Psych-AID
Psychology at the Frontiers: Asylum Interviewing and Decision-Making. Led by Prof. Jan Antfolk and Prof. Julia Korkman at Åbo Akademi University.
- We’re excited to share that the Psych-AID research team has received funding from the Nordic Gender Fund! 🎉 This support means a great deal to us and enables us to take the next steps in our work. We’re looking forward to what’s ahead — stay tuned for more updates soon!➡️
- 🎙️ Exciting news from the Psych-AID research network! Our doctoral researcher Rasmus Ahlgren recently appeared on the “Oikeuspsykologiaa” podcast (Season 3, Episode 5, in Finnish), discussing his work as a doctoral researcher and the goals of the Psych-AID project. See the link in the comments.
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- Link to the episode: soundcloud.com/user-1498807...
- Our doctoral researcher Malin Ekelund joined a panel on credibility in SOGIESC asylum cases at Shaping Tomorrow: Queer Asylum in Europe 🌈, calling for evidence-based evaluation, less subjectivity, and better interviewing & training 🧠✨
- Last week, our doctoral researchers Malin Ekelund and Obed Appiah, and PI @janantfolk.bsky.social took part in the (Re-)Constructing Credibility in Refugee Status Determination Workshop by @mobileucph.bsky.social. Thanks for having us!✨ Can’t wait for the upcoming special issue! 📖
- 📣 Upcoming talk alert! Our doctoral researcher Malin Ekelund will be delivering an insightful talk titled:🎙 “Adjudicating Asylum Claims of Sexual or Gender Minority Applicants”. 🗓️ Date: October 15 🕛 Time: 12:00–13:00 (EET) 🔗 Join here: aboakademi.zoom.us/j/6592539571...
- We’re excited to have Anastasiia Valiavko join our team! 🎉 Please welcome Anastasiia, a doctoral researcher studying attitudes toward survivors of sexual violence in the Russia-Ukraine war. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us with questions or opportunities for collaboration!
- 📢 New pre-print alert by Malin Ekelund, Jenny Skrifvars, Hedayat Selim, and @janantfolk.bsky.social! 📑 The study explores how stereotypes and social perceptions shape credibility assessments in asylum cases involving sexual identity. Link below! 🔗https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/acwp3_v1
- Welcome Siyu Li to the Psych-AID team! 🎉 Siyu joins as a doctoral researcher, working on Avatar Training to help interviewers use better questions & supportive statements. Reach out for collabs!
- 📢 New paper alert by Hedayat Selim and colleagues! 📑 In Finnish asylum interviews with sexual minority applicants, most questions focused on sexual orientation over persecution risk. More open questions could support fairer decisions. 🔗 lnkd.in/gz-2wPaD
- The Psych-AID team is growing! We are happy to welcome Dilhan Töredi as a new postdoctoral researcher in our team. Dilhan will be working on applying an innovative experimental lie paradigm where the ground truth of asylum claims is known.
- 🍂 Psych-AID kicked off fall in the Turku archipelago! We welcomed our new members with a visit to Nauvoo—exploring Paratiisi (combined winery and art gallery), kayaking, and ending with pizza & board games. We are excited for the season ahead!
- We are thrilled to bring back our Meet the Team series to introduce our newly recruited team members! Catharina Walldén has just joined the Psych-AID network as project manager. Aside from these responsibilities, Catharina is also a doctoral researcher in evolutionary psychology.
- Some shots from Hedayat Selim's doctoral defence last month. Professor Hilary Evans Cameron (Toronto Metropolitan University) served as opponent, and Prof. @janantfolk.bsky.social as custos. Many congratulations to Dr Selim for this achievement! 🔗https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/193050
- Doctoral Researcher Hedayat Selim will publicly defend her doctoral thesis entitled "Psychological aspects in the evaluation of asylum claims based on sexual orientation" this coming Friday, 22 August 2025. More information below: 🔗 www.abo.fi/en/event/pub...
- We are incredibly proud of our Psych-AID team members for bringing home three awards from this year’s @eapl.bsky.social Annual Conference 2025 (Lithuania)!
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View full thread👉 Dr. Jenny Skrifvars received the Dissertation Award for her thesis, Investigating and Improving the Quality of Asylum Interviews and Decision-making Practices in Finland.
- 👉 Finally, the Educational Impact Award was presented to none other than Professor of Practice Julia Korkman, our co-investigator, for her work on the Åbo Akademi Specialization Course in Legal and Forensic Psychology. Warmest congratulations to all the award recipients and their collaborators!
- 👉 Doctoral Researcher Obed Kwame Appiah earned third place in the Paper Presentation Award for his work on cognitive bias among asylum decision-makers.
- ✨Psych-AID at the @eapl.bsky.social Annual Conference 2025 (Lithuania): Four members of the Psych-AID network had the opportunity to present their research on the psychology of asylum evaluations on day 2 of #EAPL2025.
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View full threadNext, Doctoral Researcher Malin Ekelund presented her experimental study investigating the hypothesis that asylum applicants claiming protection based on their sexual minority status are more likely to be granted asylum if they conform to appearance-based stereotypes.
- Lastly, Doctoral Researcher Rasmus Ahlgren shared the findings from two studies which investigate asylum interviewers' and interpreters' perceptions regarding rapport building, and how attempts at building rapport are apparent in official Finnish asylum interview transcripts.
- Juliana Raitis presented her master's thesis, which experimentally investigates whether asylum applicants' signs of being affluent influence their perceived credibility and need for international protection.
