Psychology, University of Southampton

I grew up in Zeist, The Netherlands and attended Utrecht University for my undergraduate studies. I received my PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000. I am a recipient of the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize.

I am a member of the Centre for Research on Self and Identity and the Social and Personality Psychology Research Group.

My main research interests cover various aspects of intergroup conflict and self-relevant emotions. In addition, I am interested in psychological measurement and statistics.

Intergroup conflict: I seek to identify antecedents of intergroup conflict by investigating what differences between intergroup and interindividual relations can account for the fact that intergroup relations are often more conflict prone.

Shame and guilt: Historically, depictions of shame and guilt and the distinctions between them have been imprecise. My research on shame and guilt seeks to gain a better understanding of the similarities and differences between these self-relevant emotions. I have a special interest in the seemingly paradoxical positive association between guilt proneness and intergroup competitiveness.

Nostalgia: I am conducting a collaborative program of research that seeks to identify the content, antecedents, and functions of nostalgia. Our initial findings support the idea that nostalgia is a predominantly positive, self-relevant emotion associated with recall of past experiences involving interaction with close others.

Primary research group:  Centre for Research on Self and Identity (CRSI)