Three researchers from Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences have been awarded an NWO SGW Open Competition grant. The SGW Open Competition promotes excellent, free, curiosity-driven research with a primarily social science or humanities research question and problem definition.
An overview of all laureates from Erasmus School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Erasmus University College:
Guess Who? Developing an Innovative Online Elicitation Game to Explore Young People’s Perceptions of Pornographic Stereotypes
dr. S. van Bohemen, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
This project develops and pilot-tests an innovative online game to explore how young people (aged 16-25) perceive stereotypes in pornography. Built on the principles of concept mapping and inspired by the board game Guess Who?, the game stimulates participants to reflect on the meanings and associations linked to pornographic stereotypes. This tool will help researchers understand how these stereotypes influence young people’s perceptions of sex and gender roles. In the future, the game could be used more broadly for various studies and as an educational intervention in porn literacy programs to promote healthier and more equitable sexual attitudes.
Secret keeping in daily life: An investigation using ecological momentary assessment
dr. R. van der Hallen, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Keeping secrets, the intentional concealment of personal information, is a widespread and universal behavior. Although secret keeping is associated with negative health outcomes, the underlying mechanisms—how, why, and for whom secrecy impacts well-being—remain unclear. This project employs Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), an innovative method that captures real-time data on behaviors and emotions in natural settings through smartphones. Participants report on the secrets they keep, the contexts in which they keep them, and their emotional and physical states at the time. This project will reveal how these factors influence secrecy and what predicts its impact on one’s well-being.
Rewriting fear: A novel approach to prevent fear relapse
dr. A. Wong, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Anxiety-related disorders involve overwhelming fear of harmless situations due to deeply rooted pathological threat beliefs. While exposure-based treatments can effectively reduce such fear in the short-term, one-fourth of clients experience a relapse of fear. This occurs because extinction learning, the core of exposure-based treatments, does not erase the original threat belief. Recent rodent research shows that a gradual extinction learning protocol may directly overwrite the threat belief, preventing fear from returning. This project will be the first to adapt this novel approach for humans and test its effectiveness, aiming to improve long-term treatment outcomes for anxiety-related disorders.
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Marjolein Kooistra, communications ESSB | kooistra@essb.eur.nl | 06 83676038
