Elaine L Kinsella
Biographic Data
| ID | 2211923 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elaine L Kinsella |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elaine L |
| FAMILY NAME | Kinsella |
| SIGNATURE | KINSELLA E L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Limerick |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4835-8581 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 36 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Between stigma and solidarity: Experiences of sexual and reproductive health among young women in the Republic of Ireland
22 years) in the Republic of Ireland negotiate empowerment and disempowerment in their experiences of sexual and reproductive health. Five semi-structured focus groups (N = 30) were conducted with undergraduate women at an Irish university between December 2024 and January 2025. Using reflexive thematic analysis, three themes were developed: (1) Stigma surrounding sexual and reproductive health in families and medical spaces, (2) Empowerment thro…
Awe and Boredom: Unravelling Dual Pathways Through Meaning in Life
Possessing high meaning in life can prevent boredom. Recent evidence suggests that awe may increase meaning in life via vastness vis‐à‐vis the self (feeling connected to something bigger than the self) or decrease it through self‐diminishment (feeling insignificant). Accordingly, we proposed and tested in four studies ( N = 1173) that awe relates to boredom via these two competing pathways. We consistently found a negative indirect effect of awe …
On Cultural Differences of Heroes: Evidence From Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures
Building on earlier research that examined the characteristics people associate with heroes, our research examined similarities and differences of the hero stereotype across cultures. Specifically, in Study 1 ( N = 209) and Study 2 ( N = 298), we investigated lay perceptions of heroes among participants from a collectivistic culture. In Study 3 ( N = 586), we examined whether group membership could be determined by participants’ centrality rating…
When trauma is stigmatized: Disidentification and dissociation in people affected by adverse childhood experiences
Survivors of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can experience dissociation because of their trauma. Those survivors can also experience stigma stemming from their traumatic experiences, which may encourage disidentification from the stigmatized group (i.e., other survivors of ACEs). However, the relationships between disidentification and dissociation have not been empirically tested. Using a social identity framework, we examined whether stig…
From Heroism Motivation to Civic Engagement: The Role of Self-Construals
Heroism is an expression of self-actualization and a pinnacle social state that is of fundamental interest to humanistic psychology. Heroes help individuals understand the values and norms within society and prompt individuals to do what they can for those who need help. We examine the relationship between the motivation to act heroically and civic engagement and explore how self-construals offer insights into this relationship. In two studies, w…
Moral Judgment as Categorization (MJAC)
Observed variability and complexity of judgments of “right” and “wrong” cannot be readily accounted for within extant approaches to understanding moral judgment. In response to this challenge, we present a novel perspective on categorization in moral judgment. Moral judgment as categorization (MJAC) incorporates principles of category formation research while addressing key challenges of existing approaches to moral judgment. People develop skill…
“We shouldn’t waste a good crisis”: The lived experience of working on the frontline through the first surge (and beyond) of Covid-19 in the UK and Ireland
OBJECTIVE: Frontline workers have shown extraordinary resilience and sustained efforts since the outbreak of COVID-19. The present study used semi-structured interviews with 38 frontline workers in the UK and Ireland to explore the psychological impact of working through COVID-19. DESIGN: The qualitative data were analysed systematically using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Unexpected positives. CONCLUSION: This research offers insights into how fro…
High ideals: The misappropriation and reappropriation of the heroic label in the midst of a global pandemic
The purpose of this article is to offer an alternative, more nuanced analysis of the labelling of frontline workers as heroes than originally proposed. Here, we argue that the hero narrative in itself need not be problematic, but highlight a number of wider factors that have led to the initial rise (and subsequent fall) in support for labelling frontline workers as heroes. Through our related work, we have gathered similar stories from frontline …
Solidarity appraisal, meaning, and markers of welfare in frontline workers in the UK and Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, frontline workers have carried out essential roles to keep society going, while the public have been called to minimise the infection rate to limit the burden on frontline workers. In this sense, navigating Covid-19 has necessitated interdependence between frontline workers and key stakeholder groups (such as their colleagues, organisations, their government, and the public). Reports suggest that frontline worker…
Reasons or rationalizations: The role of principles in the moral dumbfounding paradigm
