title: It’s time to consider LGBTQ-affirmative psychology in Malaysia

authors: Tan, Kyle K. H.

abstract: International studies have revealed stark mental health inequities affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. While there is increasing awareness of higher prevalence of mental health difficulties among LGBTQ people in Malaysia, this issue has often been viewed through a cisheterosexist (cisgenderism and heterosexism) lens that criminalizes, pathologizes, marginalizes, and/or delegitimizes noncisgender and nonheterosexual forms of identities. Informed by LGBTQ-affirmative psychology, this viewpoint aims to scrutinize the common misconceptions surrounding the living experiences of Malaysian LGBTQ people; these include poor mental health among LGBTQ people, victim-blaming narrative of sexual violence, LGBTQ is a mental illness, and LGBTQ is a Western influence. This viewpoint draws on empirical and theoretical research, as well as international guidelines, to debunk these misconceptions. Recommendations are also provided for psychology practitioners and researchers to embark on the journey to supporting Malaysian LGBTQ people in a culturally safe manner.

text: It’s time to consider LGBTQ-affirmative psychology in Malaysia International studies have revealed stark mental health inequities affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. While there is increasing awareness of higher prevalence of mental health difficulties among LGBTQ people in Malaysia, this issue has often been viewed through a cisheterosexist (cisgenderism and heterosexism) lens that criminalizes, pathologizes, marginalizes, and/or delegitimizes noncisgender and nonheterosexual forms of identities. Informed by LGBTQ-affirmative psychology, this viewpoint aims to scrutinize the common misconceptions surrounding the living experiences of Malaysian LGBTQ people; these include poor mental health among LGBTQ people, victim-blaming narrative of sexual violence, LGBTQ is a mental illness, and LGBTQ is a Western influence. This viewpoint draws on empirical and theoretical research, as well as international guidelines, to debunk these misconceptions. Recommendations are also provided for psychology practitioners and researchers to embark on the journey to supporting Malaysian LGBTQ people in a culturally safe manner.

year: 2021

title: Lying: Strategies to Manage Undesirable Communicative Situations in Japan and New Zealand

authors: Nishimura, Fumiko

subjects: untruthful excuses

abstract: This study explores how Japanese and New Zealand people manage undesirable communicative situations by applying lying strategies, specifically, how they manage refusal situations by using untruthful excuses. Lying is a communicative strategy that people sometimes adopt to manage undesirable situations in everyday conversation. However, previous studies have not focused on what types of lies are employed or how lies are delivered in such situations. In addition, the use of lies is likely to differ among different cultures and this could lead to miscommunication. Thus, it is worthwhile to conduct a cross-cultural study on this topic. The study aims to find out, by focusing on specific situations involving refusals, what types of lies—or untruthful excuses—people use, how lies are employed between different cultural groups, and how culture influences the use of lies in conversation. For this purpose, lies used in refusal conversations—one request-refusal and two invitation-refusal conversations—were analysed within an interactional sociolinguistic framework and by drawing on interpersonal communication theory. The data consisted of role-play conversations performed by 64 pairs of friends (32 Japanese and 32 New Zealanders pairs) in Japanese and English respectively. The following key findings emerged. First, the choice of type of lies differed between the two data sets. The Japanese participants chose lies to demonstrate an unequivocal refusal message, for example, showing strong rejection with a surfeit of reasoning in their excuses. Such lies preclude negotiation and, therefore, the likelihood of further uncertainty or conflict. In this way harmony was maintained. The New Zealand participants followed social protocols to lie, for instance, lying about a prior arrangement with a simple explanation. Negotiation subsequently took place based on the information provided in conversation. Second, the emergent data suggested that culture influenced how lies were perceived. Japanese participants appeared to share an implicit understanding that lies are likely to be used in the refusal situation; by contrast, New Zealand participants acted without this presumption. This interpretation follows from the finding that the Japanese often disregard the information offered in untruthful excuses. The New Zealanders however, treat untruthful excuses as a genuine source of information. Third, Japanese and New Zealand participants tended to apply politeness strategies differently. The Japanese used strong and direct expressions in their lies. These were positive politeness strategies to show closeness to friends or in-group members. The New Zealanders tended not to differentiate between in-group and out-group members and applied similar politeness strategies to everyone. Through a comparative analysis, the study provides new knowledge how Japanese and New Zealanders use different types of lies in a different manner to handle potentially difficult interpersonal communicative situations such as refusals. It also demonstrates that lying is the result of complex, culturally influenced processes: the use of lies is underpinned by cultural preferences and protocols in relation to cultural values, the perception of lying, and communication style. The study has made a strong emphasis on importance of understanding the rationale behind the use of lies particularly for intercultural settings.

