Global-MINDS integrates insights from Social & Cultural Psychology, offering high quality international teaching in English on issues of migration, diversity and inclusion, also identified as Sustainable Development Goals by the UN. The programme objectives are to equip students with the psychological knowledge, cultural sensitivity, and highest standard of research expertise to engage with complex social problems worldwide. Theory and practice are bridged via the master thesis and internship.  The fully accredited joint programme combines the Social & Cultural Psychology branches of four national Master programmes, integrating the expertise of all partners while offering diversity via three mobility paths of which one is a new path focusing on migrant health. Students complete a 2-year study programme with 120 ECTS, beginning semester 1 at either Iscte-University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal) or SWPS (Warsaw, Poland), moving then to either the University of Limerick (Ireland) or the University of Oslo (Norway) in Semester 2 and attending a joint summer school. Year 2 consists of a dissertation project and the internship in an NGO, organization, or intergovernmental agency.   A total of 100 scholarships are available of which 40 are full scholarships and 60 are tuition fee waivers. The worldwide network of 30 (non)academic Associate Partners, and numerous other partnerships, facilitates students' international master thesis research and provides internship opportunities.  

Global-MINDS integrates insights from Social & Cultural Psychology, offering high quality international teaching in English on issues of migration, diversity and inclusion, also identified as Sustainable Development Goals by the UN. The programme objectives are to equip students with the psychological knowledge, cultural sensitivity, and highest standard of research expertise to engage with complex social problems worldwide. Theory and practice are bridged via the master thesis and internship.  The fully accredited joint programme combines the Social & Cultural Psychology branches of five national Master programmes, integrating the expertise of all partners while offering diversity via four mobility paths. Students complete a 2-year study programme with 120 ECTS, beginning semester 1 at either Iscte-University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal) or SWPS (Warsaw, Poland), moving then to either the University of Limerick (Ireland), the University of Oslo (Norway) or Koç University in Semester 2 and attending a joint summer school. Year 2 provides the possibility of an additional mobility (dissertation and internship).   A total of 58 EMJDM scholarships are available. The worldwide network of 30 (non)academic Associate Partners, and numerous other partnerships, (e.g., with 19 visiting scholars), facilitates students' international master thesis research and provides internship opportunities. 

The increasing ageing population inspires many to paint a gloomy picture of the future, with ageism being the main socio-psychological concern. Yet, this segment of the population is also becoming more diverse which provides both challenges and opportunities. More efforts need to be directed towards understanding old age diversity in ageism, i.e. the specific health risks of subgroups in the ageing population as well as the social psychological perception of old age subgroups in order to achieve better intergenerational relations.To fill this gap, two questions will be addressed: What is the role of ageism in successful ageing among a highly diverse older population? What kinds of old age subgroups do people perceive and how are they related to ageism? Study 1 and 2 respond to RQ1 with the aim to examine two steadily increasing old age subgroups in the population (older migrants). Studies 3 to 5 respond to RQ2 with the objective to scrutinize common lay beliefs about old age subgroups and to understand how specific subgroups (including the ones from Study 1, 2) are stereotyped taking into account contextual factors. The insight gained will be used in Study 6 in order to design a theory-guided and evidence-driven intervention programme aimed at emphasizing old age diversity and positive images about ageing. This project makes an important contribution by linking Health & Social psychology and including cultural, sociological and socioeconomic aspects of old age diversity and ageism.

The increasing ageing population inspires many to paint a gloomy picture of the future, with ageism being the main socio-psychological concern. Yet, this segment of the population is also becoming more diverse which provides both challenges and opportunities. More efforts need to be directed towards understanding old age diversity in ageism, i.e. the specific health risks of subgroups in the ageing population as well as the social psychological perception of old age subgroups in order to achieve better intergenerational relations.To fill this gap, two questions will be addressed: What is the role of ageism in successful ageing among a highly diverse older population? What kinds of old age subgroups do people perceive and how are they related to ageism? Study 1 and 2 respond to RQ1 with the aim to examine two steadily increasing old age subgroups in the population (older migrants). Studies 3 to 5 respond to RQ2 with the objective to scrutinize common lay beliefs about old age subgroups and to understand how specific subgroups (including the ones from Study 1, 2) are stereotyped taking into account contextual factors. The insight gained will be used in Study 6 in order to design a theory-guided and evidence-driven intervention programme aimed at emphasizing old age diversity and positive images about ageing. This project makes an important contribution by linking Health & Social psychology and including cultural, sociological and socioeconomic aspects of old age diversity and ageism.

The project ELDERLY STEREOTYPES (Nice but incompetent? The elderly stereotype in Europe) adopted a multilevel perspective in investigating the contextual and personal underpinnings of age-related attitudes and older people’s ageing experiences.Work included analysing representative data from the European Social Survey (ESS) module ‘Age Attitudes and Experiences of Ageism’ (56 752 individuals from 29 countries). The team carried out five different studies that show how the societal context combines with individual-level variables in explaining ageist attitudes and ageing experiences.A combination of socioeconomic factors and the employment rate of the elderly in society influences the way older people are perceived. Noteworthy findings point to more positive perceptions of the elderly in more modern countries that also have a higher employment rate of older people. Older people’s ill-health is greater in countries where income is distributed unevenly. Also, a major factor in how others view the elderly has to do with the latter group’s health and their own perceptions of their age.In a second phase, researchers conducted a series of experimental and survey studies to better understand how malleable age stereotypes are. Findings in this line of inquiry highlight cultural differences in ageism. Furthermore, the stereotype that the elderly are nice but incompetent starts early. It is found in children as young as six years of age and remains there until adolescence. On the upside, the structured and theory-guided imAGES intervention programme can be used to change this ambivalent age stereotype. The results of an experimental study on the role of environmental cues support the idea that perceptions about older people are malleable.Europe as a world region shows the greatest increase in the percentage of elderly people relative to its workforce. This research project advanced knowledge on the causes of ageism, which can be used to inform policy and design interventions e...