(LifeSiteNews) — A Finnish study has found that the adoption of leftist, “woke” beliefs is correlated with higher rates of anxiety and depression.
The study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, explored the extent to which people adopt an ideology that “perceive[s] people foremost as members of identity groups and as being, witting or unwitting, perpetrators or victims of oppression” and moreover believes in regulating speech deemed “oppressive” or when there is a “power differential.”
The researchers referred to these viewpoints as “critical social justice attitudes,” which they measured with a Critical Social Justice Attitude Scale (CSJAS) identifying beliefs inherent to this ideology, including:
- “If white people have on average a higher level of income than black people, it is because of racism.”
- “University reading lists should include fewer white or European authors.”
- People who are not gender-confused “should state their gender pronouns in, for instance, their social media profiles.”
- So-called “trans women” – gender-confused men – are women.
- Limiting speech rights of privileged people is not justified. (reverse scored)
- There are two biological sexes in the human species. (reverse scored)
- You should not say things that might offend an oppressed person.
- The police are institutionally racist.
- The ideas of Karl Marx should not have more influence in national politics. (reverse scored)
Higher CSJAS scores were correlated with depression, anxiety, and lack of happiness, particularly in students. In addition, remarkably substantial differences in “woke” attitudes were found between men and women.
“The gender divide was probably most surprising to me,” study author Oskari Lahtinen said about Finnish attitudes in comments to PsyPost. “Three out of five women view ‘woke’ ideas positively, but only one out of seven men.”
The researchers pointed out that while discussion involving “critical social justice attitudes” “draws mainly from dynamics within American society,” now “many other Western countries” are adopting such discourse, including “the U.K., Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Australia, and Sweden.”