Research interests:

My research focuses on how marginalized people challenge the status quo and engage into social change by applying experimental research designs and methods in the lab as well in the field. Within this domain I follow three main lines of research in a systematic way: (1) social change in developing countries, (2) responses to social discrimination, and (3) dynamics in intergroup relations.

My main interest at this point is the question how social change in developing countries is instigated by the introduction of different aspects of modernization from developed countries. My research on this topic aims to test a theoretical model of the interplay of individual and social change in developing countries by differentiating between different aspects of modernization (i.e. information communication technology, money, energy, and education). I am currently conducting research in Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Senegal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka. 

 

Key publications:

Hansen, N., Koudenburg, N., Hiersemann, R., Tellegen, P., Kocsev, M., & Postmes, T. (2012). Laptop usage affects abstract reasoning of children in the developing world. Computers & Education, 59, 989–1000. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2012.04.013

Hansen, N., Postmes, T., van der Vinne, N., & van Thiel, W. (2012). Information and communication technology and cultural change. How ICT usage changes self-construal and values. Social Psychology,  43, 222–231. doi: 10.1027/1864-9335/a00012

Hansen, N., & Sassenberg, K. (2011). Exploring the self-directed anger of the stigmatized. The interplay between legitimacy and social identification. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 14, 807-818.

Hansen, N. & Sassenberg, K. (2006). Does social identification buffer or harm? The impact of social identification on anger after social discrimination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 983-996.

Mendoza-Denton, R., & Hansen, N. (2008). Networks of meaning: intergroup relations, cultural worldviews, and knowledge activation principles. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1, 68-83.

Sassenberg, K. & Hansen, N. (2007). The impact of regulatory focus on affective responses to social discrimination. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 421-444.

Other publications:

Kocsev, M., Hansen, N., Hollow, D., & Pischetola, M. (2009). Innovative learning in Ethiopia. Joint working paper. Engineering Capacity Building Program. Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. ISBN: 978-90-367-5612-9.