Gulnaz Anjum
University of Oslo, Department of Psychology, Faculty Member
- I am working as an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo. My research areas include... moreI am working as an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Oslo. My research areas include social, cultural, political, and environmental psychology. My work is fairly cross-cultural and focuses on social inequalities cross-culturally (Canada, Germany, Pakistan, South Korea, UK, and the USA). I have received many fellowships and research grants as a principal investigator including IDRC, Max Planck, Fulbright, IIE, and HEC. My current projects explore themes related to rapid migrations, changing social identities, and the psychological and socio-political impacts of urbanization.
Website: https://www.sv.uio.no/psi/personer/vit/gulnaza/index.htmledit
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Political Violence and Terrorism, Political Extremism/Radicalism/Populism, Radicalization, and 8 moreMediation, Medicine, Relative Deprivation, Islamist politics and national identity, Right Wing Extremism, Psychological Science, Socail Psychology, and Group-based deprivation
Radicalization—as a complex process of adopting extremist attitudes—includes maladaptive responses to the transformative power of globalization. Globalization contains sociocultural disruptive and acculturative processes, initiating... more
Radicalization—as a complex process of adopting extremist attitudes—includes maladaptive responses to the transformative power of globalization. Globalization contains sociocultural disruptive and acculturative processes, initiating exclusionary and integrative reactions. These reactions have dissimilarly been associated with aspects of extremism. In seven preregistered studies ( N = 2,161), we draw on various methods combining naturalistic circumstances, cross-sectional, longitudinal, experimental, and representative data to scrutinize the complex globalization–radicalization nexus within the contexts of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Pakistan. Our results provide empirical support for the hypothesis that insecure life attachment (i.e., experience of contextual safety, inclusiveness, reliability, fairness, and facilitating well-being) and globalization perceived as a threat can lead to extremism through defensive reactions to globalization. Specifically, we found ethnic protection to be a central mechanism connecting sociocultural disruption and threats with extremism. Globalized radicalization ascends as a contemporary phenomenon reflecting the dark side of global interconnectivity.
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Understanding the psychological processes that drive violent extremism is a pressing global issue. Across six studies, we demonstrate that perceived cultural threats lead to violent extremism because they increase people’s need for... more
Understanding the psychological processes that drive violent extremism is a pressing global issue. Across six studies, we demonstrate that perceived cultural threats lead to violent extremism because they increase people’s need for cognitive closure (NFC). In general population samples (from Denmark, Afghanistan, Pakistan, France, and an international sample) and a sample of former Mujahideen in Afghanistan, single-level and multilevel mediation analyses revealed that NFC mediated the association between perceived cultural threats and violent extremist outcomes. Further, in comparisons between the sample of former Afghan Mujahideen and the general population sample from Afghanistan following the known-group paradigm, the former Mujahideen scored significantly higher on cultural threat, NFC, and violent extremist outcomes. Moreover, the proposed model successfully differentiated former Afghan Mujahideen participants from the general Afghan participants. Next, two preregistered experiments provided causal support for the model. Experimentally manipulating the predictor (cultural threat) in Pakistan led to higher scores on the mediator (NFC) and dependent variables (violent extremist outcomes). Finally, an experiment conducted in France demonstrated the causal effect of the mediator (NFC) on violent extremist outcomes. Two internal meta-analyses using state-of-the-art methods (i.e., meta-analytic structural equation modeling and pooled indirect effects analyses) further demonstrated the robustness of our results across the different extremist outcomes, designs, populations, and settings. Cultural threat perceptions seem to drive violent extremism by eliciting a need for cognitive closure.
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Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Social Psychology, Anger, Social Identity, and 15 moreCollective Action, Political Violence and Terrorism, Religious Extremism, Interdisciplinary research (Social Sciences), Social identity theory, Psychological Intervention, Cross cultural studies, Muslim identity, Injustice, Group-Based Emotions, Radicalization and Extremism, Group based Emotion, Islamist extremism, Violent Intentions, and perceived injustice
In most democratic developing countries, including Pakistan, a crucial and still least prioritised domain is reforms in the status of women’s rights. As reflected in the rankings provided by The Gender Gap Index Report (World Economic... more
In most democratic developing countries, including Pakistan, a crucial and still least prioritised domain is reforms in the status of women’s rights. As reflected in the rankings provided by The Gender Gap Index Report (World Economic Forum 2016), Pakistan stands second from the bottom among 144 countries. There are many organisations and programmes at the international and national level that are trying to influence the challenged countries to improve women’s rights policies and practices including the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); Pakistan’s commitment to meeting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW). The impact of national and international endorsement of the policies intended to improve women’s rights in Pakistan was explored in this survey. The survey was designed to see under which conditions, respondents would support policies focusing on wom...