text: Lying: Strategies to Manage Undesirable Communicative Situations in Japan and New Zealand This study explores how Japanese and New Zealand people manage undesirable communicative situations by applying lying strategies, specifically, how they manage refusal situations by using untruthful excuses. Lying is a communicative strategy that people sometimes adopt to manage undesirable situations in everyday conversation. However, previous studies have not focused on what types of lies are employed or how lies are delivered in such situations. In addition, the use of lies is likely to differ among different cultures and this could lead to miscommunication. Thus, it is worthwhile to conduct a cross-cultural study on this topic. The study aims to find out, by focusing on specific situations involving refusals, what types of lies—or untruthful excuses—people use, how lies are employed between different cultural groups, and how culture influences the use of lies in conversation. For this purpose, lies used in refusal conversations—one request-refusal and two invitation-refusal conversations—were analysed within an interactional sociolinguistic framework and by drawing on interpersonal communication theory. The data consisted of role-play conversations performed by 64 pairs of friends (32 Japanese and 32 New Zealanders pairs) in Japanese and English respectively. The following key findings emerged. First, the choice of type of lies differed between the two data sets. The Japanese participants chose lies to demonstrate an unequivocal refusal message, for example, showing strong rejection with a surfeit of reasoning in their excuses. Such lies preclude negotiation and, therefore, the likelihood of further uncertainty or conflict. In this way harmony was maintained. The New Zealand participants followed social protocols to lie, for instance, lying about a prior arrangement with a simple explanation. Negotiation subsequently took place based on the information provided in conversation. Second, the emergent data suggested that culture influenced how lies were perceived. Japanese participants appeared to share an implicit understanding that lies are likely to be used in the refusal situation; by contrast, New Zealand participants acted without this presumption. This interpretation follows from the finding that the Japanese often disregard the information offered in untruthful excuses. The New Zealanders however, treat untruthful excuses as a genuine source of information. Third, Japanese and New Zealand participants tended to apply politeness strategies differently. The Japanese used strong and direct expressions in their lies. These were positive politeness strategies to show closeness to friends or in-group members. The New Zealanders tended not to differentiate between in-group and out-group members and applied similar politeness strategies to everyone. Through a comparative analysis, the study provides new knowledge how Japanese and New Zealanders use different types of lies in a different manner to handle potentially difficult interpersonal communicative situations such as refusals. It also demonstrates that lying is the result of complex, culturally influenced processes: the use of lies is underpinned by cultural preferences and protocols in relation to cultural values, the perception of lying, and communication style. The study has made a strong emphasis on importance of understanding the rationale behind the use of lies particularly for intercultural settings.

year: 2011

title: Strawmen and the decolonisation of the academy

authors: Tauri, Juan Marcellus

subjects: Social justice

abstract: For this piece I take as my point of departure Biko Agozino’s response to a series of questions posed by a member of the audience, to a panel he was a member of during this time in New Zealand. The panel in question was part of the launch of a new journal, Decolonisation of Criminology and Justice, at AUT University, Auckland in June 2018. Biko was invited to give a speech at the launch of the journal, and participate in a panel discussion on the broad theme of ‘decolonising criminology and criminal justice’.

text: Strawmen and the decolonisation of the academy For this piece I take as my point of departure Biko Agozino’s response to a series of questions posed by a member of the audience, to a panel he was a member of during this time in New Zealand. The panel in question was part of the launch of a new journal, Decolonisation of Criminology and Justice, at AUT University, Auckland in June 2018. Biko was invited to give a speech at the launch of the journal, and participate in a panel discussion on the broad theme of ‘decolonising criminology and criminal justice’.

year: 2019-07-10