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A university professor in Finland has attempted to quantify and study the effects of being “woke.”
First, the definition of “woke,” straight from Google: “alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination.”
According to a study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, those who were determined to be “woke” had a higher prevalence of anxiety in depression, while also being more likely to report “lower mental well-being.”
As for how the study defined and quantified the concept, they surveyed 851 people (and later expanded the field to 5000 people) which ultimately led them to identify seven core ideological principles of being “woke”:
- “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.”
- “Microaggressions should be challenged often and actively.”
- “Tran women who compete with women in sports are not helping women’s rights.” (reverse scored)
- “We don’t need to talk more about the color of people’s skin.”
- “A white person cannot understand how a black person feels equally well as another black person.”
- “A member of a privileged group can adopt features or cultural elements of a less privileged group.” (reverse scored)
Furthermore, the study — conducted by Oskari Lahtinen, a researcher at the INVEST Research Flagship Center at the University of Turku in Finland — found that those who believed statement #1 had a higher prevalence of anxiety and depression.
Additionally, those who considered themselves to be more left-leaning were more likely to be in a lower state of mental well-being.
To summarize, researchers found that those concerned with social and societal causes are more likely to be generally stressed when compared to those who do not care about or actively fight against such issues. A woman who is worried about her abortion rights, for example, is likely far more stressed than a man who isn’t worried about them at all.