On 1 April 2016, Otto Adang became Professor by Special Appointment of Security and Collective Behaviour at the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences. Adang has held the chair in Public Order Management at the Police Academy of the Netherlands since 2004. The University chair is being funded by the Police Academy for a period of at least five years. Public security is an ongoing concern for governments, police and many other organizations. Over the past few years, Europe has seen an upsurge in serious riots and civil disorder. The Netherlands is also at risk of large-scale disturbances to public order, which could seriously disrupt society and compromise public security. Knowledge is vital to ensure that we can prevent, or when necessary respond to, this kind of collective behaviour. The aim of the special chair is to contribute to new theories, research, teaching and valorization of knowledge about the mechanisms that play a role in collective behaviour, and which enhance or detract from the security of situations during interaction between government and citizens, whereby theory and practice are closely intertwined. In the past few years, Adang has built up a body of unique knowledge on collective behaviour in relation to security. The Police Academy, which is keen to expand this knowledge and link it to academic information, sees this special chair as a golden opportunity. Dr Otto M.J. Adang (1956) is a behavioural scientist. He has held a chair in Public Order Management at the Police Academy of the Netherlands since 2004. Adang is interested in aggression, reconciliation and collective behaviour in relation to public order enforcement. Since 1998, he has also headed a research programme he set up himself entitled Managing Dangerous Conflict Situations, which focuses on the interaction between police and citizens. Adang was a member of the Project X Haren committee.

motivational psychology, goal failure, pro-social behavior, anti-social behavior, compensatory behavior, psychological needs, intergroup behavior

I am a social and applied psychologist interested in social identity, intergroup relations, acculturation, diversity, stigmatized groups, and gender inequality. Currently, I am working on masculinities, inequality and trust, and identification by using qualitative and experimental methods.

Political Psychology

Sociale Psychologie, Organisatie psychologie, Stress/Welzijn, Intergroeps relaties, Socialisatieproces

Environmental psychology, group processes, human values, social identity. 

Teaching: Coordinator Economic and Consumer Psychology (Bachelor, year 3), supervisor Bachelor's and Master's theses. 

Research interests: I am interested in personal and group factors that drive individuals’ responses to global crises, in particular climate change. One research line I am currently working on focuses on personal and (perceived) group values. What values do individuals strongly endorse, what values do individuals perceive others to endorse, and how do such values influence individuals’ attitudes and behaviours?

Another line of research focuses on the interaction between individuals and technology, particularly within the energy domain. How can we better understand and consider the preferences and motivations of people within energy systems, how can we adjust technological innovations to user preferences and motivations, and can we give people a more active role within energy systems and the decision making about energy systems? 

In my work, I collaborate with various partners in the field, such as municipalities (e.g., Groningen, Wageningen), national governments (e.g., Ministry of Economic and Climate Affairs), energy companies (Enexis, Alliander), nature organizations (e.g., WWF, Alliance for Nature, Groninger Landschap, Dutch Association of Zoos) and schools.

Supervisor of the following postdoctoral researchers:
Elliot Sharpe (NWO & ERA-Net funded, TOP-UP project)
Lisa Novoradovskaya (NWO funded, TeSoPs project)

Supervisor of the following PhD students:
Carla Zhou (CSC Scholarship),
Fernanda Reintgen Kamphuis (ReMa fund),
Charlie Walker Clarke (NWO funded, FlexECs project),
Catho Vermeulen (joint program with University of Ghent; VLAIO/Blauwe Cluster funded, Blue Balance Project),
Marylise Schmid (joint program with University of Ghent; VLAIO/Blauwe Cluster funded, Blue Balance Project),
Steph Johnson Zawadzki (NWO funded, ERSAS project),
Nieke Lemmen (NWO funded, MERGE project),
Wang Xiao (ongoing, joint program with Fudan University)

Former PhD students:
Lu Liu (graduated 2022; CSC Scholarship)
Mark Verschoor

Biobank / Biobanking, Big Data, Social Psychology, Ethics, Innovative Technology

Broadly speaking, my research focuses on what drives members of advantaged groups to behave anti-socially and pro-socially towards disadvantaged groups, using quantitative methods. In that vein, I am currently researching the motivational and emotional rudiments of 'solidarity-based collective action' as part of my PhD project. My other research interests are collective violence, group-based norms and dissent, which I attempt to implement into political issues.

