Dr Emma Bridger
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emkbridger.bsky.social
Dr Emma Bridger
@emkbridger.bsky.social
120 followers 110 following 12 posts
Lecturer in Psychology at Uni of Leicester (based in Brum); Researcher in social determinants of mental health and socioeconomic health inequalities - how they arise, how we think about them and how to address them. LGBT+ Equalities Branch Officer
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
markrubin.bsky.social
"It would have been nice to skip the detour through countless replication failures, but sometimes that’s how the meandering path of progress goes."
Congratulations, You've Discovered Fatigue
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.
open.substack.com
February 5, 2026 at 7:16 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
profjohndrury.bsky.social
1/2 'In social psychology, the current ease of online surveys, vignette experiments and so on only reinforces a point made 20 years ago that studies of "behaviour" are rare compared to studies of self-report....'
February 3, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
omidvebrahimi.bsky.social
Thrilled to announce the Oxford Psychological Networks Summer School (OxPNS)!

This is the first-ever psychological network analysis workshop in the UK, to be held in magical Oxford from June 22-26, 2026.

To apply and for more information, please visit: oxfordpns.com

A brief thread 🧵
February 2, 2026 at 2:39 PM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
bdecourson.bsky.social
🔺 New preprint 🔺
Why does poverty increase time discounting?
With W. Frankenhuis and @danielnettle.bsky.social, we argue that current models do not account for discounting in *persistent* poverty, and show that a desperation threshold can!

A quick 🧵
February 3, 2026 at 6:38 PM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
kjhealy.co
As a side note, it’s funny to see so many of these emails with thirsty academics repeatedly enact Marx’s bit in the 1844 Manuscripts about the power of money. “Oh Mr Epstein, your house in New York is enormous and, unrelatedly, your questions at dinner were so intelligent, so insightful, so deep.”
That which is for me through the medium of money - that for which I can pay (i.e., which money can buy) - that am I myself, the possessor of the money. The extent of the power of money is the extent of my power. Money's properties are my - the possessor's - properties and essential powers. Thus, what I am and am capable of is by no means determined by my individuality. I am ugly, but I can buy for myself the most beautiful of women. Therefore I am not ugly, for the effect of ugliness - its deterrent power - is nullified by money. I, according to my individual characteristics, am lame, but money furnishes me with twenty-four feet. Therefore I am not lame. I am bad, dishonest, unscrupulous, stupid; but money is honoured, and hence its possessor. Money is the supreme good, therefore its possessor is good. Money, besides, saves me the trouble of being dishonest: I am therefore presumed honest. I am brainless, but money is the real brain of all things and how then should its possessor be brainless? Besides, he can buy clever people for himself, and is he who has [In the manuscript: is. - Ed.] power over the clever not more clever than the clever? Do not I, who thanks to money am capable of all that the human heart longs for, possess all human capacities? Does not my money, therefore, transform all my incapacities into their contrary?
January 31, 2026 at 4:05 PM
emkbridger.bsky.social
Excited to be recruiting for an ESRC-funded #PhD studentship examining gambling persistence and early life environments/adversity.

The project is joint between @sopvs.bsky.social at University of Leicester and Aston University

Application deadline: 23rd Feb

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQF033/e...
ESRC DTP Strategic Joint Studentship: From Scarcity to Persistence: Early Environments, Partial Reinforcement and Problematic Gambling at Midlands Graduate School Doctoral Training Partnership
Apply for a ESRC DTP Strategic Joint Studentship: From Scarcity to Persistence: Early Environments, Partial Reinforcement and Problematic Gambling. Discover a wide range of PhD opportunities at jobs.a...
www.jobs.ac.uk
January 22, 2026 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
chrischirp.bsky.social
@hcrichardson.bsky.social wrote about a 1945 US leaflet on how to spot fascism in America.

I thought it might be worth screenshotting the relevant bit.

