Ethnic inequalities, diversity and climate changes
How do environmental changes impact migration decision-making, transnational practices and integration processes?
How do civil society organisations, media discourses and migrant women define ‘gender empowerment and inclusion’ in different social, political and economic spheres across European countries?
What is the role of status differences in current political conflicts? And what is the role of the cultural distance that many less-educated citizens experience to the lifeworlds of politicians?
How can social differences in participation in citizens’ initiatives be understood and what is the role of social status in this? This research at the intersection of sociology and public administration studies the perspectives of both citizens and civil servants.
How do people learn (or fail to learn) the unwritten rules of social conduct at the behavioral, computational, and neural level?
Which stereotypes exist in and spread through mainstream pornography, and which demographic factors predict affinity with particular stereotypes? Answering these questions contributes to establishing how and to what extent (embodied) sexual preferences are socially determined.
How can we make urban nature more inclusive, accessible, and participatory for everyone? This research focuses on the perspectives of residents and policymakers.
Youth participation, gender & diversity, street harassment
How can we promote youth participation in addressing complex societal challenges? Using street harassment as a case study, my PhD research aims to understand the underlying drivers of street harassment perpetration and how these drivers can be addressed through applying new avenues and methods for meaningful youth participation.
In what ways do different groups view vaccines and how does this play a role in their vaccination decisions?
Robbert Goverts
Dutch rap and well-being
Dutch rap has recently become the most popular music genre in the Netherlands, but what is it actually about, and how does rap play a role in the lives of listeners?
How do social identities and urbanisation processes mediate everyday encounters on public transport?
Nicole Oetke, MSc
Beliefs about inequality and justice
How does people's place in the world shape their beliefs about inequality and justice? More specifically, how do people's social location within power relations and their geographic location in terms of their physical environment inform these beliefs?
Political Sociology, Political Communication, Political Behavior
What do people have in mind when they think about political topics, groups, and institutions? Which meanings are attributed to political issues? How does communication affect trust in democratic institutions?
Climate attitudes, (political) beliefs and public opinion on hot-button issues
What does climate change mean to people? Why do people ascribe different meanings to it? And how do these meanings shape their responses to new information and climate policy?
Polarization, radical right voting, and interethnic relations
How do people in your social network influence your voting behavior and political attitudes (for example, about immigration)? This research is situated at the intersection of sociology, social and political psychology, and political science.
How do young people navigate the gendered and racialised stereotypes they encounter in online sexual media, and how do these representations shape their ideas about sexuality? I also examine how creative methods can advance research on sensitive topics.
Environmental mobilities and climate risk perceptions
How do people experience and interpret flood risk in their everyday environment? Do different perceptions of risk influence whether people move, stay, or adapt in place?
Views on inequality in the Netherlands and the U.S.
While income and wealth inequality have risen substantially in many Western countries in recent decades, we see only limited social unrest and consternation. Why is this?
Understanding how and why preferences for culture and media – popular music in particular – relate to people’s positions in the social world and how this affects their well-being.
How do citizens give meaning to the European Union? What influence does the perception of misinformation have on European elections? And how do knowledge about the EU and political opinions play a role in this?