I conduct my PhD studies under the supervision of Prof Dr Ernestine H. Gordijn, Prof Dr Katherine E. Stroebe & Dr Yasin Koç.

Adrien analyses the interest in and feasibility of citizen participation in energy governance. He is focusing on public participation in the context of the energy transition, examining the prospects for energy community development in the European context, as well as any other bottom-up initiative that advances the energy transition while evaluating the potential improvement of local democratic procedures and people's wellbeing.
Adrien's area of expertise is in the crossroads of Environmental psychology and energy law, attempting to address challenges by mobilising multiple fields of knowledge.

Social-cognitive factors of behaviour change; Public health promotions; Acceptability of innovations; Social dilemma and cooperation

Political polarization, value conflict, morality, attitude moralization, political discourse, social change, quantitative methods and statistics

Health Psychology, Psychosocial determinants of health and health-related behaviours

Health Psychology; Behavior change and modification; Lifestyle; Addiction; Lifestyle coaching; Psychology of Covid-19; Science and Methodology

Disasters; Crisis Management; Vulnerability Analysis; Public Safety; Public Health

Counterfactual thoughts; regret; nostalgia; counterfacual emotions; social judgment

Consumer psychology, persuasion, unconscious influence, consumer self-regulation, nudging and heuristics, consumer health and well-being, food-related decision making.

I am deeply fascinated by what you could label "Hidden Persuasion": how subtle (and not so subtle) marketing cues influence consumers in their emotions, thoughts and behavior, frequently without them being aware of this influence. The results of this research can aid in empowering consumers and foster health and wellbeing. Please see the research page for an overview of published work in these areas

Values and Moral Convictions, Moralization, Intergroup Relations, and Social Change

Negotiation, Conflict Management, Leadership, Power, Group identity, Justice and Punishment, Organizational conspiracy beliefs

My research is centrally concerned with how social environments (ranging from cultural resources and discourses to everyday social interactions) influence individual development. For example, my PhD research project focuses on how sexual identity construction is influenced by conversation partners, who mediate the influence of cultural conceptions on sexual identity development in the context of everyday interactions. I am also interested in developing methods and theoretical frameworks for understanding how discursive processes can account for the emergence of psychological properties that are commonly understood as latent traits. I have a specific expertise in: dynamic systems theory, thematic analysis, narrative analysis, time series analysis, discourse and conversation analysis, identity construction, queer theory, LGBTQ* psychology, and identity development.

My expertise lies in the field of psychosocial intervention research that improve health in broad sense. Healthy aging not only involves prevention and curing diseases. People aging successfully are individuals who have the ability to adapt and self manage in the face of social, physical, and emotional challenges. The  Self-Management of Well-being interventions have demonstrated to be effective, and I’m currently working on projects to make this intervention more widely available and suitable for a larger group of older individuals. I have a background in social and health psychology and received my PhD in 2011 in the field of cognitive behavioral interventions for cancer-related fatigue. As a postdoc I broadened my expertise to fatigue in other illnesses, such as type 1 diabetes mellitus, kidney transplant recipients and chronic fatigue syndrome. More recently, I'm focusing on the possibility of e-health psychosocial interventions for cancer patients.

Environmental psychology: public acceptability of energy system elements and environmental policies

My expertise and interest are LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic and questioning) children and youth in the child protection system (CPS). I am currently working on the Audre project which focuses on the experiences of LGBTQIA+ youth from their own perspective and also from their carers and professionals` perspective. 

More specifically, my research focuses on the resilience, personal and community-based, of LGBTQIA+ youth in the CPS.

Other topics: Child and family welfare; inequalities in child protection;  family foster care; residential child and youth care; LGBTQIA+ youth in care; participation of children and families in the child protection system. 

stereotyping, prejudice, emotions, intergroup conflict

Social psychology, Online (group) behaviour, Collective action, Humour, Quantitave and qualitative research.

Researcher in the area of sustainable behaviour change and consumer behaviour.

Emotion regulation, negative feedback

My main research interests include the psychological foundations of gender relations and inequality. I approach these topics with a combination of ideas from social, cultural, and evolutionary psychology, using quantitative and qualitative research methods (e.g. lab experiments, vignette studies, surveys, observations, interviews).

My research is directed to finding new ways of increasing gender equality and women's empowerment by offering researchers and the general public a more nuanced understanding of why sexism, gender-based violence, and other (both explicit and implicit) discriminatory gender beliefs persist.

