Brexit is still very much about how people feel

Way back before the Brexit vote I wrote a post on why I was going to vote to stay in the EU, and how I felt when the vote went the other way. As you imagine, a lot has happened since then – we have had a crazy general election, and we still have no idea what Brexit will look like. But what do people feel about it now?

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Is it time for a Nobel prize in Psychology?

Nobel Prize in Psyhcology

Thaler wins Nobel prize in Psychology Economics

In October 2017 one of the authors of the modern classic ‘Nudge’, economist Richard Thaler, won the Nobel Prize in Economics. But is Thaler really a social psychologist in disguise? And should the discipline get a ‘Nobel-esque’ prize of it’s own? Where is the Nobel prize in Psychology?

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Burkini Bans and the psychology of social identities.

BurqiniThe Psychology of Burkini Bans

A wave of bans across France of Muslim sportswear known as ‘burkinis’ has raised a furore both in France and the rest of the world, and a veritable storm of social media activity . How can we understand this burkini ban from a psychological point of view? And what is the likely result of such a burkini ban for the future?

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I voted to stay and lost. What next Britain?

Where next for Brexit Britain?

This post has a bit less psychology and a bit more opinion on Brexit and our society.

questionmarkI voted to stay, and we lost. That is one side effect of democracy.  In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, half the population of the UK is surprised.  A good chunk of that half is also very angry (I was this morning for sure). Social media today is full of people berating Leave voters for being ‘stupid’, ‘selfish’ or ‘racist’. People need to blow off steam, but they also need to step back and consider what comes next, and who we want to be as a nation.

Many commentators have (and I am sure will continue to) split the in and out voters along broad lines – haves and have nots, urban vs. rural and young versus old. This is simplistic stereotyping at its very worst.  I bet you within a mile of me I can find a young urbinate who voted leave and an old farmer who voted stay.  I can also find bright and not-so-bright people in both camps, and those with strong (and absent) moral compasses too.  We know from social psychology categorising people in this way reduces them to a few basic attributes and removed individual difference. It also fosters negative interactions between groups which increases the likelihood of conflict and makes agreement harder. Be under no illusion we need to avoid this.

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Brexit, history and fish’n’chips?

EUFLAG

Brexit, history and fish’n’chips?

With the Brexit referendum looming I have been thinking a lot about how I will vote. Both camps – for exiting and remaining, can make economic arguments for their position. Both camps can make arguments about the implications for democracy and for the UK as a global power. But what does social psychology say about the Brexit question?

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