Academic Interests
- The intersection of Western psychology and global development policy making and implementation
- Cultural, feminist and decolonial psychological perspectives
- Power structures and knowledge production
- Gender roles and equality
- Language and discursive negotiations
- Rural lives and livelihoods
- Ethnographic research
- Qualitative methods
- Malawi
- Ethiopia
Courses taught
Background
- PhD in Cultural Psychology, and Research Fellow, Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, 2016-2021. Title The psychologization of development: Westernization, individualization and universalization of human ways of being
- Consultant, Psykologiforbundet 2019-2021
- Research Coordinator, LEVE – Livelihoods in Developing Countries, University of Oslo 2015-2016
- MSc Cultural Psychology, University of Oslo, 2012-2014. Title ‘Looking the other way does not make them disappear’: Social construction of migrant Roma in Norwegian media.
- BA Cultural Studies, University of Oslo, 2007-2011
Tags:
Cultural Psychology,
Development policy and practice,
Knowledge production,
Decolonial- and feminist approaches,
Qualitative research
Publications
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Adolfsson, Johanna Sofia; Normann, Susanne; Nakkerud, Erik & Haugestad, Christian Andres Palacios
(2025).
Indigenizing Psychology A Way Forward for Indigenous Knowledges in the Psy-Disciplines?
International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation.
ISSN 2157-3883.
14(2),
p. 59–69.
doi:
10.1027/2157-3891/a000121.
Full text in Research Archive
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This article examines the potential benefits and challenges of incorporating ecological epistemologies and Indigenous Knowledges (IK) within psychological science. While there is growing recognition of the value of IK in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, there is a risk of reproducing problems associated with mainstream psychology’s individualist and universalist approaches. In acknowledging nonhegemonic approaches, it is crucial to avoid romanticizing or exploiting/extracting ecological epistemologies and IK. Such actions can lead to the othering and neocolonization of Indigenous communities, undermining their autonomy and perpetuating harmful power dynamics. As for psychological science and practice engagement with IK might lead to an essentialization, which, again, sustains hegemonic psychological norms. We suggest that Cultural Psychology’s dialogical focus and sensitivity to the meaning of the broader context and power relations provides important tools for fostering deeper learning and supporting decolonial transformation in psychological science’s turn to ecological and Indigenous Knowledges.
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Adolfsson, Johanna Sofia; Hansen, Arve & Wethal, Ulrikke Bryn
(2025).
Between Distributed Agency and Choice Architecture: Comparing Nudge and Practice Theoretical Approaches to Changing Consumption.
In Jacobsen, Eivind; Strandbakken, Pål; Dulsrud, Arne & Skuland, Silje Elisabeth (Ed.),
Consumers and Consumption in Comparison (Volume 37).
Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
ISSN 9781835493144.
p. 189–213.
doi:
10.1108/S0195-631020240000037009.
Full text in Research Archive
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Adolfsson, Johanna Sofia; Banik, Dan & Dulani, Boniface
(2024).
Power, Politics, and the Supernatural: Exploring the Role of Witchcraft Beliefs in Governance for Development.
Forum for Development Studies.
ISSN 0803-9410.
doi:
10.1080/08039410.2024.2374707.
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Belief in evil and hidden supernatural forces, generally referred to as witchcraft, is widespread in many parts of the African continent. In addition to affecting individual health, perceived security, and social relations, witchcraft allegations may be used as covert political instruments, resulting in governance challenges such as lack of trust, transparency, administrative delegation, and political accountability. Since witchcraft is commonly associated with physiological and psychological violence, some citizens may be less willing to participate in political activities, including seeking elected office or criticizing political elites for fear of falling victim to witchcraft. The focus of our study is Malawi where large groups in the population believe in the power of witchcraft. We aim to unpack how local witchcraft beliefs have a bearing on governance – whether, and the extent to which, witchcraft influences how citizens understand and practice transparency and accountability in everyday life. Particularly, the belief in witchcraft among Malawian elites’ warrants closer scrutiny, especially since existing literature and local discourse on the impact of witchcraft tend to largely focus on rural and less educated groups in the population. As the highly secret and complex dimensions of witchcraft resist clear-cut definitions, representations, and analysis, it is not our intention to describe witchcraft in everyday life. Rather, we explore the potential political implications of not addressing elite discourses of and belief in witchcraft. We find that belief in witchcraft can influence citizens’ perceptions of power and authority and can potentially undermine the legitimacy of democratic institutions and processes.
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Adolfsson, Johanna Sofia & Moss, Sigrun Marie
(2021).
Making Meaning of Empowerment and Development in Rural Malawi—International Individualism Meets Local Communalism.
The Journal of Social and Political Psychology.
9(2),
p. 623–636.
doi:
10.5964/jspp.7549.
