pressing global affairs.