This paper examines the concept of conflict- and war-related hatred as a multifaceted construct. Drawing upon various theoretical frameworks, we hypothesized that hatred in the context of conflict and war would encompass five distinct dimensions: Groupthink (Contagious Hatred), Destructiveness, Exposure, Chronicity, and Extreme-Severe Affect. To empirically validate this conceptual framework, we conducted a second-order factor analysis using data from 709 questionnaire responses collected from citizens in the Gaza Strip. The findings revealed that the optimal model comprises three primary constructs: Contagious Hatred, Chronicity, and Extreme- Severe Affect. Based on these results, we argue that collective existential threats in contexts of protracted conflict and war amplify groupthink, foster a sense of chronicity, and evoke intense negative affect. These findings underscore the complexity of hatred as a psychological and social phenomenon in conflict zones. Show less

The formation of narratives while listening to music is seen across cultures, but narrative perception in Asian Americans who have bicultural identities is not well understood. This study analyzed the potential effect of cultural identity on adolescents’ ability to form narratives with East Asian music. Two groups of adolescents (n=42), Asian American (n=28) and Non-Asian American (n=14), listened to three music excerpts with varying degrees of Asian and Western influences. The most Asian-influenced excerpt was a Gugak Korean traditional piece titled T’ungae sanjo, performed on traditional Korean folk instruments and creating a distinctly East Asian sound. The Mixed excerpt, containing both Western and Asian influences, was from Tan Dun’s Eight Memories in Watercolor. It contained a Chinese folk melody while being performed on a Western instrument. Finally, the most Western-influenced excerpt was from Toru Takemitsu’s Rain Tree Sketch. The piece contained octatonicism, a musical technique prominent in modern Western composers’ works. Participants completed a survey containing a free response question where they described their imagined narratives and a survey containing 4 questions measuring narrative engagement. Chi-square tests, t-tests, and reflexive thematic analysis were used to yield the results from the data collected. Results demonstrated that the extent of narrativization was dependent on enculturation. Asian Americans, with their bicultural identities, demonstrated consistent narrativization across all excerpts. In contrast, non-Asian Americans narrativized significantly less for the traditional Asian excerpt. Within the free responses, both cohorts identified similar themes with the Western-influenced music, as they have had overlapping exposure to Western culture leading to shared thought patterns. However, there was substantial thematic variability between cohorts with the Asian-influenced music, as the two cohorts had different levels of exposure to Asian culture. This study thus reinforces the notion that enculturation has a profound effect on narrativization in music, demonstrated through Asian American adolescents’ abilities to narrativize to music containing both Asian and Western roots. Show less

It is proposed that the human soul is a manifestation of a soul field consisting of a collection of quantum-like fields. The soul field interacts with the electromagnetic field, manifested by photons interacting with the quanta of the soul field. Evidence for this comes from near-death experiences where reported events that could not have been seen through the eyes of the individual are verified. Since bioelectric fields are a type of electromagnetic field, bioelectric fields may also interact with the soul field. This could result in the transfer of information on working memory content to the soul via interactions with bioelectric fields produced by neural ensembles in the human brain. The soul field may also affect neurons on the molecular level in the brain through interactions with bioelectric fields and the recently proposed mechanism of cytoelectric coupling. The human soul is coupled to the body through its interactions with bioelectric fields in the body. Manifestations of the quantum-like fields comprising the soul field may carry out different functions such as encoding memories and experiences, representing emotion states, and defining personal identity. Interactions of these fields and their quanta could produce emergent properties such as self-awareness and consciousness. Show less

Honour and shame are central moral constructs within many South Asian communities, yet their psychological internalisation in diasporic contexts remains underexamined. This qualitative study explored how young British South Asian women (aged 18–25; N = 6) understand and negotiate honour in relation to gender, religion, and identity. Semi-structured interviews were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Six interrelated themes illustrated honour as a gendered and relational system sustained through anticipatory shame, behavioural surveillance, and sexual double standards. Participants described internalised self-monitoring, bicultural identity tension, and strategic resistance through selective compliance and religious reinterpretation. We propose that honour and shame in minority diaspora contexts function as a moral-emotional identity-regulation system characterised by anticipatory shame, relational accountability, and boundary maintenance under racialisation. This conceptualisation advances acculturation and bicultural identity frameworks by arguing that moral emotion, particularly anticipatory shame, functions as a primary mechanism of cultural internalisation, rather than merely an outcome of value endorsement. The findings further illuminate how moral surveillance shapes identity negotiation and psychological wellbeing, with implications for culturally responsive community and clinical practice. Show less