• Bastiaan Rutjens

This research project investigates the complexities behind public trust and skepticism toward science. While political ideology often garners attention as the primary driver of science skepticism—especially concerning climate change—this research project reveals a broader array of influences, including religiosity, moral beliefs, and science literacy. By examining a diverse North American sample, the project explores how these factors shape opinions on issues like climate change, genetic modification, and vaccination. They find that while political ideology strongly correlates with climate change skepticism, it does not significantly predict skepticism in other areas, such as genetic modification or vaccine safety. Religious beliefs, especially religious orthodoxy, emerge as a potent predictor of general science distrust, impacting willingness to support science funding. The research suggests that low scientific literacy is linked to skepticism in specific domains like genetic modification but is not a consistent factor across all areas of science distrust. This work highlights the importance of understanding the nuanced reasons people question science, emphasizing that skepticism cannot be mitigated by simply increasing scientific knowledge. Instead, targeted strategies are needed to address the varying bases of science skepticism, with particular attention to the role of religiosity and moral concerns.

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• Macdougall, Alex I. | van der Veen, Jaap | Feddes, Allard R. | Nickolson, Lars | Doosje, Bertjan

Radicalising individuals gradually accept violence as legitimate to instigate political and/or societal changes. In two studies, we investigate the beginning phase of the radicalisation process. We examine whether different trajectories into radicalism can be distinguished based on underlying needs, related to identity, injustice, sensation, or significance. Study investigated the relation between these psychological needs and risk factors of radicalisation such as relative deprivation. Study 2 examined whether individuals are attracted to organisations that cater to their own psychological needs, and whether individuals who are thought to be more at risk indeed support violent organisations to a greater extent. Findings indicate that individuals with stronger desires for justice and status are attracted to organisations that can gratify such desires. In addition, at-risk individuals indeed support violent organisations to a greater extent. The implications of these findings for future research and government policy are discussed.

• Allard R. Feddes, Liesbeth Mann, Bertjan Doosje

Quantitative results are reported of a longitudinal evaluation of a resilience training as a possible method to prevent violent radicalization. A total of 46 male and female Muslim adolescents and young adults with a migrant background participated. Results show that the training significantly increased participants' reports of agency and a marginal increase was found in reported self-esteem, empathy and perspective taking but also narcissism. Attitudes toward ideology-based violence and own violent intentions were significantly lower after the training than before. Higher reports of empathy were related to less positive attitudes toward ideology-based violence. These results suggest that an intervention aimed at empowering individuals in combination with strengthening empathy is successful in countering violent radicalization.

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• Feddes, Allard R. Huijzer, Anne van Ooijen, Irene Doosje, Bertjan

• In cooperation with Stichting Vredeseducatie

The Radicalisation Awareness Network (a European Commission–sponsored initiative) included educational interventions teaching youth about democracy as a method to prevent radicalization. In two experimental studies, effects of the interactive exhibition “Fortress of Democracy” were assessed. The exhibition led to an increase in knowledge about democracy, and bootstrap analyses showed an indirect effect of increased knowledge on, respectively, greater trust in the government and less support for ideology-based violence via more positive attitudes toward democracy. Study 2 showed an increase in positive attitudes toward democracy (ethnic minority participants) and trust in the government (both ethnic minority and majority participants). During data collection, the Dutch government stepped down, reducing trust in the government and lessening positive attitudes toward democracy. This was restored by the exhibition. Results are discussed in terms of the strengths and limitations of preventing radicalization through educational interventions.

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• Cameron Brick

The What Works Network helps policymakers and practitioners across the UK make informed decisions by providing toolkits that summarize evidence on various interventions. Despite their impact, developing these toolkits is challenging, as evidence can affect multiple outcomes, impact different population segments, and vary over time, while uncertainties in evidence remain. My team conducted a study to evaluate how well the toolkits communicate evidence and meet user needs. Over 450 decision-makers from seven What Works Centres and Conservation Evidence participated, revealing that their top priorities are understanding the effectiveness of interventions and the quality of supporting evidence. Additionally, policymakers prioritized information on financial costs and potential harms, while practitioners valued detailed evidence quality metrics, such as study type and number.

To optimize toolkit design, we also surveyed 200 members of the general public, who shared similar preferences, suggesting they could be a helpful group for future toolkit testing. The study explored the effectiveness of icons, with a microscope symbol emerging as the most recognizable for “evidence quality.” Users prefer detailed breakdowns of evidence but cautioned against overly complex summaries that could reduce engagement. This feedback guides ongoing efforts to improve toolkits, ensuring they are clear, accessible, and useful for informed decision-making.

Prof. Dr. Gerben van Kleef studies the social dynamics of human behavior. He is particularly interested in the role of emotions, power, and norm violations. He obtained his PhD at the University of Amsterdam (2004, cum laude). He also worked at the University of California at Berkeley and at Columbia University in New York. Between 2012 and 2016 he held an extraordinary professorship in prosocial behavior on behalf of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is currently professor and chair of the social psychology department of the University of Amsterdam.