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on... more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data.
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Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment ( n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested... more
Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment ( n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges.
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Understanding the psychological processes that drive violent extremism is a pressing global issue. Across six studies, we demonstrate that perceived cultural threats lead to violent extremism because they increase people’s need for... more
Understanding the psychological processes that drive violent extremism is a pressing global issue. Across six studies, we demonstrate that perceived cultural threats lead to violent extremism because they increase people’s need for cognitive closure (NFC). In general population samples (from Denmark, Afghanistan, Pakistan, France, and an international sample) and a sample of former Mujahideen in Afghanistan, single-level and multilevel mediation analyses revealed that NFC mediated the association between perceived cultural threats and violent extremist outcomes. Further, in comparisons between the sample of former Afghan Mujahideen and the general population sample from Afghanistan following the known-group paradigm, the former Mujahideen scored significantly higher on cultural threat, NFC, and violent extremist outcomes. Moreover, the proposed model successfully differentiated former Afghan Mujahideen participants from the general Afghan participants. Next, two preregistered experi...
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The terror spread by the war disrupts lives and severs families, leaving individuals and communities devastated. People are left to fend for themselves on multiple levels, especially psychologically. It is well documented that war... more
The terror spread by the war disrupts lives and severs families, leaving individuals and communities devastated. People are left to fend for themselves on multiple levels, especially psychologically. It is well documented that war adversely affects non-combatant civilians, both physically and psychologically. However, how the war puts civilians’ lives in a limbo is an under-researched area. This paper focuses on three aspects: (1) how the mental health and well-being of Ukrainian civilians, asylum seekers, and refugees are affected by the war caused limbo; (2) what factors affect this process of being stuck in the limbo of war; and (3) how psychologists and helpers in the war-ridden and host countries can provide meaningful support. Based on the authors’ own practical work with Ukrainian civilians, refugees, and professional helpers during the war, this paper provides an overview of multi-level factors that impact human psyches in a war, and possible ways to help those who are livin...
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on... more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate ...
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Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in less egalitarian countries, reflecting these countries’ more pronounced sex-based power divisions. Conversely, evolutionary and self-construal... more
Social role theory posits that binary gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in less egalitarian countries, reflecting these countries’ more pronounced sex-based power divisions. Conversely, evolutionary and self-construal theorists suggest that gender gaps in agency and communion should be larger in more egalitarian countries, reflecting the greater autonomy support and flexible self-construction processes present in these countries. Using data from 62 countries ( N = 28,640), we examine binary gender gaps in agentic and communal self-views as a function of country-level objective gender equality (the Global Gender Gap Index) and subjective distributions of social power (the Power Distance Index). Findings show that in more egalitarian countries, gender gaps in agency are smaller and gender gaps in communality are larger. These patterns are driven primarily by cross-country differences in men’s self-views and by the Power Distance Index (PDI) more robustly than the Gl...
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The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of the mothers raising an autistic child, the struggles they faced, the misconceptions they had, the factors that altered their mental framework in effectively managing their child... more
The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of the mothers raising an autistic child, the struggles they faced, the misconceptions they had, the factors that altered their mental framework in effectively managing their child and their condition. 7 Detailed semi structured interviews of mothers raising a child with autism, were conducted to develop a better understanding of their situation and the factors that affected them. A phenomenological methodology was used to uncover the lived experiences of these mothers. Results revealed the existence of 7 distinct themes that provided insight into the real experience of a mother raising a child with autism. Themes focused on the mothers mental frameworks, which included denial of red flags, mother-researcher, emotional paradox, cognitive processing, indicating the thought patterns and emotional processes the mother used in dealing with her child. Moreover themes such as Family dynamics, Societal micro-aggression, medical resis...