I enjoy collaborating on research that brings evolutionary psychology perspectives to existing research questions in social psychology around gender relations and sexism.

BA/MA students interested in conducting research on these topics, and those seeking international research experience are welcome to contact me.

Social and cultural change driven by modernization in the Global South, women's empowerment, migration and integration of refugees, microfinance services, social impact evaluations

Integration of migrant newcomers (in the Netherlands), intergroup contact.

Effective study techniques, Time-management, Academic writing skills

social psychology, intergroup contact

- Law and Psychology
- Advertising and Food Law
- Behavioural Finance
- Protecting consumers by means of information

Social complexity, agent based simulation, innovation diffusion, opinion dynamics

Group processes, Social identity, Bottom-up initiatives, Sustainability transitions, Diversity, Interdisciplinarity

I work as an organizational psychologist, researcher, coach and trainer. I am interested in topics around creativity, flow, core qualities and coaching. The overarching theme in my work is creating an optimal fit between the individual’s qualities and needs and the work context, to optimize work performance and enjoyment.  

For creativity and brainstorming, I'm interested in the way in which people come to optimal creativite performance, which differs per person. For example, whereas novel and flexible ideas will be beneficial for some, others' creativity and productivity will benefit more from everyday and structured ideas. 

For flow, I'm interested in how flow experiences and working from your core qualities helps to reach your full potential, and how such an experience adds to your (creative) performance. 

Next to my work as an assistant professor, I work as a coach and trainer via my company Groeiflow, further bridging theory and practice. Here, I help people to experience more flow and creativity and in their personal and professional development.

See also: www.kikidejonge.nl and www.groeiflow.nl

My research interests focus on the psychology of social change and societal transitions. In particular, I am interested in investigating the role of morally-motivated deviance in changing social norms, lay beliefs about human-nature and human-artifact relations, the consequences of collective future thinking, and how misperceptions can act as a barrier to climate change mitigation.

Babet Kanis is o.l.v. Katherine Stroebe en Tom Postmes werkzaam binnen het project Gronings Perspectief (www.groningsperspectief.nl), een onderzoek naar de sociaal-psychologische gevolgen van aardbevingen op de Groninger.

I am a social psychologist interested in investigating  how disadvantaged groups navigate their identities through privileged systems. How do they deal with their lower status? How does society perceive them? When do advantaged groups support their action to improve their status? To seek answers for these questions, I use diverse methods often combining correlatinal exploratory studies with follow-up experiments as well as qualitative research to develop an indepth understanding of the psychological phenomenon. I have 4 main lines of research:

1. Multiple Conflicting Identities: We all have multiple social identities, but what happens when some of them are  in conflict with each other ? By drawing parallels between bicultural identity integration framework and social identity theory, we examine the nature of identity conflict and ways to increase integration between multiple conflicting identities. 

2. Experiences of Disadvantaged Groups:  What happens to disadvantaged group members when they are discriminated? Do they stick with their group? Do they try to improve their status by leaving their group? How are they affected by societal issues? Focusing on  social change and well-being outcomes , we investigate these questions.

3. Majority's Perceptions of Disadvantaged Groups: Intergroup conflict is prevelant in our lives. The society always seems divived and polarised. How does the majority perceive the minoritized groups? What motivates discrimination? How can we improve intergroup relations? We investigate these questions from the perspective of the majority, yet with an emphasis on improving the status of the disadvanted groups.

4. Responding to Privilege: When people belong to advantaged groups, they struggle to acknowledge their privilege that comes with their group belonging. People, therefore, have different ways to react to their own privilege: Deny, Distance, Dismantle or 3-D was conceptualised by Knowles and colleagues, and recently Defend was added to this conceptualisation by Shuman et al. We investigate when people use which strategy, and how privilege acknowledgement can relate to allyship.

5. New Masculinities: There is a higher recognition that masculinity is not singular, but there are multiple constructions of masculinities. More and more men create and endorse progressive masculinities against traditional perspectives. But what happens next? Do new masculinities threaten manhood? How does society perceive the new progressive men? Can traditional and new masculinities co-exist? Using mixed methods research, we explore these questions.

Environmental psychology, sustainable consumer behaviour, food waste, meat consumption, social influence, cognitive dissonance

Group processes and communication. Polarisation, social change, micro-dynamics of conversation

When and how do people initiate and plan collective action (e.g., social protest) through group-based interaction over time?