Prof. Dr. Frenk van Harreveld studies the experience of uncertainty and how this impacts on perceptions and behaviour. He holds the chair “Social cognition and behavioural change in relation to sustainability and safety”, sponsored by the National Institute for Public Health and the environment (RIVM). He obtained his PhD at the University of Amsterdam. Subsequently he worked for the world’s largest consulting firm Accenture, after which he returned to the UvA. He has worked as a visiting researcher at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Dr. Marc Heerdink is an Assistant Professor specializing in emotional group processes, group-based social influence, and polarization. He is experienced in large-scale data analysis (‘big data’), for instance using data from social media, as well a smaller-scale, explanation-focused quantitative research. He obtained his degrees from the University of Amsterdam, and worked as a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom).

Dr.  Eftychia Stamkou is a social and cultural psychologist. She earned her PhD from the University of Amsterdam, where she is currently an Assistant Professor. She has been a visiting scholar at Columbia Business School, Columbia University and visiting professor at Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. Her primary research interests revolve around culture, social hierarchies, norm violations, and artistic impact. Eftychia is currently studying how art can be a catalyst for social change using novel methods like art experiments and computational models.

Dr. Bastiaan Rutjens (PhD 2012) is an Assistant Professor at the psychology department of the University of Amsterdam. His research interests are in social and cultural psychology, within which he focuses on the psychology of belief systems and worldviews. Most of his research targets the psychology of science, and investigates topics such as vaccine skepticism, science denial, and the relation between science, ideology, and religion.

Dr. Birga M. Schumpe is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. She earned her doctoral degree at the Helmut-Schmidt University in Hamburg, Germany. Before joining UvA, she gained international experience working at New York University Abu Dhabi, UAE and Booth School of Business in Chicago, USA. Her main interests are persuasion and behavioural change.

Dr. Nils Jostmann is an Assistant Professor of Social Psychology specialized in human motivation. He studies how people can motivate themselves and others effectively in a healthy and sustainable way. Feedback is a key factor in my work. Questions that he address are: What makes feedback effective? How can people deal with feedback and criticism? What are the benefits and downsides of positive feedback? His work includes lab and field research, teaching at all academic levels, as well as consultancy, lectures and workshops.

Dr. Giel Dik has a background in social cognition and did his PhD on the topic of goal contagion (i.e. unintentionally copying the social goal of another) at he University of Utrecht. He has worked for TNO (Prevention, Work, and Health) as an applied researcher, and as a lecturer in research methods and psychology at the Wageningen University and the Radboud University Nijmegen. Currently he does most of his teaching for the Social Influence MSc track, on topics of behavioral change and research methodology.

Roeland Voskens, MSc., develops and teaches bachelor and master courses in psychology at the UvA. His main interests are the fundamentals of(scientific) reasoning and decision making, applied (social) psychological processes in advertising and social influence,and the role of technology in human cognition and interaction.

Dr. Cameron Brick is an Assistant Professor of Social Psychology. His core interest is how individuals react to collective problems such as climate change. Human flourishing depends on continuously reconciling short- vs. long-term motivations and individual vs. collective interests. He builds models predicting social and political behavior from cognitions, individual differences, and social context. He is also interested in communication effectiveness, both for supporting informed decisions (i.e., communicating harms and benefits) and for behavior change (persuasion). He is available for consultancy and external talks.

Anna Bosshard is a PhD researcher at the Social Psychology department of the University of Amsterdam supervised by Dr. Cameron Brick and Prof. Dr. Frenk van Harreveld. Her research project is funded by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation and focuses on the psychological drivers and barriers of overconsumption and consumer resistance in the clothing domain. Before, she worked at an applied behavioral scientist on sustainability campaigns and studied Psychology at Leiden University, the University of Sydney and Utrecht University.

Saara Taavila is a PhD researcher at the Social Psychology department of the University of Amsterdam. Prior to joining the UvA, she obtained her Master’s in Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science and her BSc in Psychology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her PhD project, supervised by Dr. Bastiaan Rutjens and Dr. Nils Jostmann, investigates how people engage with complex information about sustainability. Apart from environmental psychology topics, she is interested in the process of belief formation and belief change, especially in the context of (climate) misinformation.

Dr. Allard Feddes is an Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Amsterdam who conducts research on societally based issues including radicalisation and terrorism, populism, migration, integration, intergroup conflict and cooperation, prejudice and hate crime against minorities. He has wide experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods and impact evaluation of interventions. He holds an MA degree in Social and Organisational Psychology of the University of Groningen (2004) and a PhD degree in Social Psychology of the Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena (2007). He has also worked and studied at universities in Maynooth, Vancouver, Lisbon, and Milan.