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This dissertation attempts to advance our understanding of honor in two respects. First, it outlines a theoretical framework of honor that is more comprehensive than previous approaches. This theory focuses on group processes that... more
This dissertation attempts to advance our understanding of honor in two respects. First, it outlines a theoretical framework of honor that is more comprehensive than previous approaches. This theory focuses on group processes that regulate issues of honor in various social groups. In a nutshell, honor is the public image of members of an honor group that is derived by adherence to an honor code. The failure to adhere to such code leads to the loss of honor, attracts negative reactions such as contempt by fellow honor group members, and may enhance tendencies to demonstrate one‟s own wroth as a member of the honor group. This approach is consistent with previous research on honor. However, it also shows further less explored areas of research on honor. Second, this dissertation, in two empirical lines of research explores new directions in research on honor. The first line demonstrates that the adherence to versus violation of an honor code is decisive for the assignment of honor by ...
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The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior,... more
The COVID-19 pandemic (and its aftermath) highlights a critical need to communicate health information effectively to the global public. Given that subtle differences in information framing can have meaningful effects on behavior, behavioral science research highlights a pressing question: Is it more effective to frame COVID-19 health messages in terms of potential losses (e.g., “If you do not practice these steps, you can endanger yourself and others”) or potential gains (e.g., “If you practice these steps, you can protect yourself and others”)? Collecting data in 48 languages from 15,929 participants in 84 countries, we experimentally tested the effects of message framing on COVID-19-related judgments, intentions, and feelings. Loss- (vs. gain-) framed messages increased self-reported anxiety among participants cross-nationally with little-to-no impact on policy attitudes, behavioral intentions, or information seeking relevant to pandemic risks. These results were consistent acros...
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The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive... more
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion regulation strategy which modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries/regions (N = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vs. both control conditions) had consistent effects in reducing negative emotions and increasing positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viab...
Pakistan is home to diverse geographies of land displacement, which are accelerating in an era of rapid urban development. This paper summarises the findings and recommendations from a 28-month research project which charts-for the first... more
Pakistan is home to diverse geographies of land displacement, which are accelerating in an era of rapid urban development. This paper summarises the findings and recommendations from a 28-month research project which charts-for the first time-the contemporary context of land displacement in urban Pakistan, through the lens of its largest city, Karachi. At least 62% of Karachi's residents live in 'katchi abadis', or informal settlements, a majority of which are situated on public land owned by a variety of local, federal and provincial institutions. 1 Many of these have existed since Pakistan's independence, so they vary in their level of 'regularisation'.
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This paper explores the role of organizational culture in the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and yielding work engagement among public and private sector managers. Results reveal that organizational culture confers employees... more
This paper explores the role of organizational culture in the satisfaction of basic psychological needs and yielding work engagement among public and private sector managers. Results reveal that organizational culture confers employees with a sense of relatedness which promotes work engagement. Additionally, the study suggests that female managers have a higher need for relatedness, the satisfaction of all basic psychological needs is significantly higher among private sector employees and work satisfaction increases with increasing job level. This study can be used for the development of organizational culture to improve relatedness among employees with respect to gender and the type of the organization.
Research Interests: Business and Psychology
As we brace ourselves for the Covid-19 epidemic in Pakistan, we are being told to wash our hands and self-isolate. What if you are unable to do any of these things? According to the Census 2017, Pakistan's population is 207.8... more
As we brace ourselves for the Covid-19 epidemic in Pakistan, we are being told to wash our hands and self-isolate. What if you are unable to do any of these things? According to the Census 2017, Pakistan's population is 207.8 million with an urban share of 75.6 million. The United Nations asserts that in 2015, 45.5% of Pakistan's urban population was living in informal settlements. Thus, an estimated 34 million people in Pakistan live in katchi abadis or urban informal settlements, where water is scarce for the most basic of needs. In Karachi — a city of over 16 million — approximately 60% of the population lives in informal settlements with limited or no access to clean water and sanitation. Let us compare this — for a moment — with countries being devastated by Covid-19. For example, Italy and Spain, where there is almost universal access to clean water, sanitation, soap and antibacterial gels. Even with their comparatively tiny populations, the virus has spread and killed at a pace no one could imagine. So with northern health systems on the brink of collapse, will the spread of Covid-19 in Pakistan bring urban informal settlements to the frontline of the crisis?
This project aims at exploring the key psychological factors associated with Positive Affective Well-being (PAW) and Negative Affective Well-being (NAW) of university students during the initial phases of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)... more
This project aims at exploring the key psychological factors associated with Positive Affective Well-being (PAW) and Negative Affective Well-being (NAW) of university students during the initial phases of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Pakistan. Specifically, it explores the association between Media Consumption, Governmental Distrust, and Psychological Vulnerability on positive and negative affective well-being. It hypothesizes that Media Consumption and Governmental Distrust will PAW but not NAW. Secondly, it predicts that Psychological Vulnerability predicts PAW and NAW.