ALL of the these warnings have come to pass in the past year. 1/2
January 11, 2026 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
georgemonbiot.bsky.social
If the Palestine Action hunger strikers die - which they could do at any moment, as they are now very close to the end - it will be the government that killed them. Today’s column explains why. Please share, and write urgently to your MP.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Let’s be clear: if the Palestine Action hunger strikers die, the government will bear moral responsibility | George Monbiot
The three remaining hunger strikers have been convicted of nothing. Yet with astonishing cruelty, ministers refuse to listen to their reasonable demands, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:07 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
georgemonbiot.bsky.social
I'm writing about the Palestine Action hunger strikers at the moment, any of whom could die at any moment, and the astonishing media and government silence surrounding them. The Establishment seems to have become even crueller than when Thatcher was PM.
January 5, 2026 at 12:27 PM
emkbridger.bsky.social
and for anyone who needs a reminder, @iwriteok.bsky.social has a good primer on how this went last time round podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...
December 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
emkbridger.bsky.social
held up by parental leave and weeks of industrial action, finally managed to get this preprint up. we apply a perceived causal relations approach to lay views of the interplay between "biopsychosocial" causes, exploring how this differs for groups based on their symptoms, finances + pol orientation
eikofried.bsky.social Eiko Fried @eikofried.bsky.social · Dec 11
New preregistered preprint by @emkbridger.bsky.social (w J Maltby, @danielnettle.bsky.social & @larsklintwall.bsky.social). We queried a UK-representative lay sample to rated perceived causal influence between 20 biopsychosocial causes linked to mental health & poverty.

osf.io/preprints/ps...
December 11, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
khuar.bsky.social
‘A mini Battle of Cable Street’: the English neighbourhoods still grappling with the meaning of the flags
The controversy over flags has faded from the national agenda – but street by street, late at night and with ingenious new equipment, their raising and removal is the subject of a roiling dispute over...
www.theguardian.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
damiancruse.bsky.social
"Exiting the market" is such a soulless way of describing threats to people's livelihoods and the loss of training and opportunity for so many
search.app/KvG3k
Fifty higher education providers at risk of exiting market in England, MPs told
Regulator says 24 are at more immediate risk and may have to stop degree courses within next 12 months
search.app
November 28, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
adambienkov.bsky.social
More than half of ethnic minority Brits say the England flag has now become a racist symbol, with Brits of all colours now tending to say the raising of the flag is mostly about expressing anti-migrant, or anti ethnic-minority sentiment
November 21, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
sandykilla.bsky.social
@leicesterchem.bsky.social dream team taking a stand ✊ Some of these fine minds are directly in the firing line! ☠️ 🪓 saveleicesteruni.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
georgemonbiot.bsky.social
Here's my argument with Sir Bernard Jenkin MP about the report showing how the racist intimidation of Black and Brown NHS workers on home visits has been exacerbated by the far right's wall of flags.
November 13, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
froschlein.bsky.social
Exhausted after three days of collective consultation meetings. Hoping lots of people can join us protest school closures and mergers* and centralising professional services which will all result in job losses and a diminished university.
leicesterucu.bsky.social Leicester UCU @leicesterucu.bsky.social · Nov 5
One week to go for the national demonstration called by UCU (@ucu.org.uk) against the planned redundancies at the University of Leicester.
Please come and march alongside us in Leicester on 12 November.
All welcome!
November 5, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
aurelmondon.com
We have had surveys that have shown us exactly this in the UK, France, the EU etc for many years

What we need to ask ourselves is why have journalists, politicians, academics etc chosen to focus on surveys that hype immigration

This is what I explore here:

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
'Manufactured panic': Immigration not near top of most people's concerns, poll suggests The cost of living, health, crime, and housing are much higher on people's lists of personal worries, a YouGov survey has suggested. Friday 31 October 2025 04:22, UK
October 31, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
froschlein.bsky.social
Today colleagues across 5 academic and 1 Professional Services area were informed that their redundancy consultation process starts next week. Spare a thought for all these people who will spend the next 4 months in limbo. Our fight continues and we will be out on strike again from 10 November
leicesterucu.bsky.social Leicester UCU @leicesterucu.bsky.social · Oct 28
- EGM tomorrow at 12
- Strike action begins 10th of November
October 28, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
khuar.bsky.social
Do you live in Birmingham? Have you signed the Brum Together statement yet?

