A recent study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology unveils a newly developed psychological assessment designed to gauge adherence to principles associated with critical social justice. The assessment's application in a Finnish study sheds light on a notable correlation: a stronger embrace of these "woke" beliefs is linked to increased levels of anxiety and depression.
According to the study, the emergence of critical social justice, which concentrates on recognizing and rectifying systemic inequalities across various identity groups, has sparked conversations across academia, politics, and everyday interactions. This particular approach to social justice, often tied to concepts like intersectionality and antiracism, has garnered praise for acknowledging systemic hurdles faced by marginalized communities, while also facing criticism for its handling of identity and freedom of speech.
Despite the ongoing debate surrounding critical social justice, there has been a distinct lack of empirical data regarding its prevalence and impact.
Acknowledging this gap, the author of the study set out to develop a dependable tool for measuring critical social justice attitudes and to delve into their prevalence and consequences.
The researchers started with a pilot survey of 851 adults, mostly from the University of Turku. After refining their initial assessment tool, they conducted a larger national survey with 5,000 participants. To reach a wider audience, they distributed the survey through Helsingin Sanomat, a major Finnish newspaper.
Their research journey involved thorough exploration of intersectional feminism, critical race theory, queer theory, and other pertinent academic fields that contribute to critical social justice understanding.
"I had been paying attention to a development in American universities, where a new discourse on social justice became prevalent in the 2010s," study author Oskari Lahtinen, a senior researcher at the INVEST Research Flagship Centre at the University of Turku and author of the book Onko mindfulnessista mihinkaan told PsyPost.
"While critical social justice (or intersectional or 'woke') discourse draws mainly from dynamics within American society it has now surfaced in other Western countries as well. The arrival of a critical social justice (often called 'woke') discourse sparked much debate in Finnish media in the last couple of years."
"This debate was largely data-free and it could thus be considered a worthwhile question to study how prevalent these attitudes are. No reliable and valid instrument existed prior to the study to assess the extent and prevalence of these attitudes in different populations, so I set out to develop one."