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Empowerment is a prominent concept in psychology, and for decades, it has been a key term in global development policy, theory, and practice. However, in line with similar turns toward individualism in psychology, the prevalent understanding of the concept centers on individual capacity to change circumstances, with less focus on empowerment as a context-dependent or communal approach. In this article, adopting decolonial feminist psychology as a lens, we analyze how rural Malawians make meaning of the overarching empowerment and development approach of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in their villages, and how they perceive the approaches as fitting with local contexts. When development implementers largely ignore Malawi’s communal lifestyle, individualized empowerment initiatives can lead to individual and communal disempowerment and distress. Given psychology’s large influence on other arenas, and psychology’s implication with the individualized gender-development-empowerment nexus, we argue that it is imperative to explore the effects and experiences of this empowerment approach in different contexts. A more context-appropriate understanding of empowerment—as with most other psychological concepts—is needed.
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Adolfsson, Johanna Sofia & Moss, Sigrun Marie
(2021).
“Even the NGOs Never Talk About Ufiti [Witchcraft]”: a Decolonial and Feminist Cultural Psychological Analysis of Individualized Development Clashing with Communal Ways of Being.
Human Arenas.
ISSN 2522-5790.
doi:
10.1007/s42087-021-00230-1.
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Conducting a multi-sited psychology study on how Malawian participants perceive Western-oriented non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs) gendered development approaches, it became apparent that perceptions of ufiti (the Malawian term for what loosely translates as witchcraft in English)—and its gendered inclination—was highly relevant. As in many parts of the world, people in Malawi may relate themselves and their social world in connection to spiritual and supernatural dimensions, manifested in practices and discourses often closely linked to communal norms and values. Many international NGOs in Malawi run individualized development initiatives, often particularly focusing on women and girls’ personal empowerment. When local communal ways of experiencing and knowing are not taken account for in the NGOs’ interventions, this indiviualized approach can spur interpersonal resentment, and in worst-case ufiti assaults. This article explores the link between individualized development incentives and perceptions of ufiti. Using decolonial and feminist cultural psychology as a lens, we ask how the individualized focus of the NGOs plays out in Malawi, and what negative and unintended consequences individualized interventions can lead to. Our results indicate the need for contextually grounded and informed development approaches, to avoid that effort to empower individual women and girls lead to their disempowerment, social disruption, and ufiti accusations and assaults. The article speaks to the need for decolonial and feminist cultural psychological approaches that consider subjective intentional worlds.
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Adolfsson, Johanna & Madsen, Ole Jacob
(2019).
“Nowadays there is gender”: “Doing” global gender equality in rural Malawi.
Theory & psychology.
ISSN 0959-3543.
p. 1–21.
doi:
10.1177/0959354319879507.
Full text in Research Archive
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This article analyzes the intersection of psychology with global development policy and practice, reviewing how gender as a concept is negotiated and understood amongst men and women in rural Malawi. We argue that gender, considered from a psychological perspective, has been narrowed down to meet the standards of global policy actors. By empowering individuals to “self-actualize,” policy implementers expect social and economic spin-off effects such as lower birth rates, higher education levels, and poverty reduction. The focus on individuals acts to obscure the broader structural power inequities, is especially prevalent in rural Malawi. To explain this, we use Haslam’s idea of “concept creep,” on how psychological concepts tend to affect other institutional traditions. The everyday understandings of gendered life described here show how gender is a fluid concept that shifts according to cultural, social, and ideological norms.
View all works in NVA
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Adolfsson, Johanna Sofia
(2023).
The Psychologization of Development:Westernization and individualization of ways of being.
Full text in Research Archive
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Banik, Dan & Adolfsson, Johanna Sofia
(2022).
Conceptions of illness and belief in the supernatural: A threat to public health?
Full text in Research Archive
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Adolfsson, Johanna
(2019).
SUM-Forum: "Negotiating Girl Power: empowering women and girls to build sustainable livelihoods".
Full text in Research Archive
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Adolfsson, Johanna
(2019).
“Moving forward together”: International individualism meets local communalism when discussing empowerment and development with rural Malawians.
Full text in Research Archive
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Kloster, Maren Olene & Adolfsson, Johanna
(2019).
Kvinnen - en smart investeringsmulighet.
Fett.
ISSN 1504-1921.
p. 36–39.
Full text in Research Archive
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Adolfsson, Johanna & Madsen, Ole Jacob
(2018).
'Nowadays there is gender': 'doing' global gender policy in rural Malawi'.
Full text in Research Archive
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Adolfsson, Johanna
(2018).
"There is no gender in this car!": Psychological Concepts Constructing the Global Development Agenda.
Full text in Research Archive
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View all works in NVA
Published
Aug. 16, 2013 12:59 PM
- Last modified
Aug. 18, 2025 2:10 PM
