International Symposium on the Contributions of Psychology to Peace 2026

The International Symposium on the Contributions of Psychology to Peace brings together participants from around the world every two years. The event is organized under the auspices of the International Network for Peace Psychology (INPP). 

The theme for this year's symposium is Building Peace in Wounded Communities and Democracies. We seek to recognize and bring together the diverse ways researchers and practitioners have engaged the difficult questions of peace and peacebuilding, especially through the lens and practice of psychology. We center both communities and democracies in acknowledgment of the many overlapping contextual levels–ranging from the intimate to the structural–within which we may encounter diverse forms of social woundedness, and for which the psychologies of peace and peacebuilding may be vital and necessary. We invite local and global perspectives for recognizing, rethinking, and responding to these issues, and envision dialogue and community-building as essential toward the generation of new collective insights, solidarities, and action. In coming together to reflect on our distinct and common wounds, we invoke their reparative potentials as openings and symbols for transformation.

View the Press Kit here

Opening Remarks:

Hon. Leila de Lima
Member, House of Representatives of the Philippines

Academic Sessions:

ACADEMIC SESSION 1

Structural Peacebuilding
March 23 (Mon), 13:30-15:30

• An introduction to the International Network for Peace Psychology
  Nikola Balvin, DPsych, International Network for Peace Psychology, Australia
• Intergroup Narratives on the Bangsamoro Peace Process: Examining Views from Indigenous Peoples and Settler Communities
  Charlie M. Inzon OMI, PhD; Judith M. de Guzman, PhD, Philippines
• How Closed Inter-Party Dialogue Helped Safeguard the 2021 Ethiopian Elections
  Negusu Aklilu, Destiny Ethiopia Initiative, Ethiopia

ACADEMIC SESSION 2

Making Sense of Peace and Justice
March 23 (Mon), 16:00-18:00

• The Role of Radical Hope in Structural Peacebuilding: Theory and Practice*
  Sramana Majumdar, PhD, Ashoka University, India; Cristina J. Montiel, PhD, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines; Helen A. Neville, PhD, University of Illinois, US
  *Two separate presentations
• Narratives on the Bangsamoro Struggle and Transition: Former Combatants Meaning Making regarding the Transition and Normalization Process
  Judith M. de Guzman, PhD; Charlie M. Inzon OMI, PhD, Philippines
• Media in the transitional justice period: Coverage of systematic violence and the concept of peace 
  Angelica Caicedo-Moreno, University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU); Wilson López-López, PhD, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Pablo Castro-Abril, PhD, University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU); Lorena Gil de Montes, University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU). 

ACADEMIC SESSION 3

Intergroup Forgiveness and Reconciliation
March 24 (Tue), 10:00-12:00

• Reconciliation in Context: Identity, Victimhood, and Competing Narratives in Bosnia and Herzegovina
  Tijana Karić, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany; J. Christopher Cohrs, Philipps-Universität Marburg; Frank Eckerle, University of Klagenfurt
• Stories that Heal, Stories that Divide: Video-based Interventions for Reconciliation in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Evidence from a National Experiment)
  Alma Jeftic, PhD, Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva; Peace Research Institute, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan
• All victims have something to say: the differential impact of victims’ narratives on intergroup forgiveness
  Pablo E. Castro-Abril, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU; Wilson López-López, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Nekane Basabe, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU; Angélica Caicedo-Moreno, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU.
• Forgiveness as a Social Signal: Closure Illusion and Justice Restoration
  Minjoo Joo, PhD, Sookmyung Women's University, South Korea

ACADEMIC SESSION 4

Decolonial and Transformative Perspectives
March 24 (Tue), 13:30-15:30

• “The Old is Dying and the New Cannot Be Born” – Social Work Between Coloniality and Transformation
  Chaitali Das, PhD, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
• Subaltern Voices in Faith-Based Collective Movement: A Decolonial-Liberation Psychology Study of Muhammadiyah Grassroots Activists 
  Yayah Khisbiyah, Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (Indonesia); Dicky C Pelupessy, Universitas Indonesia; Christopher Sonn, University of Victoria.
• Peace Education through Gender Perspectives in Mexican Universities
  Carolina Armenta Hurtarte, PhD, Universidad Iberoamericana (Mexico); Elvia González del Pliego Dorantes, PhD, Independent researcher
• Decolonized Peace-psychology practice in the Global South 
  Ufra Mir, International Center for Peace Psychology, Kashmir