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-jcc-10.1177_0022022121997997 for Psychometric Properties and Correlates of Precarious Manhood Beliefs in 62 Nations by Jennifer K. Bosson, Paweł Jurek, Joseph A. Vandello, Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka,... more
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-jcc-10.1177_0022022121997997 for Psychometric Properties and Correlates of Precarious Manhood Beliefs in 62 Nations by Jennifer K. Bosson, Paweł Jurek, Joseph A. Vandello, Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka, Michał Olech, Tomasz Besta, Michael Bender, Vera Hoorens, Maja Becker, A. Timur Sevincer, Deborah L. Best, Saba Safdar, Anna Włodarczyk, Magdalena Zawisza, Magdalena Żadkowska, Sami Abuhamdeh, Collins Badu Agyemang, Gülçin Akbaş, Nihan Albayrak-Aydemir, Soline Ammirati, Joel Anderson, Gulnaz Anjum, Amarina Ariyanto, John Jamir Benzon R. Aruta, Mujeeba Ashraf, Aistė Bakaitytė, Chiara Bertolli, Dashamir Bërxulli, Chongzeng Bi, Katharina Block, Mandy Boehnke, Renata Bongiorno, Janine Bosak, Annalisa Casini, Qingwei Chen, Peilian Chi, Vera Cubela Adoric, Serena Daalmans, Justine Dandy, Soledad de Lemus, Sandesh Dhakal, Nikolay Dvorianchikov, Sonoko Egami, Edgardo Etchezahar, Carla Sofia Esteves, Neto Felix, Laura Froehlich, Efrain Garcia-Sanchez, Alin Gavr...
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-gpi-10.1177_1368430220920929 for The role of Muslim identity in predicting violent behavioural intentions to defend Muslims by Milan Obaidi, Gulnaz Anjum, Joanna Lindström, Robin Bergh, Elif Celebi and... more
Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-gpi-10.1177_1368430220920929 for The role of Muslim identity in predicting violent behavioural intentions to defend Muslims by Milan Obaidi, Gulnaz Anjum, Joanna Lindström, Robin Bergh, Elif Celebi and Merve Baykal in Group Processes & Intergroup Relations
In the past two decades of intensified mega-infrastructural and urban development projects in Karachi, an estimated 600,000 urban poor, low-income, working class and marginalized communities have been displaced with less than 33 percent... more
In the past two decades of intensified mega-infrastructural and urban development projects in Karachi, an estimated 600,000 urban poor, low-income, working class and marginalized communities have been displaced with less than 33 percent of them receiving any form of resettlement or cash compensation. This report documents how land is governed and acquired for infrastructure and urban development projects; how land displacements impact people’s lives and their communities; and how people resist displacement in Pakistan's largest metropolis. The findings emerge from a 24-month project covering 16 study sites in Karachi, called Land, Governance & the Gendered Politics of Displacement in Urban Pakistan, and funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). What makes this present moment of land displacements and struggles particularly complex, is the interlocking of emergent neoliberal policies with colonial genealogies of managing and appropriating land, as well as post-Partition legacies of housing crisis and land informalization that dovetail today with the emergence of the courts as key sites of urban planning and governance in a bid to restore law and order in the city. The research covered three case studies of displacement: people living in fear of displacement as in the case of the Karachi Circular Railway informal settlements; those who were resettled after displacement but face new vulnerabilities as in the case of Lyari Basti, Taiser Town; and those who are displaced and relegated to an endless period of waiting as in the case of Salai Para, in Hasan Auliya Village, Lyari. We used an embedded, triangulated research method, including 670 household surveys, 30 in depth interviews, numerous focus group discussions, community workshops, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping, analysis of media and secondary data, and court cases. Displacements have severe consequences: loss of home, livelihoods, community, and social networks; engendering a permanent state of anxiety and uncertainty; increasing physical, social, and environmental vulnerabilities; compounding gender inequalities; and irrevocably damaging social and economic mobility. These effects are especially pernicious because displacement is not a one-time event. Displacement is an intensely traumatic and violent experience with differentiated impacts on men and women, and the wellbeing related consequences for those who have experienced displacement or are at risk of losing their land. The report also charts the complex, evolving and rich terrain of solidarities, protests, and grassroots activism that is gradually shaping resistance against land displacements in Karachi. We place this complex process of resistance in shifting atmospheres of hope, and expectation that can quickly dissolve into despair and waiting. These shifts epitomize the extensive labors of ordinary women and men who come together in given moments, to forge connections in their common struggles to achieve the same goal. The contestations and conflicts over displacement demonstrate how the right to land as a right to citizenship, remains differentiated and unacknowledged by the Pakistani state. With future displacements anticipated in the context of new urban planning, infrastructure development, and disaster risk management interventions in Karachi, we offer recommendations for addressing the exclusions that arise from land displacement, and place these in the broader context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Supplemental material, ObaidiOpenPracticesDisclosure for Group-Based Relative Deprivation Explains Endorsement of Extremism Among Western-Born Muslims by Milan Obaidi, Robin Bergh, Nazar Akrami and Gulnaz Anjum in Psychological Science
