‘As We Fight Climate Change and Poverty, the Focus on Personal, rather than Social Goals, may Prove Harmful over Time’
The 11th International LCSR Workshop of the HSE Ronald F. Inglehart Laboratory for Comparative Social Research, ‘Recent Advances in Comparative Study of Values’, took place as part of the XXIII Yasin (April) International Academic Conference. HSE News Service talked about the study of values and current changes in academic life with Ronald Fischer, who presented an honorary paper ‘Why We Should Aim for Systematic Non-Invariance in Cross-Cultural Research’ at the workshop.
People Over 65 are Less Prone to Apathy and Depression
The degree of depression and apathy is higher between the ages of 50 and 65 than after 65. What’s more, apathy among those of pre-retirement age depends on subjective vitality — the sense of being full of life and energy.
Stress Disorders More Prevalent among Doctors due to the Pandemic
Psychologists from HSE University have joined their peers from Ekaterinburg to look into the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of Russian doctors. They found that medical staff are suffering from stress, anxiety, and depression more often than before. The results of the study were published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
Researchers Explain What Makes People Pro-Environmental
The HSE School of Psychology has studied the psychological, social, and political factors behind Russians’ pro-environmental behaviour. It appears that women hold more pro-environmental attitudes than men, trust in the free market negatively affects sustainable consumption, and awareness of the benefits of pro-environmental actions better motivates people to sort waste than environmental concern or connectedness to nature. The study has been published by SSRN.
‘The Human Brain Has Always Fascinated Me’
Alexios Kouzalis, from Cyprus, is a first-year PhD student at the HSE University School of Psychology. We talked with Alexis about his reasons for coming to HSE Moscow, his achievements and his observations on life in the Russian capital.
‘There Is Only One Solution to the Problem of Social Inequality: Information’
This September, work was in full swing at HSE University’s Laboratory for Psychology of Social Inequality. The laboratory, which was established in spring 2021, is the first research centre in Russia devoted to researching perceptions of inequality in various fields. IQ.HSE spoke to Elena Agadullina, head of the laboratory, about the research projects underway at the lab, the psychological mechanisms that support and maintain inequality, and Russia-specific trends in the field.
Social Adaptation, the Secrets of Communication, and Animal Therapy: Psychological Welcome Week Comes to a Close
In a series of events that ran from September 13–21, psychologists from the HSE University Centre for Psychological Counselling spoke to students about communication traps and establishing trusting relationships, the challenges of adapting to a new environment and the resources required to do so, the university’s emergency psychological service, and animal therapy. The event programme also included English-language events.
Meditation Has Greater Benefits for Intrinsically Motivated People with High Self-Control
HSE University researchers Evgeny Osin and Irina Turilina conducted an intervention study looking into the effectiveness of a short-term online mindfulness meditation course. They discovered that even after a three-week course of daily 10 to 15-minute meditation sessions, novice participants benefitted from improved emotional wellbeing, concentration, motivation and self-reflection. The practitioners were also less likely to fixate on negative thoughts. However, these effects only applied to people who already had sufficiently high levels of self-control and motivation to meditate and were thus less likely to give up on the practice. The research is presented in an article published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being
Individuals Perceived As Highly Intelligent More Likely to Get Away with Sexism And Harassment
Regardless of personal ideas about gender equality, people tend to turn a blind eye to someone else’s sexist attitudes if they perceive this person as having positive and valuable characteristics such as high intelligence.