Moral dumbfounding occurs when people maintain a moral judgment even though they cannot provide reasons for it. Recently, questions have been raised about whether dumbfounding is a real phenomenon. Two reasons have been proposed as guiding the judgments of dumbfounded participants: harm‐based reasons (believing an action may cause harm) or norm‐based reasons (breaking a moral norm is inherently wrong). Participants in that research (see Royzman, …
Working hard and playing hard: Multiple group membership, exercise and cognitive performance in boys and girls
Social cure and social curse: Social identity resources and adjustment to acquired brain injury
There is increasing evidence that identification with social groups can protect and enhance health, establishing a kind of ‘social cure’. However, for those affected by chronic or disabling conditions such as acquired brain injury ( ABI ), their identity may also represent a burden, a form of ‘social curse’. The present study explored the identity benefits and burdens available to 15 participants living with ABI using semi‐structured interviews. …
Heroism Research: A Review of Theories, Methods, Challenges, and Trends
Heroism as an expression of self-actualization and a pinnacle social state is of fundamental interest to humanistic psychology and the field more broadly. This review places the growing discussion on heroic action in a humanistic perspective, as heroism aligns with ethical self-actualization in its highest form, personal meaning making, and social good, and can also involve profound existential costs. This review is organized in four major sectio…
Restricted reproductive rights and risky sexual behaviour: How political disenfranchisement relates to women's sense of control, well-being and sexual health
Few studies have investigated the role of disenfranchisement and denial of agency in women's sexual health. To address this, a cross-sectional study of disenfranchisement, control (general and reproductive control) and health was conducted in Ireland, where abortion is severely restricted. Multiple mediation models ( N = 513 women) indicated that general but not reproductive control mediates the association between disenfranchisement and psycholo…
Heroism and the Pursuit of a Meaningful Life
Individuals and groups of individuals are motivated to find meaning in their activities and in life, generally. That is, when events or affective states threaten or reduce a person’s sense of meaning, psychological processes are mobilized to serve the goals of meaning maintenance and meaning reestablishment, respectively. We examined two avenues for meaning maintenance: First, we considered psychological resources from the enhancing, moral modell…
On Boredom and Perceptions of Heroes: A Meaning-Regulation Approach to Heroism
We propose that boredom, a state associated with a sense of meaninglessness, leads to a psychological search for meaning in life, which, in turn, elevates affirmation of heroes. This hypothesis builds on the notion that heroes function, in part, as sources of meaning in life. Using a correlational model, we found that boredom proneness predicted more positive perceptions of heroes via searches for meaning in one’s own life. In addition, hero perc…
Zeroing in on heroes: A prototype analysis of hero features
Heroes are ubiquitous in literature and popular discourse, yet little is known about cognitive representations of heroes. We examined lay conceptions of heroes using a prototype approach, compared heroes with other persons of influence, and studied how individuals use hero features to identify heroes. In Study 1, participants (N = 189) generated open-ended descriptions of heroes, which were sorted by independent coders into 26 meaningful categori…
Zeroing in on heroes: A prototype analysis of hero features
Heroes are ubiquitous in literature and popular discourse, yet little is known about cognitive representations of heroes. We examined lay conceptions of heroes using a prototype approach, compared heroes with other persons of influence, and studied how individuals use hero features to identify heroes. In Study 1, participants (N = 189) generated open-ended descriptions of heroes, which were sorted by independent coders into 26 meaningful categori…
On Boredom and Perceptions of Heroes: A Meaning-Regulation Approach to Heroism
We propose that boredom, a state associated with a sense of meaninglessness, leads to a psychological search for meaning in life, which, in turn, elevates affirmation of heroes. This hypothesis builds on the notion that heroes function, in part, as sources of meaning in life. Using a correlational model, we found that boredom proneness predicted more positive perceptions of heroes via searches for meaning in one’s own life. In addition, hero perc…
Social cure and social curse: Social identity resources and adjustment to acquired brain injury
There is increasing evidence that identification with social groups can protect and enhance health, establishing a kind of ‘social cure’. However, for those affected by chronic or disabling conditions such as acquired brain injury ( ABI ), their identity may also represent a burden, a form of ‘social curse’. The present study explored the identity benefits and burdens available to 15 participants living with ABI using semi‐structured interviews. …
Heroism and the Pursuit of a Meaningful Life
