Staff members with discipline Psychology, Social
Academia develops at the interface of different fields. This is one reason why the University of Groningen is home to a wide range of fields, each with a great number of subject specialists. The overview below, which is based on a standard categorization of fields, will help you find the right expert for each field. If you cannot find the expert you are looking for in this list, try searching via a related field or faculty; you may find him or her there.








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


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

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.









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







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.






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.






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




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





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.



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.








Traffic Psychology







Environmnetal beliefs, frugality, climate change adaptation, teaching innovation.







Traffic psychology

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.



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?













Behaviour change, designing interventions, acceptability of innovations, emission-free mobility, recycling and waste separation



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.


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.


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




Social Psychology: Social Perception; Interpersonal Interaction.

Self-criticism vs. Self-compassion
Culture: Collectivism vs. Individualism, Independence vs. Interdependece

