Raul Gomes de Almeida

Background

I am a social psychologist, and my research interests lie in the relationship between human development and community psychology. I am interested in investigating how individuals find and engage with community spaces to deal with their social dramas, and how these spaces contribute to their personality development. In my current research I investigate the religious conversion to pentecostalism in Brazil from a human development perspective, grounded in Cultural-Historical Theory.

Education

PhD candidate Social Psychology (in progress), University of São Paulo

MA in Social Psychology (2022), University of São Paulo 

BA in Psychology (2019), University of São Paulo 

International collaborations and awards

• Best PhD Presentation Award for the work “Religious conversion as a dramatic process: becoming a Pentecostal evangelical follower in Brazil”, presented at the International Society for Cultural-Historical Activity Research (ISCAR), 2024, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

• Member of Cultural-Historical Psychology and Education Research Virtual Lab, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

• Visiting international researcher at the Faculty of Education, Monash University (Mar–Aug, 2024).

Some publications

Almeida, R. G., & Veresov, N. (2026). How do social dramas affect human development? A dialectical proposal from cultural-historical theory. Learning, culture and social interactions, 56(100972), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2025.100972

Almeida, R. G., & Svartman, B. P. (2025). The presence of Pentecostalism in social movements: a case study with a psychosocial approach. Athenea Digital, v. 25, p. e3533. doi.org/10.5565/rev/athenea.3533

Almeida, R. G, & Aragusuku, H. A. (2025). The Psychological Dimension of Latin American Pentecostalism: a scoping review. International Journal of Latin American Religions. doi.org/10.1007/s41603-025-00291-y

Almeida, R. G., & Svartman, B. P. (in press). Critical formation in dispute: the psychosocial dynamics of a housing movement. Psicologia USP.

I am a social psychologist, and my research interests lie in the relationship between human development and community psychology. I am interested in investigating how individuals find and engage with community spaces to deal with their social dramas, and how these spaces contribute to their personality development. In my current research I investigate the religious conversion to pentecostalism in Brazil from a human development perspective, grounded in Cultural-Historical Theory.

Raul Gomes Almeida is PhD candidate in Social Psychology at University of São Paulo, Brazil. His research interests lie in the relationship between human development and social community psychology. Grounded in Cultural-Historical Theory and Methodology,  his researches are interested in investigating how individuals find and engage with community spaces to deal with their social dramas, and how these spaces contribute to their personality development.