People often enjoy casual chats, especially about others. Although these conversations may seem harmless, they facilitate escalation of conflict between groups. Hedy Greijdanus’ dissertation research investigated the possibility to de-escalate conflict by influencing both what people talk about and how they talk. Tomorrow, June 25th at 14.30, she will defend her thesis in the Academy Building.
Major life events such as experiencing a flood or the death of a child may feel very unjust. Oftentimes people seek to find causes for such events. To better understand such explanations, we asked ourselves the question who people see as actually distributing (in)justice in the world.
Globalisation is a process that fosters interconnectedness of people and communication between cultures. However, it also has negative sides, for instance, when dominant cultures quickly overtake small ones leading to a loss of diversity. In a current project, we explore how different groups react to possible threats of globalisation.
Science is in crisis, and there are many initiatives for how to improve it. The solutions that are proposed risk being counterproductive. They overemphasize the importance of good data and rigorous hypothesis testing, and devalue other factors in the advancement of knowledge.
These four short videos provide an overview of the master’s program “Social Psychology and its Applications”, and it’s three specialization tracks: “Health Psychology”, “Environmental Psychology”, and “Behaviour in a Social World” at the University of Groningen.
For the last few years, the Sinterklaas celebration has raised some profound questions: Is the character of Zwarte Piet racist or not? And should we change the celebration? In a current project, we combine insights on social identity, inter-group relations and attitude polarisation to investigate people’s willingness to change the Sinterklaas celebration.
When dr. Nina Hansen travelled to Ethiopia last spring to conduct field research, students Marloes Huis, Josefine Geiger, and Aline Voss had the opportunity to accompany her. In this blog Nina, Marloes, and Josefine briefly describe the elaborate process of conducting field research in a very different culture and the challenges that were encountered.
Thinking about how things could have turned out differently can be useful for people. When you think about how something could have gone better, you may learn from it. On the other hand, when you think about how it could have gone worse, you may feel better about yourself.
Auditory stimuli, such as voices or sound logos in radio advertisements, can have persuasive effects. In addition, technological advancements create possibilities for using auditory forms of communication, also in the domain of health. This post discusses the differential effects of listening instead of reading on persuasion.
Here I am, doing a Research Master in social psychology at the University of Groningen, training to become another star in the ‘academic firmament’. And there is plenty of space left at the horizon for you and other future researchers to contribute…