Individuals and groups of individuals are motivated to find meaning in their activities and in life, generally. That is, when events or affective states threaten or reduce a person’s sense of meaning, psychological processes are mobilized to serve the goals of meaning maintenance and meaning reestablishment, respectively. We examined two avenues for meaning maintenance: First, we considered psychological resources from the enhancing, moral modell…
When trauma is stigmatized: Disidentification and dissociation in people affected by adverse childhood experiences
Survivors of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can experience dissociation because of their trauma. Those survivors can also experience stigma stemming from their traumatic experiences, which may encourage disidentification from the stigmatized group (i.e., other survivors of ACEs). However, the relationships between disidentification and dissociation have not been empirically tested. Using a social identity framework, we examined whether stig…
Reasons or rationalizations: The role of principles in the moral dumbfounding paradigm
Moral dumbfounding occurs when people maintain a moral judgment even though they cannot provide reasons for it. Recently, questions have been raised about whether dumbfounding is a real phenomenon. Two reasons have been proposed as guiding the judgments of dumbfounded participants: harm‐based reasons (believing an action may cause harm) or norm‐based reasons (breaking a moral norm is inherently wrong). Participants in that research (see Royzman, …
Restricted reproductive rights and risky sexual behaviour: How political disenfranchisement relates to women's sense of control, well-being and sexual health
Few studies have investigated the role of disenfranchisement and denial of agency in women's sexual health. To address this, a cross-sectional study of disenfranchisement, control (general and reproductive control) and health was conducted in Ireland, where abortion is severely restricted. Multiple mediation models ( N = 513 women) indicated that general but not reproductive control mediates the association between disenfranchisement and psycholo…
Zeroing in on heroes: A prototype analysis of hero features
Heroes are ubiquitous in literature and popular discourse, yet little is known about cognitive representations of heroes. We examined lay conceptions of heroes using a prototype approach, compared heroes with other persons of influence, and studied how individuals use hero features to identify heroes. In Study 1, participants (N = 189) generated open-ended descriptions of heroes, which were sorted by independent coders into 26 meaningful categori…
Heroism and the Pursuit of a Meaningful Life
Individuals and groups of individuals are motivated to find meaning in their activities and in life, generally. That is, when events or affective states threaten or reduce a person’s sense of meaning, psychological processes are mobilized to serve the goals of meaning maintenance and meaning reestablishment, respectively. We examined two avenues for meaning maintenance: First, we considered psychological resources from the enhancing, moral modell…
On Boredom and Perceptions of Heroes: A Meaning-Regulation Approach to Heroism
We propose that boredom, a state associated with a sense of meaninglessness, leads to a psychological search for meaning in life, which, in turn, elevates affirmation of heroes. This hypothesis builds on the notion that heroes function, in part, as sources of meaning in life. Using a correlational model, we found that boredom proneness predicted more positive perceptions of heroes via searches for meaning in one’s own life. In addition, hero perc…
Heroism Research: A Review of Theories, Methods, Challenges, and Trends
Heroism as an expression of self-actualization and a pinnacle social state is of fundamental interest to humanistic psychology and the field more broadly. This review places the growing discussion on heroic action in a humanistic perspective, as heroism aligns with ethical self-actualization in its highest form, personal meaning making, and social good, and can also involve profound existential costs. This review is organized in four major sectio…
Restricted reproductive rights and risky sexual behaviour: How political disenfranchisement relates to women's sense of control, well-being and sexual health
Few studies have investigated the role of disenfranchisement and denial of agency in women's sexual health. To address this, a cross-sectional study of disenfranchisement, control (general and reproductive control) and health was conducted in Ireland, where abortion is severely restricted. Multiple mediation models ( N = 513 women) indicated that general but not reproductive control mediates the association between disenfranchisement and psycholo…
Working hard and playing hard: Multiple group membership, exercise and cognitive performance in boys and girls
Social cure and social curse: Social identity resources and adjustment to acquired brain injury
There is increasing evidence that identification with social groups can protect and enhance health, establishing a kind of ‘social cure’. However, for those affected by chronic or disabling conditions such as acquired brain injury ( ABI ), their identity may also represent a burden, a form of ‘social curse’. The present study explored the identity benefits and burdens available to 15 participants living with ABI using semi‐structured interviews. …
Reasons or rationalizations: The role of principles in the moral dumbfounding paradigm
