Chair: Sharon Coen (University of Salford, United Kingdom)
Authors: Polli Hagenaars (C5, private practice), Mary Beth Kenkel (Florida Institute of Technology), Ling Ling Tai (CIS-iscte), Josephine Tan (Lakehead University), Elaine Oloaye (Brookdale Community College), Ibeh Agbanyim (Grand Canyon University), Elaine Congress (Fordham University), Stephanie Szeto (St. Francis University), Sijohn Joseph (Chaithanya Psychotherapy Center)
Presenters: Polli Hagenaars (C5, private practice), Mary Beth Kenkel (Florida Institute of Technology), Ling Ling Tai (CIS-iscte)
Abstract#
This roundtable discussion – emerging from discussions held in the ICP’s Psychology of Democracy Reading Group – will focus on power dynamics in modern societies and how they affect migrant populations. Understanding power dynamics is essential when reading societal struggles through a psychological lens (Neal & Neal, 2011). These power dynamics also affect psychologist’ approach to – and understanding of – the processes underpinning knowledge production (Fisher, Sonn & Evans, 2007). Like Pratto and Stewart (2021) highlight, however, power is a distinguished construct from that of authority. The assignment of authority often rests on evaluations based on how the individual/s has achieved power. In WEIRD countries, this is often attributed to issues of merit. That is, there is a belief that powerful individuals have become (or remained) so because they deserve it. Powerful individuals therefore represent desirable qualities in a society, while powerless are people who lack these qualities or have undesirable characteristics (Sandel, 2020). This fundamental belief, that underpins much of the current populist rhetoric is often leveraged to glorify what Moghaddam (2019) calls Strongmen, while vilifying refugees and migrants. This dynamic becomes particularly apparent at times of crisis, where populists leverage the rhetoric of scarcity of resources to indicate that migrants and refugees are underserving recipients of the Countries’ scarce resources (Mols and Jetten, 2016). Imagery of ‘invasion,’ as well as language such as ‘the refugee crisis’ further deepen the problem (Goodman, 2007). Participants from the group will discuss implications of such phenomena for interpreting modern trends and their impact on migrants.
Short Abstract#
In light of discussions held in the Psychology and Democracy interest group at ICP, this roundtable aims to unravel the nexus between the perception of migrants and refugees and psychological processes of attribution of power and authority, populism, and meritocracy.
This roundtable took place at the ICP Conference, on the 4th April 2025, at the Erasmus University College, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.