Journal of Social and Political Psychology

The Tyranny of the Ideal Self: Neoliberal Subjectivation, Emotional Distress, and Forms of Resistance in Young Women

Mariola Pérez Marqués — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article explores how young women experience emotional self-demand and anxiety as effects of neoliberal subjectivation in contemporary Spain. Our inquiry is grounded in critical feminist psychology and a reflexive qualitative epistemology, foregrounding situated knowledge, power relations, and the researcher’s positionality. We analyze twelve in-depth interviews with urban women aged 22 to 28 using reflexive thematic analysis. The study was conducted in the post-pandemic period, amid high youth unemployment and growing affective precarity. Findings reveal four key themes: the internalization of an emotionally competent and high-performing “ideal self”; the silencing of emotional discomfort, often perceived as a personal failure; the pressure to display positivity and self-optimization on social media; and the emergence of subtle forms of emotional disobedience, such as saying no, crying, or refusing to perform happiness. Emotional distress is not treated solely as a clinical symptom, but as a response to cultural discourses that moralize well-being and privatize suffering. Sadness, fatigue, or vulnerability are frequently interpreted as moral deficits, rather than legitimate reactions to structural pressures. However, participants’ small acts of resistance suggest alternative ways of inhabiting emotional life. This study contributes to critical debates on affect, gender, and neoliberalism by situating emotional suffering within broader sociopolitical dynamics. It invites researchers and practitioners to rethink emotional discomfort not as an individual flaw, but as a potential space for resistance and redefinition of well-being.

Epistemic Violence and Academic Repression: Anti-Palestinian Racism and the Politics of Knowledge Production in the Context of the Gaza Genocide

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper critically interrogates the institutionalized repression of pro-Palestinian scholarship in academia, particularly within psychology and allied social sciences, framing it within broader neoliberal and settler-colonial structures. Drawing on postcolonial and decolonial critiques, it examines how anti-Palestinian racism operates as an epistemic weapon to silence, delegitimize, and erase Palestinian narratives through carceral academic mechanisms, targeted defamation, and institutional complicity. The analysis situates these dynamics within the corporatization of universities (particularly in North American and European higher education), the weaponization of allegations of antisemitism, and the entrenchment of Zionist ideological imperatives in knowledge production. In particular, it centers the racial and colonial legacy of psychology, positioning the case of Palestine as a paradigmatic example of how these broader structural dynamics of epistemic violence operate within academic disciplines. Through a critical examination of case studies and self-reflexive scholarship documenting institutional repression of pro-Palestinian scholars, this paper exposes academia’s alignment with colonial logics — particularly within psychology and the social sciences in North American and European institutions more broadly— and its role in maintaining epistemic violence. Further, it advocates for radical, justice-oriented methodologies—such as participatory action research and transnational solidarities—to reclaim universities as sites of decolonial resistance and epistemic justice. Ultimately, the paper calls for dismantling academic structures complicit in oppression, and stages decolonization as refusal: a mode of affective-academic disinvestment in the colonial university fostering a transformative, anti-colonial praxis in higher education and psychology.

Symbolic Politics of the Facecover: Online Engagement Towards Far-Right Visuals

Sarah H. Awad, Marie U. Frydendahl, Matine Hansen, Lea M. L. Nielsen — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The idea of constructing a community around the distinctive characteristics of an in-group in opposition to an out-group has long been studied in psychology as one of the motivations for developing national identities, as well as one of the key factors that could lead to intergroup discrimination and conflict. Those dynamics are commonly seen in how European far-right political parties construct a national identity in opposition to a threatening ‘other,’ and increasingly utilize visual communication on social media to mobilize and attract followers through a strong focus on images of the ‘other’. In this study, we investigate the Danish People’s Party’s (DF – Dansk Folkeparti) visual construction of in- and out-group distinctions and how social media users engage with some of the most viral images of the party on the social media platform Facebook. We use visual content analysis of DF images in combination with discursive qualitative analysis of users’ affective engagements in the comments section. The study contributes a nuanced understanding of affective engagement with far-right visual practices. Findings show that the party’s visual communication relies heavily on othering images in the construction of an exclusionary national identity. Those othering images – especially the image of Muslim women wearing facecover – attract the highest online engagement. However, contrary to the assumption that those images create hate echo chambers, the high engagement does not necessarily come from those who subscribe to the same affect expressed by the party, but also attracts more opposing views contesting the image and its message.

