Bertjan Doosje

University of Amsterdam | UVA · Department of Social Psychology

Research conducted in the United States shows that White Americans form more positive impressions of White than Black interaction partners through instrumental learning. We asked whether this pattern generalizes to the cultural context of the Netherlands, which differs in norms for expressing intergroup bias. In three preregistered studies ( Ns = 6...

Despite the immense challenges to mental health faced by refugees, research consistently finds that many nevertheless demonstrate remarkable resilience. However, a systematic account of the scientific literature on resilience among refugees is currently lacking. This paper aims to fill that gap by comprehensively reviewing research on protective an...

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of Dutch children whose parents joined the SS or NSB (a political party that collaborated with Nazi Germany) during World War II, linked to their childhood, adulthood or both. As a secondary aim, it explored the recommendations of these –now elderly- children of NSB and SS members for...

The effects of exposure to Russian propaganda have long been feared; however, academic research examining responses is scarce. This study aims to investigate the responses of Russian speakers in Latvia to a narrative propagated by the Kremlin‐sponsored media outlet Sputnik Latvia that narrates Latvian government policy as Russophobic. The potential...

This paper reports a quantitative investigation of the antecedents and consequences of misrecognition for group relations. Moreover, as we simultaneously take into account effects associated with perceived discrimination, we are able to show the added value of attending to the experience of misrecognition as a predictor of outcomes relevant to inte...

Research conducted in the United States shows that White Americans form more positive impressions of White than Black interaction partners through instrumental learning (Traast et al., 2024). We asked whether this pattern generalizes to the cultural context of the Netherlands, which differs in norms for expressing intergroup bias. In three pre-regi...

How do cisheterosexual people in Western Europe deal with inequalities against LGBTQ people when anti-LGBTQ discrimination in these settings is often praised as overcome? The present research argues that cisheterosexual people in allegedly post-closeted settings deal with inequalities by evading difference based on sexual orientation and gender ide...

Linking European colonial deeds to current racial inequalities poses identity challenges to white European people. Using mixed-methods consisting of qualitative interviews (N = 24) and quantitative surveys (N = 591), we addressed the strategies that white people in the Netherlands use to manage their ethnic-racial identity in relation to linking co...

How does race influence the impressions we form through direct interaction? In two preregistered experiments (N = 239/179), White American participants played a money-sharing game with Black and White players, based on a probabilistic reward reinforcement learning task, in which they chose to interact with players and received feedback on whether a...

Immigrants are increasingly participating in politics, publicizing their political concerns and contributions. How does such political participation relate to national majorities’ immigration attitudes? Previous research suggested potential improvement of majority attitudes but also demonstrated the exacerbation of perceived threat. We investigated...

The aim of the present literature review is to provide a comprehensive overview of the empirical literature on radicalisation leading to extremism. Two research questions are asked: (1) Under what conditions are individuals receptive to extremist groups and their ideology? (2) Under what conditions do individuals engage in extremist acts? A theoret...

Russia utilizes state-sponsored news media outlets, such as RT or Sputnik, to project antagonistic strategic narratives into targeted societies and perturb international audiences. While psychological responses to this conduct are frequently assumed, there is a lack of causal evidence demonstrating this. Using a transdisciplinary perspective, we co...

Background Syrian refugees comprise the vast majority of refugees in the Netherlands. Although some research has been carried out on factors promoting refugee resilience, there have been few empirical studies on the resilience of Syrian refugees. Method We used a qualitative method to understand adversity, emotion, and the factors contributing to...

Philosophers conceptualized bullshit as persuasive communication that has no regard for truth, knowledge, or evidence. In psychology, research mostly investigated pseudo-profound bullshit, but no study has examined bullshit in the political context. In the present research, we operationalized political bullshit receptivity as endorsing vague politi...

We investigate experiences of misrecognition through comparative focus groups with headscarf-wearing Muslim women students in France (N = 46) and in the Netherlands (N = 32). In both countries, women reported experiencing misrecognition across four interrelated dimensions: (1) totalising misrecognition, having their Muslim identity highlighted at t...

We develop a minority influence approach to multilevel intergroup research and examine whether country-level minority norms shape majority members’ perceptions of discrimination. Defining minority norms via actual minority discrimination and political participation, we hypothesized that in national contexts with greater minority experiences of disc...

This study investigates how perceptions of radicalisation and co-occurring mental health issues differ between mental health care and the security domain, and how these perceptions affect intersectoral collaboration. It is generally thought that intersectoral collaboration is a useful strategy for preventing radicalisation and terrorism, especially...

Hostile political actors can use antagonistic strategic narration as a means of marring the image of targeted states in the international arena. The current article presents a content analysis of narratives about the Netherlands that were published by Russian state-sponsored media outlet RT between 2018 and 2020, capturing a period of heightened te...