Moral dumbfounding occurs when people maintain a moral judgment even though they cannot provide reasons for it. Recently, questions have been raised about whether dumbfounding is a real phenomenon. Two reasons have been proposed as guiding the judgments of dumbfounded participants: harm‐based reasons (believing an action may cause harm) or norm‐based reasons (breaking a moral norm is inherently wrong). Participants in that research (see Royzman, …
Moral Judgment as Categorization (MJAC)
Observed variability and complexity of judgments of “right” and “wrong” cannot be readily accounted for within extant approaches to understanding moral judgment. In response to this challenge, we present a novel perspective on categorization in moral judgment. Moral judgment as categorization (MJAC) incorporates principles of category formation research while addressing key challenges of existing approaches to moral judgment. People develop skill…
“We shouldn’t waste a good crisis”: The lived experience of working on the frontline through the first surge (and beyond) of Covid-19 in the UK and Ireland
OBJECTIVE: Frontline workers have shown extraordinary resilience and sustained efforts since the outbreak of COVID-19. The present study used semi-structured interviews with 38 frontline workers in the UK and Ireland to explore the psychological impact of working through COVID-19. DESIGN: The qualitative data were analysed systematically using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Unexpected positives. CONCLUSION: This research offers insights into how fro…
High ideals: The misappropriation and reappropriation of the heroic label in the midst of a global pandemic
The purpose of this article is to offer an alternative, more nuanced analysis of the labelling of frontline workers as heroes than originally proposed. Here, we argue that the hero narrative in itself need not be problematic, but highlight a number of wider factors that have led to the initial rise (and subsequent fall) in support for labelling frontline workers as heroes. Through our related work, we have gathered similar stories from frontline …
Solidarity appraisal, meaning, and markers of welfare in frontline workers in the UK and Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, frontline workers have carried out essential roles to keep society going, while the public have been called to minimise the infection rate to limit the burden on frontline workers. In this sense, navigating Covid-19 has necessitated interdependence between frontline workers and key stakeholder groups (such as their colleagues, organisations, their government, and the public). Reports suggest that frontline worker…
When trauma is stigmatized: Disidentification and dissociation in people affected by adverse childhood experiences
Survivors of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can experience dissociation because of their trauma. Those survivors can also experience stigma stemming from their traumatic experiences, which may encourage disidentification from the stigmatized group (i.e., other survivors of ACEs). However, the relationships between disidentification and dissociation have not been empirically tested. Using a social identity framework, we examined whether stig…
From Heroism Motivation to Civic Engagement: The Role of Self-Construals
Heroism is an expression of self-actualization and a pinnacle social state that is of fundamental interest to humanistic psychology. Heroes help individuals understand the values and norms within society and prompt individuals to do what they can for those who need help. We examine the relationship between the motivation to act heroically and civic engagement and explore how self-construals offer insights into this relationship. In two studies, w…
On Cultural Differences of Heroes: Evidence From Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures
Building on earlier research that examined the characteristics people associate with heroes, our research examined similarities and differences of the hero stereotype across cultures. Specifically, in Study 1 ( N = 209) and Study 2 ( N = 298), we investigated lay perceptions of heroes among participants from a collectivistic culture. In Study 3 ( N = 586), we examined whether group membership could be determined by participants’ centrality rating…
Awe and Boredom: Unravelling Dual Pathways Through Meaning in Life
Possessing high meaning in life can prevent boredom. Recent evidence suggests that awe may increase meaning in life via vastness vis‐à‐vis the self (feeling connected to something bigger than the self) or decrease it through self‐diminishment (feeling insignificant). Accordingly, we proposed and tested in four studies ( N = 1173) that awe relates to boredom via these two competing pathways. We consistently found a negative indirect effect of awe …
Between stigma and solidarity: Experiences of sexual and reproductive health among young women in the Republic of Ireland
22 years) in the Republic of Ireland negotiate empowerment and disempowerment in their experiences of sexual and reproductive health. Five semi-structured focus groups (N = 30) were conducted with undergraduate women at an Irish university between December 2024 and January 2025. Using reflexive thematic analysis, three themes were developed: (1) Stigma surrounding sexual and reproductive health in families and medical spaces, (2) Empowerment thro…
Psychology (14 works) · Social Psychology (12 works) · Leadership, Courage, and Heroism Studies (8 works) · Political science (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment (5 works) · Aesthetics (4 works) · Law (4 works)