Supplemental material, ObaidiSupplementalMaterial for Group-Based Relative Deprivation Explains Endorsement of Extremism Among Western-Born Muslims by Milan Obaidi, Robin Bergh, Nazar Akrami and Gulnaz Anjum in Psychological Science
This research explored how an ethics of care is practised in a communitarian society in Karachi, Pakistan. To this end 24 participants were interviewed, 12 males and 12 females aged between 19 and ...
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Research Interests: Business and Psychology
This research explores the reoccurring conflict of speculations and explanations among social scientists regarding why people do charity or behave generously. Our participants were 256 subjects, 34% males and 65.2 % females. Based on a... more
This research explores the reoccurring conflict of speculations and explanations among social scientists regarding why people do charity or behave generously. Our participants were 256 subjects, 34% males and 65.2 % females. Based on a donation task we elicit the most honorable member in a group of four participants. This participant receives a substantial monetary reward and recognition as the most generous donor in the group. An unannounced subsequent phase confronts the honor participant with the task of a single contributor in a best-shot trust game. Without knowing what this honor participant has contributed, the three other participants independently compensate the contributor. We view the contribution level as measuring honor and compensations as measuring respect of honor. With the help of these choice data and additional information from the initial phase as well as from post experimental questionnaires , we assess whether respect of honor reacts monotonically to contributions and how aspects deciding who is honored influence contribution levels and respective compensations. Treatments vary in the (non) linearity of contribution costs. In both treatments we find that honor participants contribute generously to increase their group's welfare, even at the cost of their own profit. Honor participants seem to care for their role and justify their entitlement to this position. Other participants reward respect to honor participants by compensating them.
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Substance abuse can incur significant costs for the society. Around 6.9 million adults were estimated to be addicted to illicit drugs in 2013. Adolescents constitute the most vulnerable segment of the population in this regard. Although... more
Substance abuse can incur significant costs for the society. Around 6.9 million adults were estimated to be addicted to illicit drugs in 2013. Adolescents constitute the most vulnerable segment of the population in this regard. Although the number of drug addicts has been rising substantially, an adequate supply of qualified counseling psychologists and mental health professionals for their treatment is still unavailable. Therefore, this research was undertaken to explore the crucial aspects from counselors’ perspective. This mixed method study focused on the effectiveness of these clinical professionals in treating substance abuse patients in Karachi. The qualitative research design used in this study was based on phenomenological interviews. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted with professional counselors and clinical psychologists currently working with substance abuse patients. Data was categorized into different themes and significant aspects of the phenomenological e...
The current study was conducted to study the gender differences in the perception of commission of infidelity, the most distressing form of infidelity, and guilt feelings related to infidelity. Causes, approval, and consequences of... more
The current study was conducted to study the gender differences in the perception of commission of infidelity, the most distressing form of infidelity, and guilt feelings related to infidelity. Causes, approval, and consequences of emotional and sexual infidelity among married men and women were also examined. Initially, hypothetical scenarios (Buss, Larsen, Westen, and Semmelroth, 1992) which were culturally modified were used to collect data from 300 married participants. Results showed that men perceived to commit sexual infidelity more than women, whereas, women perceived to commit emotional infidelity more than men. Men perceived sexual infidelity and women perceived emotional infidelity to be the most distressing form of infidelity. Moreover, men did not perceive guilt in response to any kind of infidelity, whereas, women perceived guilt in response to both kinds of infidelity. Men perceived both emotional and sexual dissatisfaction to be the causes of infidelity, whereas, wom...
