Alexander Gloss

Building Digital Bridges: The Digital Divide and Humanitarian Work Psychology’s Online Networks and Communities

The Internet is central to what humanitarian work psychologists do and to who they are. This is the case because humanitarian work psychologists frequently conduct research online, communicate and collaborate online, and help to promote their field and gain new participants online. This chapter argues that humanitarian work psychologists’ use of the Internet will help to determine the success of their field. In particular, if voices from lower-income settings are not included in their online networks and communities, then the field risks not being effective and ethical, it risks losing the opportunity to broaden psychology’s global perspective, and it risks exacerbating global inequality. These claims are supported for the following three reasons: First, it is widely argued that humanitarian work is more likely to be effective when the people who are meant to benefit from that work are allowed to voice their perspectives and participate in the process (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2009). Second, psychology’s global relevance hinges upon whether it includes diverse international perspectives (Gelfand, Leslie & Fehr, 2008; Marsella, 1998) — and such perspectives would almost certainly include those from lower-income settings that traditionally receive humanitarian aid. Moreover, humanitarian work psychologists’ online networks and communities are important places for those perspectives to be included. Third, the nature of the digital divide may not only reinforce existing resource disparities between active Internet users and those who are disconnected, but it can also create new networking and informational inequalities (Van Dijk, 2005).

Psychological dynamics in ICTD projects

In this paper we categorize the types and prevalence of psychological factors that were present in ICTD interventions described in the ICTD2012 proceedings. With an eye towards recommendations for better understanding and addressing these dynamics, we then interpret and discuss these findings. We conclude that psychological dynamics on an individual level of analysis are either more prominent or tend to be identified more often by ICTD practitioners/researchers than dynamics on dyad/team and organizational levels. In addition, instances where psychological dynamics impede the success of ICTD interventions feature more prominently than dynamics which facilitate the success of those interventions. We argue for a greater appreciation and enhancement of positive psychological dynamics on higher levels of analysis through a more robust application of theory relating to organizational behavior.

International Development and I-O Psychology in Sub-Saharan Africa: Perspectives from Local and Expatriate Standpoints

This chapter describes the work of the two authors who served separately to help improve the quality of education in different sub-Saharan African countries: Ghana and South Africa. While both authors were not I-O psychologists at the time, their experiences involved applying industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology principles and helped shaped their current perspectives, and careers, as I-O psychologists. While both authors were associated with development initiatives tied to the United States, their perspectives represent different sides of traditional development projects as one brought the perspective of someone from the United States to South Africa while the other brought a local Ghanaian perspective and expertise to his project in Ghana. The authors’ projects involved a range of topics from I-O psychology including motivation and organizational development, but they highlight select challenges and priorities that are frequently prominent in development work, namely, communication difficulties, the importance of strengthening relationships between stakeholders, and physical security. They discuss and explore the ramifications of these challenges and priorities, including how they reflect on the importance of issues of identity, power, and justice in international development work.