Research Interests
My research interests are primarily focused on social cognition and emotions.
My Ph.D. dissertation in social sciences at the University of Amsterdam
in the Netherlands (1997) was about the perception of illusory correlation,
a mechanism which might be able to explain the acquisition of stereotypes
about minority groups. Thereafter, I worked as a post doctoral fellow at
the University of Amsterdam (department of Social Psychology). My first
project dealt with research on the psychological mechanisms underlying time
discounting, which involves decisions about immediate versus near-future
outcomes. Desirable outcomes are usually preferred sooner rather than later,
the reverse holds for undesirable outcomes. My second grant-funded project
focused on risk perception and risk acceptance in case of meat consumption.
It was found that moral and affective risks play an important role in the
consumption of meat. In the last few years my main interest moved to the
cognitive dimensions of emotions, such as guilt and regret. For example,
to what extent do experiences of guilt and regret differ from each other?
The relation between responsibility and guilt. How does the social context
influence the (a) kind of emotion, (b) intensity of emotion, (c) expression
of emotion? My current interest involves the experience of group-based emotions
such as the experience of guilt, fear, or anger on behalf of one’s
own group.
Postgraduate Students |
Selected Publications
Berndsen, M., & Van der Pligt, J. (2005). Risks of meat: The relative
impact of cognitive, affective and moral concerns. Appetite, 44,
195-205.
Berndsen, M., & Van der Pligt, J. (2004). Ambivalence towards meat. Appetite,
42, 71-78.
Berndsen, M., Van der Pligt, J., Doosje, B., & Manstead A.S.R., (2004). Guilt and regret: The determining role of interpersonal and intrapersonal harm. Cognition and Emotion, 18, 55-70.
Berndsen, M., Spears, R., van der Pligt, J., & McGarty, C. (2002). Illusory
correlation and stereotype formation: Making sense of group differences and
cognitive biases. In: C. McGarty, R. Spears, & V. Yzerbyt (Eds.), Stereotypes
as explanations: The formation of meaningful beliefs about social groups.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Berndsen, M., & van der Pligt, J. (2001). Time is on my side: Optimism in
intertemporal choice. Acta Psychologica, 108, 173-186.
Berndsen, M., McGarty, C., van der Pligt, J., & Spears, R. (2001). Meaning-
seeking in the illusory correlation paradigm: The active role of participants
in the categorization process. British Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 209-
233.
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