With respect to research on depression, for instance (see Ole Andre Solbakken et al.), it is relevant to note that a study from 2003 showed that the strongest predictor of major depression is a combination of loss and humiliation (Kendler et al., 2003). With respect to pathways from humiliation to dignity, the work of Beate Seibt and Thomas Schubert on the concept of Kama Muta (Sanskrit: 'moved by love') is relevant, an emotion described as 'being emotionally touched' (see kamamutalab.org). In the light of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (uit.no/kommisjonen) and their report submitted on 1st June 2023, the Department of Psychology aims at raising awareness, particularly in its programmes of professional study, for the special needs of minorities.
About the Lecturer
Evelin Lindner earned her Dr. psychol. in 2001 with the thesis titled "The Psychology of Humiliation: Somalia, Rwanda / Burundi, and Hitler's Germany". From this work, a transdisciplinary field of research and inquiry grew forth, "Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies" (HumanDHS, humiliationstudies.org), as a global network of academics and practitioners.
Evelin Lindner has a dual education as a Medical Doctor and a Psychologist, with a Ph.D. in Medicine from the University in Hamburg in Germany, and a Ph.D. in Psychology from the Department of Psychology at the University of Oslo.
She is the founding president of Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS), a global transdisciplinary community of concerned academics and practitioners who wish to promote dignity and transcend humiliation around the world.
She is also co-founder of the World Dignity University initiative, including Dignity Press and World Dignity University Press. All initiatives are not-for-profit efforts.
Her first book, based on her doctoral dissertation in psychology, Making Enemies: Humiliation and International Conflict, was honored as "Outstanding Academic Title" by the journal Choice in 2007. Desmond Tutu wrote the Foreword for her third book Gender, Humiliation, and Global Security. Her fourth book A Dignity Economy came out in 2012, and her fifth book Honor, Humiliation, and Terror came out in 2017, and her sixth book, From Humiliation to Dignity: For a Future of Global Solidarity, came out in 2023.
A full list of Evelin’s publications is available on the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies website.