ACADEMIC SESSION 5

Navigating Divided Societies
March 24 (Tue), 16:00-18:00

• Youth Intergroup Contact in Divided Societies: Negotiating Social Interactions in Everyday Spaces
  Shelley McKeown Jones, University of Oxford (UK); Shazza Ali, University of Bristol, Pier-Luc Dupont, Swansea University; David Manley, University of Bristol; Marco Marinucci, University of Milano-Bicocca; Sumedh Rao, The Open University; Christoph Daniel Schaefer, Kiel University; Laura K. Taylor, University College Dublin
• The First Four Years: Evolution of Community Attitudes Towards Refugees in a New Rural Refugee Resettlement Location in Australia
  Stefania Paolini, PhD, Durham University, UK; Sue Watt, PhD, University of New England, Australia; Tadgh Mcmahon, PhD, Settlement Services International
• Terror-Induced Conservatism in a Liberal Electorate in the U.S.: Issue-Based Shifts Without Ideological Transformation
  Violet Cheung, PhD, University of San Francisco, US

ACADEMIC SESSION 6

Participating in Social Change
March 25 (Wed), 10:00-12:00

• Understanding how groups engage in social change towards racial equality
  Beatriz Casquinho, Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social (CIS-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa ISCTE-IUL, Lisboa, Portugal; Rita Guerra, Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social (CIS-IUL), Instituto Universitário de Lisboa ISCTE-IUL, Lisboa, Portugal
• Investigating Psychological Factors Influencing Formal Political Participation and Activism
  Diwa Malaya A. Quiñones, PhD, University of the Philippines; Sophia Lanuzo, Netopia AI; Adrian Gabonada, Netopia AI; Jason Albia, Netopia AI, Philippines
• Local Face of Global Effort: Social Representations of Normalization Among Bangsamoro Decommissioned Combatants
  Marshaley J. Baquiano, PhD, University of Guam
• Project Pisgah - No Means No
  Kerry Ann Thompson, PhD, Kerry Ann Foundation Thompson, Jamaica

ACADEMIC SESSION 7

Repression and Resistance
March 25 (Wed), 13:30-15:30

• Making sense of historical and ongoing collective victimization experiences: A Q methodological study on variation and commonalities across five different groups
  J. Christopher Cohrs, Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany); Johanna Ray Vollhardt, Clark University; Helin Ünal, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues; Zsolt P. Szabó, Corvinus University of Budapest, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest; Hu Young Jeong, University of Virginia, Charlottesville; Danielle Black, University of Maryland Baltimore County
• Repression of Palestine Solidarity in Democracies: Repressive Mechanisms, Psychological Consequences and its Resistance
  Julia Schreiber, University of Sussex (UK); Özden Melis Uluğ, University of Sussex; John Drury, University of Sussex; Maria Chayinska, University of Messina
• Weaving Women’s Words on the Wounds of War: Women’s Agentic Performativity, Truth-Listening, and Memorialization
  Ma Lourdes Veneracion, PhD, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines

ACADEMIC SESSION 8

Healing in Conflict Zones
March 25 (Wed), 16:00-18:00

• Trauma and Resilience in Post-Conflict Aceh, Indonesia: Bridging Psychology and Local Knowledge
  Reza Idria, ICAIOS/UIN Ar-Raniry; Iyulen Pebry Zuanny, ICAIOS/UIN Ar-Raniry; Vera Nova, ICAIOS/UIN Ar-Raniry, Indonesia
• Trauma Island: Listening to Silenced Voices and Healing a Wounded Community
  Naoko MIYAJI, M.D., Ph.D., Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University, Japan
• Efficacy Of Panginam: A Low-Intensity Psychological Intervention (LIPI) For Armed Conflict Family Survivors In Bangsamoro
  Aminoding B. Limpao, Department of Psychology and Related Services (DPRS), Panginam Healing and Wellness Center (PHWC), Mindanao State University (MSU), Marawi City, Philippines