We investigate experiences of misrecognition through comparative focus groups with headscarf-wearing Muslim women students in France (N = 46) and in the Netherlands (N = 32). In both countries, women reported experiencing misrecognition across four interrelated dimensions: (1) totalising misrecognition, having their Muslim identity highlighted at t...

People can be attracted to radical ideas for different reasons. In the present study, we propose four types of people attracted to such ideas due to different motives: the identity seeker, the significance seeker, the sensation seeker, and the justice seeker. To investigate this model, we conducted five narrative interviews with individuals who had...

We analyzed five narrative interviews with individuals who disengaged from Islamist extremist and Salafist ideologies in an early stage of radicalization (Study 1) and seven semistructured expert interviews with employees of German deradicalization programs (Study 2) to explore which root factors are common to both radicalization and deradicalizati...

Contemporary hostile actors are increasingly attempting to destabilize targeted states’ civilian domains via malign influence activities. With this civilian focus, societal destabilization is at least partly psychological. However, empirical evidence of a psychological dimension to societal destabilization is lacking. We assess the potential of fiv...

Hostile political actors frequently engage in malign information influence, projecting antagonistic strategic narratives in targeted societies to manipulate the information environment and distort the perceptions of the citizens. Research examining malign information influence is growing, but more attention could be given to its psychological effec...

Intergroup relations theory posits that cross-group friendship reduces threat perceptions and negative emotions about outgroups. This has been argued to mitigate the negative effects of ethnic diversity on generalized trust. Yet, direct tests of this friendship-trust relation, especially including perceptions of threat and negative affect as mediat...

We analysed five narrative interviews with individuals who disengaged from Islamist extremist and Salafist ideologies in an early stage of radicalization (Study 1) and seven semi-structured expert interviews with employees of German deradicalization-programmes (Study 2) to explore which root factors are common to both radicaliza-tion and deradicali...

These are the Supplementary Online Materials referenced in the preprint "Radicalization and Deradicalization: A qualitative analysis of parallels in relevant risk factors and trigger factors "

We examine risk, trigger and protective factors and psychological motives in regard to radicalization and deradicalization. We analysed five narrative interviews with individuals who disengaged from Islamist extremist and Salafist ideologies in an early stage of radicalization (Study 1) and seven semi-structured expert interviews with employees of...

Frankfurt defined persuasive communication that has no regard for truth, knowledge, or evidence as bullshit. Although there has been a lot of psychological research on pseudo-profound bullshit, no study examined this type of communication in politics. In the present research, we operationalize political bullshit receptivity as endorsing vague polit...

Governments implement many anti-polarization-programs to prevent radicalization. Evaluations of these programs give insights in either (psychological) effects, program-mechanisms or contexts, but often do not show how they interact. This study provided such a model and increased awareness of the psychological complexity behind polarization preventi...

This contribution to the collection of articles on “African Cultural Models” considers the topic of well-being. Reflecting modern individualist selfways of North American and European worlds, normative conceptions of well-being in hegemonic psychological science tend to valorize self-acceptance, personal growth, and autonomy. In contrast, given the...

People have different motivations for feeling attracted to radical ideas. In the present study, we propose four such motivations, resulting in four types: the identity seeker, the significance seeker, the sensation seeker, and the justice seeker. To test this model, we conducted five narrative interviews with individuals who had disengaged during t...

In June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Voting followed a general trend: disadvantaged areas of the United Kingdom tended to vote “leave,” and more affluent areas tended to vote “remain.” This project investigates the psychological variables underlying this overall trend by distinguishing four psychological motivations:...

This book is provides an examination of the role of counter-messaging via social media as a potential means of preventing or countering radicalization to violent extremism. In recent years, extremist groups have developed increasingly sophisticated online communication strategies to spread their propaganda and promote their cause, enabling message...

This book is a timely and significant examination of the role of counter-messaging via social media as a potential means of preventing or countering radicalization to violent extremism. In recent years, extremist groups have developed increasingly sophisticated online communication strategies to spread their propaganda and promote their cause, enab...

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 (N = 228 and N = 225), effects of the interactive exhibition “Fortress of Democracy” were assessed. The exhibition led to an increase i...

The present special issue brings together papers that focus on relevant theoretical perspectives and empirical research con- cerning individual and collective processes of radicalization, and social dynamics and conflicts associated with them. It also examines strategies to prevent the initiation of such processes and thereby connects analyses and...

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 sig...

This study looks at how people construct future imaginaries and how this has been influenced by the economic crisis of 2008/2009. Future imaginaries are conceived as a realm of plans and wishes for the future, which depend not only on an individual’s personal life history, but also on the given social/historical context (Cantó-Milà and Seebach, 201...

In this report, the authors examine the extent to which counter-narrative initiatives via social media can be effective in preventing people from radicalization or can de-radicalize people. Specifically, they formulate the following research questions: (1) How can we conceptualize narratives and counter-narratives? (2) How are narratives and cou...