While the roles of motivational factors that incite collective action have been assessed, no collective action research thus far combines all the ingredients necessary for protests to emergence into one research design. Between 2022 and 2026, I will develop and use a new paradigm, the Groningen Simulated Society Paradigm (GSSP), to answer novel research questions. By combining social interactional and longitudinal elements to this group-based experiment, I will analyse how social interactions about various forms of injustice (e.g. structural, situational, (ir)relevant to identity and morality) lead to the initiation and planning of collective action behaviour.

psychological needs, intergroup relations, cultural adaptation, motivation

Madeline's research focuses on women's empowerment and nutritional security in Bangladesh and Ethiopia.

Motivation and goal pursuit; implicit social cognition; social contagion; aggression

Environmental Psychology: public perception, acceptability of energy policy and technology, distributive fairness, environmental justice.

Consumer ethics | Decision-making | Cause-Related Marketing | Charities | Fundraising | Corporate Responsibility | Sustainable Society | Consumer behavior | Sustainable packaging | Justice and Fairness | Negotiation and bargaining  

Environmental Psychology
Traffic Psychology

Child and family welfare;  decision-making; inequalities in  child protection ;  family foster care; residential child and youth care; transition to adulthood from public care; LGBTQIA+ youth in care; participation of children and families in the child protection system

Environmental Psychology, Climate change adaptation, Positive Adaptation, Psychological resilience

Marketing, consumer behavior, social psychology, social influence, communication, experimental research

Health Psychology, Social determinants of health

Valentin Mang is a PhD candidate at the Department of Marketing and the Department Social Psychology. His current research focusses on misinformation in consumer contexts. Besides that, his research and teaching interests include attitudes, persuasion, and other topics in social and consumer psychology.

Environmnetal and social psychology
Environmnetal beliefs, frugality, climate change adaptation, teaching innovation.

morality, (un)ethical behavior, sanctions, rules and norms

diversity, intergroup relations, social integration, social identity

My key research interests lie in public evaluations and acceptability of energy sources, systems and policies, and which factors influence these evaluations and acceptability judgements. I focus on theory development and applying theory in addressing acute environmental and energy problems.

Environmental psychology
Traffic psychology

Tom Postmes (PhD, 1997, University of Amsterdam) studies human behavior in virtual groups and communities, in crowds and also in organizations and "normal" teams. A major theme in his work how individual actions, thoughts and social interactions become co-ordinated, in such a way that people act and think as a team, a group, an organization or as a society. In chaotic, unusual or unexpected situations (a demonstration, a disaster but also online) a process of self-organisation takes place. We can learn a lot from this and it raises questions about group dynamics in “normal” groups and everyday life. Central to a lot of his work is the influence of personal and social identity: the relation of the individual to the group.

Tom became a professor of Social Psychology at the University of Exeter in 2004. Since returning to The Netherlands in 2007, he is the chair of Social Psychology at the University of Groningen. He received various awards from august institutions such as the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO), the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) and National Science Foundation (USA). In recent years, he has collaborated with various ministries on research projects concerned with societal discontent and social unrest in The Netherlands. He also studies the societal impact of induced earthquakes in Groningen, and is Scientific Director of the knowledge platform (Kennisplatform Leefbaar en Kansrijk Groningen, in Dutch) that seeks to integrate knowledge about this and promote its application. 

Workplace inclusion, disclosure, and identity management of employees with a concealable stigmatized minority identity, with a specific focus on lesbian, gay, and bisexual people

My (Phd) research focusses on social relations (e.g. social capital, group identity) and how they influence health and wellbeing. I study these proceses in the context of a larger (applied) project "Gronings Perpectief", in which we study the social impact of the earthquakes in Groningen.

Environmental psychology, economic psychology, consumer marketing, sustainable behaviour

My research interests are in economic and environmental psychology, and social marketing. My main focus is on understanding how lay beliefs shape social change. Of particular interest is how people's understanding of economic phenomena, including public policy communication, affects social sentiments, movements, and decision-making. For example, how do government health interventions affect the spread of conspiracy theories or the uptake of vaccines? How do beliefs about the economy shape attitudes towards sustainability and sustainable consumption?

Social (& clinical) psychology, education in academic skills and pedagogical sciences, internship supervision, coordination of education and projects, academic advice BSS

How pro-environmental actions relate to each other (especially: do people who behave pro-environmentally also support sustainable policies?) The role of intrinsic pro-environmental motivation (acting without external rewards or sanctions but because it is meaningful) on engagement in pro-environmental action.