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Explorer le role de la culture dans l’objectivation sexuelle: Une etude dans sept paysL’objectification sexuelle – la tendance a voir ou a traiter une personne comme un objet sexuel – a ete l’objet de nombreuses etudes. Sur la base de... more
Explorer le role de la culture dans l’objectivation sexuelle: Une etude dans sept paysL’objectification sexuelle – la tendance a voir ou a traiter une personne comme un objet sexuel – a ete l’objet de nombreuses etudes. Sur la base de l’importance reconnue du facteur culturel dans le phenomene d’objectification, ce papier s’interesse a la mesure dans laquelle les hommes et femmes de differentes regions du monde s’auto-objectivent et objectivent autrui. Nous avons explore cette question aupres de 588 personnes provenant de sept pays differents (i.e., Australie, Inde, Italie, Japon, Pakistan, Royaume-Uni et Etats-Unis). Les resultats revelent que la culture influence l’auto-objectivation et l’objectivation d’autrui, avec davantage d’objectivation en Australie, Italie, Royaume-Uni et aux Etats-Unis en comparaison avec l’Inde, le Japon et le Pakistan. Ces resultats corroborent les theories soutenant que la culture est un facteur important lorsque l’on considere l’objectivation. Les pist...
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Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested... more
Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e. a controlling message) compared to no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly-internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message reduced feelings of defiance relative to the controlling message. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly-internalized form of motivation relying on one’s...
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This paper explores physical, psychological, social, and institutional vulnerabilities associated with slow-onset events (SoEs) of climate change. Based on review of interdisciplinary research in the context of Pakistan, this paper... more
This paper explores physical, psychological, social, and institutional vulnerabilities associated with slow-onset events (SoEs) of climate change. Based on review of interdisciplinary research in the context of Pakistan, this paper reviews the relevance of multi-level vulnerabilities and how they exacerbate impacts of SoEs of climate change. The physical vulnerabilities of climate change have been relatively well researched; however, research on the psychological, social, and institutional vulnerabilities and their intersectional associations with SoEs have been rare. Therefore, this review highlights the need for understanding multi-level vulnerabilities of high-risk groups in Pakistan. This paper emphasizes the need to work with an integrated approach for vulnerabilities of marginalized subgroups such as gender (women’s marginalized status), socio-economic status (lower SES), displacement history, and migration background. Finally, we propose the need for inclusive policy building sensitive to the demands of vulnerable groups in Karachi and elsewhere in Pakistan. We hope that this multilevel and inclusive framework has the potential to guide practitioners, and especially those who are least prepared for the slow-onset events of climate change.
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Precarious manhood beliefs portray manhood, relative to womanhood, as a social status that is hard to earn, easy to lose, and proven via public action. Here, we present cross-cultural data on a brief measure of precarious manhood beliefs... more
Precarious manhood beliefs portray manhood, relative to womanhood, as a social status that is hard to earn, easy to lose, and proven via public action. Here, we present cross-cultural data on a brief measure of precarious manhood beliefs (the Precarious Manhood Beliefs scale [PMB]) that covaries meaningfully with other cross-culturally validated gender ideologies and with country-level indices of gender equality and human development. Using data from university samples in 62 countries across 13 world regions ( N = 33,417), we demonstrate: (1) the psychometric isomorphism of the PMB (i.e., its comparability in meaning and statistical properties across the individual and country levels); (2) the PMB’s distinctness from, and associations with, ambivalent sexism and ambivalence toward men; and (3) associations of the PMB with nation-level gender equality and human development. Findings are discussed in terms of their statistical and theoretical implications for understanding widely-held...
Research Interests: Psychology, Cognitive Science, Social Psychology, Gender Studies, Cultural Psychology, and 10 moreHuman Development, Gender Equality, Manhood, Ambivalent Sexism, Gender ideology, Cross Cultural Psychology, Cross cultural studies, Womanhood, Precarious Manhood Beliefs scale [PMB], and Psychometric Isomorphism
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The United Nations is one of the organizations charged with developing and promoting international human rights law. One of the primary ways that the United Nations tries to do that is by regularly reviewing the human rights practices of... more
The United Nations is one of the organizations charged with developing and promoting international human rights law. One of the primary ways that the United Nations tries to do that is by regularly reviewing the human rights practices of member states and then recommending new policies for that state to implement. Although this expends considerable resources, a number of obstacles have made it difficult to empirically assess whether the UN’s review process actually causes countries to improve their human rights practices. To study this topic, we conducted an experiment in Pakistan that tested whether respondents were more likely to support policies aimed at improving women’s rights when they learned that the reforms were proposed by the United Nations. Our results indicate that the respondents who were randomly informed of the United Nations endorsement not only expressed higher support for the policy reforms, but also were more likely to express willingness to ‘mobilize’ in ways th...
