People


Robert Böhm, Professor of Applied Social Psychology and Behavioral Science

I joined the University of Copenhagen in October 2019. I received my PhD at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany (2010), and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Erfurt, Germany (2010-2013), and as an Assistant Professor of Decision Analysis at RWTH Aachen University, Germany (2013-2019), with temporary visiting positions at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, University of Arizona, USA, and Stanford University, USA (among others). I am interested in human decision making in social interactions, particularly in situations that pose a conflict between individual, group, and collective interests. To investigate such social decision making, I apply a broad range of theories and methods from psychology, economics, and related disciplines. Current research projects deal with the social dilemmas in intergroup relations, refugee helping, vaccination behavior, antibiotics intake, and interactions with robots and algorithms (e.g., privacy concerns).
Links: OSF ORCID

Simon Columbus, Postdoc

I joined the University of Copenhagen in August 2020 upon completing my Ph.D. at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. I hold a master's degree in psychological methods from the University of Amsterdam (2016) and a bachelor's degree in social sciences from Amsterdam University College (2013). My research explores how people navigate interdependent situations through individual behaviour and institutional arrangements. Two key interests are (a) individual differences in perceptions of and reactions to interdependence and (b) how ecology and institutions give rise to and regulate conflicts of interests.
Links: OSF ORCID

Jochen E. Gebauer, Professor of Social and Personality Psychology (Part-Time)

I joined the University of Copenhagen in September 2018. I completed my PhD at Cardiff University, United Kingdom (2009), and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom (2008-2010), and the Humboldt-University of Berlin, Germany (2010-2014). Since 2014, I have been working at the University of Mannheim, Germany, first as an Emmy-Noether research group leader (2014-2017) and now as a Heisenberg-Professor of Cross-Cultural Social and Personality Psychology. My research mainly concerns the self-concept (i.e., how people see themselves). The self-concept can be divided into three parts: the content of the self (e.g., "I am cooperative," "I am competitive."), the valence of the self (e.g., "I like myself," "I loathe myself.") and biases of the self (e.g., "I am exceptionally cooperative" [whereas actual tests of cooperation show that this person is not very cooperative]). My research concerns all three parts of the self and, thus, seeks to examine the self-concept comprehensively.
Links: ORCID

Lau Lilleholt, Ph.D. Student

I joined the University of Copenhagen in August 2018 after finishing my master degree in psychology at the University of Southern Denmark. My current research focuses on the drivers of dishonest behavior in situations where acting dishonestly either brings about monetary gains or prevents financial losses. Moreover, I am currently conducting research on risk preferences, financial literacy, cognitive ability, personality, and decision-making. My primary research interest are behavioral economics, and judgement and decision-making.
Links: RG OSF ORCID

Thomas Madsen, Ph.D. Student

I joined the University of Copenhagen in March 2020 after finishing my master's degree at the Centre for Cultural Psychology at Aalborg University. In my current research I study social and cultural psychological processes underlying, and emerging from, neo-liberalization, gentrification and multi-culturalism. In my research I am interested in: (i) the processes with which knowledge, ideas, and meanings are co-constructed and negotiated in heterogeneous societies, and (ii) how these processes are linked to moral reasoning, different localized identities, social practices, and mobilization of collective action.

Thomas Morton, Professor of Social Psychology

I joined the University of Copenhagen in February 2019. I completed my PhD at the University of Queensland, Australia (2005), and subsequently worked at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, as a postdoctoral researcher and then permanent member of academic staff (2004-2018).My work spans multiple areas of social and environmental psychology. Previous projects have centered around questions of: (a) how social identities are a lens through which people experience the world and act in it; (b) how people navigate membership in groups that are marginalized or devalued, and express themselves and their identity to others against this backdrop, and; (c) how social group memberships, and social relationships, impact on individual health and well-being. Right now, I'm particularly interested in the interplay between social and physical cues in the environment, and how these combine to shape individual environmental judgments and experiences.
Links: ORCID

Séamus A. Power, Assistant Professor of Social Psychology

I joined the University of Copenhagen in August 2019. I previously worked as a Postdoc in the Social Sciences Division at the University of Chicago, USA. My PhD and MA are from the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago. I have an MPhil in Social and Developmental Psychology from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and a BSc in Applied Psychology from University College Cork, Ireland. My empirical research – using ethnographic and experimental methods – focuses on two broad areas: economic inequality & social movements and migration & cultural clashes. I am currently interested in two broad questions: (a) under what circumstances do people tolerate economic inequality and when does this turn to civic unrest? and (b) what are the scopes and limits of diverse cultural practices in western liberal democracies? I also write about methodological pluralism in psychological science.
Links:

Ana Paula Souza Santana, Ph.D. Student

I joined the University of Copenhagen in February 2020 after I finished my master degree in psychology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) in Brazil. My research interests include decision-making, health and prosocial behavior. My current project focuses on vaccination behavior and antibiotics intake, as well as the psychological and social variables involved in these processes.

Shambhavi Tiwari, Ph.D. Student

I joined the University of Copenhagen in June 2018 after finishing my Graduation and Post graduation in Psychology at the University of Delhi, India (2012-2017). My research interests include areas of Social and Organizational Psychology. My current research projects focus on morality, ethical behavior, leadership and ethicality and social determinants of ethical and prosocial behavior.
Links: OSF ORCID

Ingo Zettler, Professor of Personality and Social Behavior

I joined the Department of Psychology at the University of Copenhagen in February 2014. Prior to moving to Copenhagen, I studied Psychology in Bonn, Germany (2001-2006), and worked at the RWTH Aachen University, Germany (2006-2010), and the University of Tübingen, Germany (2010-2014). My main research interests include the areas of Behavioral Economics, Personality Psychology, and Work and Organizational Psychology. Currently, I am particularly interested in research on personality traits and their interplay with situation factors, job performance including counterproductive work behavior, and giftedness.
Links: OSF ORCID

Former members

Christoph Schild (PhD student)

Karolina Ścigała (PhD student)