We outline an array of journal policies that JPSP:ASC could adopt to further promote transparent and responsible research practices; in turn, these practices will increase the reliability of research findings published in JPSP:ASC.

In personal accounts, humiliation is often reported as a very intense, painful, negative emotion. We report two scenario studies in which we explored two factors that may contribute to the intense character of humiliation: (1) unwanted, negative public exposure, and (2) a threat to central aspects of one's identity. Study 1 (N = 115) assessed emoti...

This research examined the role of interdependent self-construal in affecting emotional complexity (concurrence of positive and negative emotions) under intergroup contexts. We hypothesized that individuals with interdependent self-construal, who tend to define themselves based on their connection with different groups, would be more emotionally af...

De afgelopen jaren ging er veel aandacht uit naar (online) counter-narrative campagnes als een middel om radicalisering tegen te gaan. Maar werkt het bieden van een 'tegenverhaal' wel? En met welke kanttekeningen en randvoorwaarden moet men rekening houden bij het opzetten van een dergelijke campagne? In dit hoofdstuk behandelen we deze vragen. W...

In recent years, much attention has been paid to (online) counter-narrative campaigns as a means of preventing radicalisation. But does offering a 'counter-narrative' work? And what caveats and preconditions should be considered when developing such a campaign? In this chapter we address these questions. We note that there is currently a lack of em...

This study (N = 124) tested the main and interactive effects of alcohol consumption, egalitarianism and right wing authoritarianism (RWA) in relation to prejudice suppression in the natural environment of a British Public House (pub). Employing a quasi-experimental between-subjects design, participants who had consumed alcohol were worse at suppres...

In this article, we review the literature and present a model of radicalization and de-radicalization. In this model, we distinguish three phases in radicalization: (1) a sensitivity phase, (2) a group membership phase and (3) an action phase. We describe the micro-level, meso-level and macro-level factors that influence the radicalization process...

Group-based emotions are experienced when individuals are engaged in emotion-provoking events that implicate the in-group. This research examines the complexity of group-based emotions, specifically a concurrence of positive and negative emotions, focusing on the role of dialecticism, or a set of folk beliefs prevalent in Asian cultures that views...

Trigger factors in the process of radicalization In order to understand why people can turn to violence to achieve political or societal changes, it is important to examine factors that can trigger a process of radicalization. In this article the authors outline such a model of trigger factors. In this model they specify trigger factors at the micr...

Weight stigma is pervasive and has profound negative consequences for obese individuals. The attribution-emotion approach of stigmatization holds that blame attributions relate to derogation stigmatized groups indirectly through anger and pity. Other research suggests that disgust is related to weight stigma. In the present studies, we investigate...

In the present article we analyze the role of perceptions of time and ingroup-focused compunction and anger on the desire to compensate the outgroup in relation to historical colonial conflicts. Furthermore, we analyze the relationships between the aforementioned variables and perceptions of the past as being violent and perceptions that compensati...

Initiation rituals can take different forms and empirical evidence is inconsistent as to whether these rituals promote affiliation among novices. We argue that experienced humiliation during initiations leads to less affiliation among novices, in particular when one is initiated as sole group member rather than as part of the group. We examined thi...

The present study addresses negative attitudes toward Muslims in The Netherlands, and combines ideas from integrated threat theory and socio-functional perspectives on threats and emotions. We proposed a model in which symbolic threat and negative stereotypes predict prejudice, social distance, and political intolerance toward Muslims through moral...

In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision. Dalai Lama Groups involved in prolonged, violent, seemingly intractable conflicts sometimes reach a point where they may be willing to end the conflict, for example, due to conflict fatigue (Kelman, 2004). However, just as removing weeds is not enough to make a garden flour...

When other ingroup members behave immorally, people's motivation to maintain a moral group image may cause them to experience increased threat and act defensively in response. In the current research, we investigated people's reactions to others' misconduct and examined the effect of group membership and the possible threat-reducing function of mor...

Comprehensive summary Politically motivated religious radical groups, resorting to violence or willing to do so, are seriously challenging the current social order and security in Western societies, and even world peace and human rights. The most recent and dramatic example is the appeal the so-called Islamic State has on such groups. To counter th...

Quantitative results are reported of a longitudinal evaluation of a resilience training as a possible method to prevent violent radicalization (Diamant; SIPI, 2010). 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 o...

Salafism is a return to the rules and practices of Islam as it is purported to have been in its initial period. A number of young Muslims in the Western nations feels strongly attracted to this movement, even to or especially to the streams that advocate violence (the Jihad). Where does this attraction stem from? Some experts relate it to a presume...

Group-based emotions can be experienced by group members for the past misdeeds of their ingroup towards an outgroup.. The present study examines distinct antecedents and consequences of group-based compunction and anger in two countries with a history of colonization (Portugal, N = 280 and the Netherlands, N = 184). While previous research has focu...