https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/16813 2026-09-14T09:17:33Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148995 Title: From policy to practice : human resource development and diversity, equality and inclusion in a small island state Authors: Thake, Anne Marie; Cutajar, JosAnn Abstract: Problem: Organisations in Malta face growing pressure to implement diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) aligned with global and European standards. However, translating these norms into meaningful, context-sensitive practices within a small island state presents challenges. Tensions arise between formal compliance requirements and genuine inclusion when addressing intersectional inequalities related to gender, disability, nationality, and LGBTIQ + identities.; Solution: Using a qualitative approach based on interviews with HRD practitioners and black-letter analysis, this study shows how HRD actors include DEI into organisational development. Beyond formal policies on recruitment and pay equity, practitioners advance inclusive leadership development, mentoring, employee networks, and culture-building initiatives. Guided by institutional and paradox perspectives, these strategies balance regulatory compliance with transformative inclusion.; Stakeholders: Key stakeholders include HRD practitioners, organisational leaders, employees from diverse backgrounds, and policymakers shaping national and European equality frameworks. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148426 Title: Idiography in cultural political psychology : two routes to research Authors: Buhagiar, Luke Joseph Abstract: Specific cases of intercultural relations are precisely where the idiographic nature of such phenomena can be appreciated. By most accounts, what characterizes the idiographic is the emphasis on the individual case (Zedeck, 2014). This emphasis materialises itself as a focus on specific intercultural relations scenarios (the context in question, the people involved, etc.), specific intercultural relations disputes (objects of public debate, conflicting cultural practices, projects in common or otherwise, etc.), unique historic global events, and so on. The key word remains specificity. This specificity carries a range of implications with major consequences for how research is conducted in different cultural political psychologies and in psychology more broadly. [extract] 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148425 Title: Avatar-based interviewing : mediated research interviews in a gamified world Authors: Pulis, Matthew; Buhagiar, Luke Joseph Abstract: Avatars remain under-utilised in qualitative research interviews. This paper presents Avatar-Based Interviewing (ABI), which is a six-step qualitative method that addresses this gap by placing the avatar at the centre of the research encounter. Interviews are held in person, and an avatar is designed and discussed by participants. ABI involves: (1) identifying research questions and familiarising oneself with the gaming environment; (2) selecting an appropriate genre and game; (3) avatar creation by participants; (4) discussing the nickname chosen by participants for their avatar; (5) discussing the avatar and research topic; and (6) analysis with the avatar in focus. We present a case study with 23 teenagers in Malta, demonstrating ABI’s capacity to generate rich insights on young people’s identity and self-concepts. ABI encourages open dialogue and positions participants as co- researchers via its collaborative ethos. It allows the study of actual, ideal and alternative selves often missed by traditional interviews. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148424 Title: Endurance for life projects : individual resilience in the context of chronic pain Authors: Buhagiar, Luke Joseph Abstract: Critical scholarship on resilience often holds that discourses focusing on individual resilience reify neoliberal governance. Such critiques rightly address the socio-politics surrounding persons from whom resilience is socially expected. However, they also risk reducing resilience to simply another appendage of neoliberal ideology. This ideological reductionism contradicts itself, by implicitly acknowledging the role of individual agency in dealing with adversity, whilst simultaneously conceptualizing ‘resilience’ as unfolding exclusively in ideological discourse. In equating resilience with neoliberal governance, such critiques meaningfully favour community- based forms of resilience, but stop short of appreciating the mental toughness required by individuals facing adversity, for fear of implicitly endorsing neoliberalism. In this paper, I make the case for individual resilience, by appealing to examples related to chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS). The private, pervasive, unpredictable nature of pelvic pain, alongside often contrasting modes of pain management, make individual aspects of resilience essential in dealing with such adversity. Individual endurance features as indispensable and as complementary to community-based resilience, contrary to ideologically reductionist views. Taking CPPS as an exemplar for understanding similar chronic pain experiences, I argue that documented instances of resilience in this domain ultimately reflect the life projects that sufferers pursue despite their affliction. I conclude that: (1) psychology requires a re-conceptualisation of resilience as embodied ‘endurance for’ life projects, re-orienting individuals' approach to their chronic pain; (2) a focus on individual resilience does not imply neoliberal ideation, but can actually be accompanied by other theoretical counterparts at the societal level, some of which actively resist neoliberalism. 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z