Constructing Gender Polarisation in Online Interaction: Affective Blame Attributions in Finnish Reddit Discussions

Katarina Pettersson — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Debates about a growing ideological gender divide have intensified in public discourse, yet little is known about how such polarisation is constructed in everyday interaction. This study addresses that gap by examining how gender polarisation is discursively and affectively produced in online discussions in Finland. Drawing on an affective and critical discursive approach, the analysis focuses on affective blame attributions in two Finnish Reddit threads discussing the perceived gender gap. The findings show that polarisation is not simply asserted but actively explained and negotiated through competing attributions of responsibility – to societal neglect, failed dialogue, media dynamics, ideological extremism, and gendered power relations. These accounts are emotionally charged and often oppositional, reproducing the very divisions they seek to explain. The study contributes to social psychological research by conceptualising gender polarisation as an interactional and affective process, demonstrating how it is constructed and sustained through everyday online discourse.

Uncertain Jobs, Certain Votes? Relations Between Job Insecurity, Union Attitudes, and Political Behavior

Denise Vesper, Hannes Zacher — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study explores relations between perceived job insecurity, union attitudes, and voting behavior—particularly support for far-right parties—following the 2024 state elections in Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia (Germany; N = 710). Although job insecurity is often linked to negative individual outcomes, its political effects are less well understood. We examined whether job insecurity relates to identification with or voting for the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (“Alternative for Germany”; AfD) and other right-wing parties, using a left-right party spectrum. We also investigated whether trust in politicians mediates and whether union attitudes moderate this relationship. Results of structural equation modeling showed that job insecurity did not significantly relate to right-wing political identification or voting. However, low trust in politicians was strongly related to both outcomes. Positive union attitudes were linked to a lower likelihood of voting for far-right parties, but they did not moderate the job insecurity-political outcome relationship. Results were consistent across states, union membership, and employment status. These findings suggest that trust in politicians and union attitudes may be more influential predictors of political behavior than job insecurity, offering new insight into how economic and political concerns shape democratic engagement.

Framing Economic Inequality Through Collective Identities: Confronting or Maintaining Inequality

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The political context can shape the collective identities through which economic inequality is understood and politicised. Using representative public domain samples from five European countries in Study 1 (N = 5,980) and newly collected samples from the UK and Spain in Study 2 (N = 803), we examine how identity frameworks relate to attitudes toward inequality (intolerance), political participation, and collective action aimed at both confronting inequality and maintaining the status quo. Identification with common people was associated with greater intolerance of inequality and higher political participation in Study 1 but showed a more ambivalent pattern in Study 2. National collective narcissism was linked to lower intolerance and lower political participation (Study 1) and, together with national identity, to a greater support for collective actions that maintain the status quo (Study 2). In contrast, identities centred on inequality (i.e., the 99% and the working class) were more consistently associated with challenging inequality. These findings suggest that the way inequality is framed through identity—whether populist, national, or wealth-based—shape responses that either confront or maintain economic inequality across contexts.

Superordinate Identities and Minority Solidarity: Contrasting Person of Color and American Identification

Wen Bu — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Can common ingroup identification predict intra-minority solidarity? Common ingroup identification reduces prejudice but could have an “ironic” effect of reducing minority group members’ support for political change. But do ironic effects apply to all common ingroup identities? Using two 3-wave panel studies, I examined whether identification with a common ingroup that includes Whites (American) and with a common ingroup that does not include Whites (person of color) have different relationships with Asian (Study 1), Black (Study 2), and Latino (Study 2) Americans’ attitudes toward policies that benefit minority groups (immigration, criminal justice reform, and affirmative action). American identification was inconsistently negatively associated with attitudes toward these policies, and POC identification was positively associated with attitudes toward these policies, though identification did not consistently predict attitudes later in time. These results suggest inclusion of the majority group matters for how common ingroup identification relates to intra-minority solidarity.

