Beskrivning
My name is Sima Wolgast. I took my license in clinical psychology 2007. After graduation, I worked as a clinician a couple of years, before engaging in social psychological research. 2013 I began my doctoral studies in a project about discrimination in the labor market. The recent years have been quite an adventurous time, were I in many ways feel re-educated, but at the same time have deepened my knowledge about the human mind. My previous understanding has been extended, from intra-individual processes, where the focus has foremost been to help individuals to functionally approach their stressful cognitions and behaviors, to an increased understanding of intra- and intergroup relations. Unsurprisingly, clinical psychologists and social psychologists study similar processes but in different contexts and relations. We are for example quite often, both in an individual sphere and in social contexts, influenced by the effects of negatively reinforced avoidance behaviors. We tend to arrange our behaviors in order to avoid threats, real ones or made up ones. We also like to take shortcuts instead of making more complex analyses. These two traits make us vulnerable to both our own pathology and societal pathologies, such as discrimination. Discrimination is serious problem which may often involve dehumanization and rights violation. In order to combat it one has to make it visible and to suggest solutions. I hope that my thesis can be a contribution to understanding and counteracting discriminatory practices in the labor market.
