Through the Eye of a Needle: Understanding the Identities of LGBTQ+ Teachers Within Catholic Institutions in the Philippines

The pervasive Catholic culture permeates through the social fabric of the Philippines and exerts unique pressures on Filipinos. This study highlighted the unique experiences of Filipino LGBTQ+ educators of private Catholic schools. Using the grounded theory approach, seven participants who identified as LGBTQ+ and taught in private Catholic schools in the Philippines for a minimum of one year were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews with the participants illustrated that these LGBTQ+ educators had to contend with negotiating their identities while carefully navigating through their work environment. This yielded three key themes: (1) Recognizing the political dimension of private schools, (2) Threading the Needle, and (3) Obtaining and Optimizing Safe Spaces. As a result, the Constricting Contexts Model was proposed to better understand and contextualize such factors and emphasize the role that environments and expectations play into the identities of marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ+ community.

Personal willingness to receive a Covid-19 vaccine and its relationship with intergroup psychology: Evidence from the Philippines and Pakistan

High levels of vaccine hesitancy are an obstacle to the successful management of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this research, we identify psychological correlates of reluctance to personally receive a Covid-19 vaccine, with a focus on intergroup relations. Insights are based on two survey studies conducted in traditionally underresearched settings, the Philippines (N = 289) and Pakistan (N = 275). Results show that trust in vaccines, concerning both the vaccine's efficacy and the vaccine's safety, was associated with willingness to use the vaccine. Perceptions of trust were related to intergroup psychology, such that vaccine donations from political opponents rather than allies were trusted less. This meant that in the Philippines, there was a preference to use vaccines from the United States over those from China, although the pattern was less clear in Pakistan. Having said this, the highest levels of trust and willingness to use vaccines in both countries were for vaccines offered by the World Health Organization (WHO). Last but not least, a perception of global common fate of all humans in the face of the pandemic was positively associated with willingness to get vaccinated, even when controlling for concerns about the vaccine's efficacy and safety. Implications are discussed in relation to intergroup psychology and public health management.

Beyond the 'east-west' dichotomy: Global variation in cultural models of selfhood

Markus and Kitayama's (1991) theory of independent and interdependent self-construals had a major influence on social, personality, and developmental psychology by highlighting the role of culture in psychological processes. However, research has relied excessively on contrasts between North American and East Asian samples, and commonly used self-report measures of independence and interdependence frequently fail to show predicted cultural differences. We revisited the conceptualization and measurement of independent and interdependent self-construals in 2 large-scale multinational surveys, using improved methods for cross-cultural research. We developed (Study 1: N = 2924 students in 16 nations) and validated across cultures (Study 2: N = 7279 adults from 55 cultural groups in 33 nations) a new 7-dimensional model of self-reported ways of being independent or interdependent. Patterns of global variation support some of Markus and Kitayama's predictions, but a simple contrast between independence and interdependence does not adequately capture the diverse models of selfhood that prevail in different world regions. Cultural groups emphasize different ways of being both independent and interdependent, depending on individualism-collectivism, national socioeconomic development, and religious heritage. Our 7-dimensional model will allow future researchers to test more accurately the implications of cultural models of selfhood for psychological processes in diverse ecocultural contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record