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This study was aimed at exploring the role of Fulbright program in building perception about U.S. and Americans among Pakistani Fulbright scholars. While a host of theory and research had been growing on contact theory (Allport, 1954;... more
This study was aimed at exploring the role of Fulbright program in building perception about U.S. and Americans among Pakistani Fulbright scholars. While a host of theory and research had been growing on contact theory (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008), application of contact hypothesis to cultural exchange programs based on foreign policy intended to develop peace and affective ties between nations has been limited. Specifically, this research gap was filled by this study that focused on the impact of direct contact on perception and image of the U.S. in the context of the U.S. and Pakistan Fulbright program. Pakistani Fulbright scholars (81 men, 67 women; Mean age = 23 years; Range = 21-29 years), with low-contact and high-contact were compared with respect to their perceptions of a prototypical American and the United States as an international entity. Compared to participants with low-contact (n = 52), participants with high-contact (n = 96) had developed a higher positiv...
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Pakistan is home to diverse geographies of land displacement, which are accelerating in an era of rapid urban development. This paper summarises the findings and recommendations from a 28-month research project which charts-for the first... more
Pakistan is home to diverse geographies of land displacement, which are accelerating in an era of rapid urban development. This paper summarises the findings and recommendations from a 28-month research project which charts-for the first time-the contemporary context of land displacement in urban Pakistan, through the lens of its largest city, Karachi. At least 62% of Karachi's residents live in 'katchi abadis', or informal settlements, a majority of which are situated on public land owned by a variety of local, federal and provincial institutions. 1 Many of these have existed since Pakistan's independence, so they vary in their level of 'regularisation'.
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In the past two decades of intensified mega-infrastructural and urban development projects in Karachi, an estimated 600,000 urban poor, low-income, working class and marginalized communities have been displaced with less than 33 percent... more
In the past two decades of intensified mega-infrastructural and urban development projects in Karachi, an estimated 600,000 urban poor, low-income, working class and marginalized communities have been displaced with less than 33 percent of them receiving any form of resettlement or cash compensation. This report documents how land is governed and acquired for infrastructure and urban development projects; how land displacements impact people’s lives and their communities; and how people resist displacement in Pakistan's largest metropolis. The findings emerge from a 24-month project covering 16 study sites in Karachi, called Land, Governance & the Gendered Politics of Displacement in Urban Pakistan, and funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). What makes this present moment of land displacements and struggles particularly complex, is the interlocking of emergent neoliberal policies with colonial genealogies of managing and appropriating land, as well as post-Partition legacies of housing crisis and land informalization that dovetail today with the emergence of the courts as key sites of urban planning and governance in a bid to restore law and order in the city. Land displacements have severe consequences: loss of home, livelihoods, community, and social networks; engendering a permanent state of anxiety and uncertainty; increasing physical, social, and environmental vulnerabilities; compounding gender inequalities; and irrevocably damaging social and economic mobility. These effects are especially pernicious because displacement is not a one-time event. Displacement is an intensely traumatic and violent experience with differentiated impacts on men and women, and the wellbeing related consequences for those who have experienced displacement or are at risk of losing their land. The report also charts the complex, evolving and rich terrain of solidarities, protests, and grassroots activism that is gradually shaping resistance against land displacements in Karachi. We place this complex process of resistance in shifting atmospheres of hope, and expectation that can quickly dissolve into despair and waiting. These shifts epitomize the extensive labors of ordinary women and men who come together in given moments, to forge connections in their common struggles to achieve the same goal. The contestations and conflicts over displacement demonstrate how the right to land as a right to citizenship, remains differentiated and unacknowledged by the Pakistani state. With future displacements anticipated in the context of new urban planning, infrastructure development, and disaster risk management interventions in Karachi, we offer recommendations for addressing the exclusions that arise from land displacement.