#BrumTogether #RefugeesWelcome #StopTheFarRight #StandUpToRacism #Pride #Unity #Grassroots #RaiseTheLove

Add your name here:
tinyurl.com/brumtogether...
Brum Together
We are proud to live in Birmingham, a city built by many cultures, stories and traditions. Our diversity is our strength, and that’s what makes this place home. There is nothing wrong with people f...
tinyurl.com
October 12, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
audrelawdamercy.bsky.social
aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage
October 10, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
matildamartin.bsky.social
Interview with @ucu.org.uk boss Jo Grady in @politicshome.bsky.social

- unis face a financial calamity similar to the 2008 banking crisis

- unis will be "in the firing line of Reform should they be elected”

- idea unis are "autonomous" now "doesn't wash".

www.politicshome.com/news/article...
Universities Are Heading A Financial Crisis Like The 2008 Crash, Warns Union BossBoss
The head of the University and College Union, Jo Grady, has warned that universities face a financial calamity similar to the 2008 banking crisis, ...
www.politicshome.com
October 12, 2025 at 9:46 AM
emkbridger.bsky.social
"Strikes are acts of defiance – but also acts of repair. In interdependent relationships, withholding cooperation is an effective strategy when power is uneven and negotiation has failed." A genuinely fantastic piece by @kristensyme.bsky.social
October 10, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Reposted by Dr Emma Bridger
clairewillett.bsky.social
reposting with alt text because this feels incredibly significant. the right-wing disinfo machine means a lot of the people grieving Charlie Kirk never heard any of the things he said that would have tarnished his brand as Guy Who Just Wants to Have Dialogue Across the Aisle
One thing that has become really clear since yesterday is that we live in at least two different realities. Talking to a friend who only knew Charlie as a Christian motivational speaker because that's all that ever came across her feed. Showed me videos I've never seen before of him saying perfectly reasonable and empowering things. I showed her videos she'd never seen before of his racism, misogyny, homophobia, advocating for violence against specific groups of people. She was horrified by his remarks about Pelosi's husband's attacker being bailed out and celebrated for his violent act. She was horrified by a number of things that he said, but she had never seen or heard them before, the same as I had never seen or heard the generalized clips of him sounding like a perfectly nice loving man and father. Neither of us had a whole picture of this man. I mentioned he was a known white supremacist and she thought I was joking. She talked about him giving a speech about finding your purpose and doing good in the world and I thought she was joking. I saw why this friend was mourning the loss of a person she thought was a good person. My friend, bless her, saw why I feel the way I do about him. We understood each other better. In spite of a multi-billion dollar internet machine specifically focused on keeping us apart. Because we talked to each other with the desire to listen and to learn rather than the desire to change someone else's mind or to be "right". None of those motivational things he said change my opinion about him because they don't erase the negativity, the subtle calls for violence, the belittling and denigrating of other races religions genders etc. His negative and blaming comments about homeless people, the poor, and victims of domestic violence. His comments about rounding up people who didn't think like him and putting them in camps where their behavior could be corrected. That time he said empathy was a made-up word he didnt believe in. That other time he said the Civil Rights Act was a mistake. The time he said most people are afraid when they get on a plane and see that there's a black pilot. His anti-vaccination rhetoric and his active campaigning against people being allowed to wear masks for their own health. His open support of fascism and white supremacy. To me, all of those are fully unchristian sentiments. Those are undeniable and just one of them would be a deal-breaker for me. All of them together are a picture of a man who was polarizing, enraged a lot of people and rightly so, but even with all of that I would never wish upon him or especially his children the end that he got. Oh, and my friend had never heard, and God help me I don't know how she escaped the news, but she had never heard of the Minnesota legislators who were shot in June. The husband and wife and dog who were killed, one after throwing themselves over their child to protect the child. The other couple who somehow survived. Politically motivated attacks specifically because they were democrats. She learned about those shootings that happened months ago because I showed her Charlie Kirk's comments about them. The kidnapping plot against a female Midwestern Democratic governor. The assassination attempt against Pennsylvania's democratic governor. All things Charlie had plenty to say about while supporting the Second Amendment and bashing the Democratic party. She didn't know about any of it because we're all living in two different worlds and none of us have the whole story.
September 13, 2025 at 9:24 PM
emkbridger.bsky.social
"Psychology cannot claim to protect children if it is only willing to do so selectively. [...] Palestinian children are not collateral. They are not too complex or too controversial to grieve. They are children, entitled to safety, dignity, and care."
July 25, 2025 at 9:06 AM