Contact me --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Environmental psychology; understanding environmental behaviour including energy use and car use; acceptability and effectiveness of environmental policy; sustainable energy transition; cllimate change; values; intrinsic motivation

Claire is PhD student with a keen interest in bringing research findings into practice and making positive social impact. Claire has a background in development economics with a research master from Paris-Dauphine. Before starting her PhD, she worked in development and humanitarian settings in implementation research. She has wide experience working for  South-East Asian countries (Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) and has worked with a various range of stakeholders at the leardership level with Governments, donors, research institutions, and at working levels with Civil Society Organizations, NGOs, and UN entities.

Katherine’s research focuses on the social psychology of justice. She is specifically interested in the behavioral and psychological outcomes of individual and collective justice violations. These outcomes include collective behaviour, health, well-being and the overall process of resilience (of which behavioral, health and wellbeing responses can be indicators). Since 2016, she has been working on a large-scale research project looking into the impact of man-made earthquakes due to gas extraction on health, wellbeing and (collective) actions (see www.groningsperspectief.nl).

"Ambivalence" in Societal Debates

I'm a social psychologist, specialized in psycho-oncology and health psychology. I work at the department of Health Psychology, in the lab of Prof. Mariët Hagedoorn, 'Intimate relationships in the face of illness'.My research is focused on differences in adaptation to cancer or other health challenges between single and partnered patients. I'm interested in whether single survivors differ from those with a partner with respect to  the support they receive, distress level, sexuality, self-esteem and body image. I also focus on whether a partner can be involved to help with a more healthy lifestyle (e.g. quitting smoking) and better quality of life.

Environmental psychology, traffic psychology, social psychology, consumer psychology.
Behaviour change, designing interventions, acceptability of innovations, emission-free mobility, recycling and waste separation

Climate change adaptation by individuals and households.

Effective team functioning, team composition, diversity, team membership changes, collaboration within and between teams, performance management.

Study advisor: I'm the study advisor for students of the master programmes of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences (MMIT & CPE and related tracks)

Education: In addition, I'm working for SCOPE; the center of expertise of personal development, in the UMCG. We develop and provide education related to student's personal and professional development. Topics addressed are, amongst others, socialisation, professional identity development, values, core qualities and keeping a healthy balance in life. Our education is experiental-oriented, aiming to reach another way of learning by using interactive and creative teaching methods. From a mere cognitive focus back to experiencing, gaining insights about yourself and your social context, and being inspired.

Research: I have finished my PhD thesis in the domain of educational and organizational change. I am fascinated with change in organisations; how people respond, the dynamics that occur, and the complexities of organizing change for those in charge, the change leaders. My PhD thesis particularly focuses on the complexities of organizing change in medical schools' undergraduate curricula.

Topics PhD thesis: undergraduate curriculum change, medical education, complexity, challenges and strategies of change leaders, situational awareness, governance, the role of local institutional contexts in international curriculum development projects.

Environmental behaviour; behavioural change; environmental self-identity; interventions

I am interested in factors influencing consistent pro-environmental behaviour and strategies to change environmental actions. My main research interests are environmental self-identity and incentives to promote behavioural change. I enjoy collaborating with researchers from other disciplines and applying my research to real life problems.

I am interested in relationships around entrepreneurs, be they personal relationships that provide the enterpreneur with support, or startups' relationships with stakeholders, and how these make it possible for small businesses to thrive. Because these relationships are key in shaping the ecosystem, I am interested in both the social mechanisms that make it possible for individuals to thrive, as well as mechanisms that shape the interpersonal makeup of a particular ecosystem's structure.  

I am interested in whether organizational gender diversity interventions are effective for different ethnic and racial groups of women. In line with this, I investigate how gender diversity interventions can be designed with intersectional considerations to improve individual and organizational outcomes across different intersections of gender and race.


diversity management, intersectionality, gender diversity interventions, women of color

Health Psychology

Organizational Behavior: Objectification; Leadership; Paradox; Gig Work; Creativity; Work Motivation.
Social Psychology: Social Perception; Interpersonal Interaction.

Cross-Cultural Depression Prevention
Self-criticism vs. Self-compassion
Culture: Collectivism vs. Individualism, Independence vs. Interdependece

Political and Cultural Psychology of Social Relationships