- Master's student and Research Assistant Anna Ilmoni then presented her thesis, a qualitative archival study investigating how intellectual disabilities are considered in decisions issued by the Swedish Migration Agency.
- ✨Psych-AID at @eapl.bsky.social in Vilnius: Participating in a panel on investigative psychology at hashtag#EAPL2025, our Doctoral Researchers Hedayat Selim and Obed Kwame Appiah each presented their recent studies on the influence of cognitive bias in the context of asylum decision-making.
- Hedayat presented a theoretical paper entitled "Behind the 'Asylum Lottery': Sources of Cognitive Bias in Asylum Decision-Making", in which she reviews the relevant literature and maps factors that introduce bias in the asylum context, to propose preliminary bias counter-measures.
- Obed Kwame Appiah presented the findings from his recent survey study, in which 100+ asylum officials and appeal judges were asked to report their beliefs about cognitive bias and any strategies they undertake to prevent its influence on their asylum judgments.
- ✨Psych-AID & collaborators at @eapl.bsky.social: On day 1 of #EAPL2025, our team members and partners participated in the symposium "Novel perspectives on interviewing and decision-making in the asylum context," co-chaired by Drs Jenny Skrifvars & Laura Stevens.
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View full threadDr Jenny Skrifvars presented a conceptual paper on the effectiveness of investigative interviewing principles in eliciting identity-based claims. Doctoral Researcher Maya Hertz (Uni. Copenhagen) then took the stage to present a study assessing how digital media is used in RSD.
- Finally, Professor @anneliesvrede.bsky.social (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) shared important insights from a recent cross-cultural communication training tailored to investigative interviewing contexts, including asylum interviews, based on the "cultural humility" approach.
- Doctoral Researcher Md Yeasir Yunus (Uni. Portsmouth) presented a systematic review and meta-analysis on culture, memory and trauma in the asylum context. Dr Zoe Given Wilson (Royal Holloway Uni.) presented a project on asylum applicants' experiences of digital technology.
- ✨ Psych-AID & collaborators at the @eapl.bsky.social annual conference 2025 (Lithuania): Before the official start of the #EAPL2025, our collaborators and researchers participated in the pre-conference workshop on Avatar Technologies in Interview Research and Training.
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View full threadTogether with Shumpei Haginoya (Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo), master's student and avatar expert Siyu Li (East China Normal University) led the session entitled "Avatar Training for Suspect Interviews: Training in a Deception Detection Technique."
- The workshop was also attended by our very own doctoral researchers, Malin Ekelund and Obed Kwame Appiah.
- The workshop featured presentations and hands-on sessions. Dr Francesco Pompedda (University of Turku) presented the "Empowering Interviewer Training (EIT), an avatar-based training of interviewers' questioning style in child interviews."
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- The workshop featured presentations and hands-on sessions. Dr Francesco Pompedda (Uni. of Turku) presented the "Empowering Interviewer Training (EIT), an avatar-based training of questioning style in child interviews."
- ✨ The Psych-AID Network, along with our partners and collaborators, have had an incredibly productive week at #EAPL2025 (the annual conference of @eapl.bsky.social) held this year in the heart of the old town of beautiful Vilnius, Lithuania!
- We are immensely proud of our researchers for their active participation in numerous symposia and panels, where they showcased cutting-edge research in the psychology of asylum evaluations, and even received several awards. Stay tuned for a recap of our contributions to #EAPL2025!
- 📢 PROJECT FUNDING NEWS: To kick off the new academic year, the Psych-AID network is thrilled to share an exciting update: Our PI @janantfolk.bsky.social was recently awarded a research grant by the Research Council of Finland!
- The research grant was awarded for the project entitled Experimental Tests of the Stereotype-Matching Hypothesis in Asylum Claims Based on Religious or Sexual Identity [ExClaim] and covers the period of 2025-2029. 👇
- Our research group is very excited to continue expanding its endeavors in the field of asylum law and psychology, with the ultimate aim of contributing to enhancing the integrity and fairness of asylum adjudications.
- Last week, the Psych-AID Network was proudly represented at the 2025 annual conference of @officialsarmac.bsky.social (the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition), held in Ireland.
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View full thread👉The symposium also featured Professor @aminamemon.bsky.social (Royal Holloway, University of London), who discussed the challenges of decision-making in asylum contexts and discussed strategies to improve the fairness and quality of asylum decision-making.
- ℹ️ More about SARMAC: www.sarmac.org
- 👉Stepping in for Doctoral Researcher Obed Appiah, Doctoral Researcher Malin Ekelund presented Obed’s study titled “Cognitive Bias in Asylum Decision-Making: An Investigation of Asylum Officials’ Beliefs About Its Nature and Scope.”
- 👉Professor @janantfolk.bsky.social, our PI, presented findings from a recent survey study conducted by Dr. Jenny Skrifvars and colleagues, which explored the experiences of asylum officials, interpreters, and asylum applicants within Finnish asylum interviews.
- Our team took part in a symposium titled "Interviewing and Decision-Making in the Asylum Context", moderated by Dr Laura Stevens. The session highlighted groundbreaking research at the intersection of psychology and asylum law, showcasing the latest contributions from our network.
- 👉Doctoral Researcher Rasmus Ahlgren presented his latest study, “Asylum Interviewers’ and Interpreters’ Approaches to Rapport Building in Asylum Interviews: A Thematic Analysis.”
- After a long Finnish winter, the Psych-AID team welcomed a refreshing change of scenery with a spring retreat to the beautiful island of Brännskär in the Turku archipelago last month!
