The Psychology of Evil

The human brain creates every thought, movement, and memory we have ever had. It enables the enduring capacity for both connection with other humans and to something greater than ourselves. It has led to all beautiful forms of art and literature ever produced, allowed us to discover our solar system and beyond, and it is likely that uncovering its mysteries will someday cure all neuropsychiatric disease. Unfortunately, it also creates human psychology that has an innate capacity for evil, especially in certain environments due to psychosocial factors.

Understanding the reason why humans hurt others is vital to creating a just and peaceful society, especially in our world today. Please join us for Dr. Johanna Vollhardt’s lecture, “Psychology of Intergroup Violence: From subtle exclusion to genocide”.

Dr. Vollhardt is an expert in social psychological processes that lead to war, severe oppression, and genocide. After the lecture, we hope to have an interactive discussion about how we use psychology and scientific research on intergroup violence to move forward and hopefully prevent acts of hate and injustice in the future.

For further discussion on this topic, please consider also attending our other events on Overcoming Fear & Trauma and Trauma and the Brain.