From Self-Interest to Collective Good: How Moral Framing Affects the Justification of Free-Riding Behavior

Raül Tormos, Ekaterina Nastina — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Free riding behaviors, such as tax evasion and exploiting public resources, erode societal trust and cooperation. Using a representative survey conducted in Spain (N = 2,000, Catalonia) with an embedded experiment that randomly exposed participants to different moral framings, this study examines how such framings shape attitudes towards free riding, including tax evasion, claiming undeserved benefits or stealing a ride. Drawing on Moral Foundations Theory, we test three framings – social order, pro-community altruism and personal autonomy – based on alignment with Authority, Loyalty, and Liberty moral intuitions, respectively. Results indicate that framing cooperation as a matter of social order significantly reduces justification of free riding, while appeals to pro-community altruism have a weaker but still negative effect. Contrary to expectations, the personal autonomy framing does not increase tolerance for free riding, suggesting limited persuasive power in this context. Mediation analysis indicates that collective orientation functions as a central pathway linking moral framing and attitudes toward free riding. Moderation analysis reveals that political ideology and, to a lesser extent, institutional trust, condition the effects on collective orientation, with right-leaning and low-trust individuals demonstrating greater differences under social order framing as compared to control condition. These findings underscore the role of moral narratives in shaping attitudes toward free riding, with implications for public messaging and policy interventions.

From Internalized Equality to Tolerance Towards Others: Self-Respect Predicts Tolerance for Minority Groups in Serbia and Syria

Daniela Renger, Ali Mosa, Stefano Passini — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Prior research has shown that self-respect (i.e., a person’s belief of possessing the same rights as others) predicted concern for others’ rights (in terms of positive attitudes towards human rights) and a generally tolerant attitude towards dissenting others. In this research, we go beyond prior research and investigate whether self-respect is associated with tolerance towards minority groups in countries where socio-political (and religious) tensions existing between majority and minority groups are relatively high. For this purpose, we asked Serbians (N = 194) and Syrians (N = 313) to fill out questionnaires including measures of self-respect, tolerance towards three different minority groups (an ethnic, a religious, and a sexual minority) and respective disapproval measures, and tested a hypothesized structural equation model. We found that self-respect predicted tolerance towards Roma, Muslims, and homosexuals in Serbia and towards Palestinian refugees and Christians in Syria. In Syria, no relation was found with tolerance for homosexuals, but statistical variance was limited. We discuss our findings and the limits of self-respect as a predictor of tolerance in the context of highly disapproved outgroups and highlight the overall potential of self-respect for fostering a concern for own and others’ rights and duties.

‘Left-Wing Authoritarianism’ as Situated Rhetoric: Delegitimizing the Political Left in Statements of Greek Right-Wing Politicians on ‘X’

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Soon after the publication of The Authoritarian Personality, scholars advanced the argument that authoritarianism may also be encountered in the political left, fueling a scientific debate that is far from resolved. Adopting a critical discursive social psychology perspective, we analyzed 3,500 X posts shared by Nea Dimokratia (ND) MPs (Greek political right) between 2018-2024, documenting how conservative politicians mobilize a Left-Wing Authoritarianism (LWA) interpretative repertoire. This repertoire is built around the representational modalities of ‘localized political exceptionalism’, ‘extended ideological contamination’, and ‘state authoritarianism in practice’ and informs three argumentative lines. In the first, the Greek political left is constructed as a local exception to the universal left-wing ideology by, allegedly, adopting practices that deviate from democratic values. The second draws upon a broader representation of LWA, associating the Greek political left with international political figures and practices constructed as prototypical left-wing authoritarian examples. The third equates the 2015-2019 left-wing-led SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government with authoritarian deep-state practices, constructing SYRIZA as a persistent threat to democratic norms, while positioning ND as the defender of institutional integrity. The flexible construction of the Greek political left as both aligning with and deviating from generic left-wing ideology works in the direction of delegitimating the political left locally and globally. Through such constructions, the SYRIZA-ANEL government is portrayed as emblematic of authoritarianism, while ND is positioned as a sound anti-extremist democratic force. The paper discusses how LWA repertoire functions rhetorically and ideologically to police democratic boundaries, delegitimize political adversaries, and justify socio-exclusionary politics as depoliticized.