Projects
Research Professor after obtaining ERC Advanced Grant (POLEVPOP). University of Antwerp
Questioning our Questions: A levels-of-analysis-perspective on meaning and measurement in cultivation research KU Leuven
While the effects of media messages on public opinion have long been studied by scholars from various branches of the social sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, political science, and communication) our theoretical understanding of the phenomenon is still limited. In my PhD dissertation I posit that this stalling of knowledge might be caused, at least in part, by the absence of a consistent definition for the effect under investigation: ...
Context matters: Unraveling polarization and mobilization processes underlying intergroup tolerance and prejudice Ghent University
Conflicts based on the often strained relationships between ethnic-cultural groups in society regularly flare up (cf. the recent Black Lives Matter protests). Similarly, the topic of intergroup relations has been on the forefront of social and political psychology research since the 1950’s. However, this scholarly focus on reducing prejudice and promoting tolerance often included either individual difference (e.g., social-ideological beliefs) ...
Plutarch’s Politicians and the People: Popular Politics in the 'Parallel Lives' and the Greek Cities of the Roman Empire Ghent University
This project studies mass-elite relations in the Greek cities of the Roman empire by examining Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, a second-century AD collection of biographies of Greek and Roman statesmen from classical Athens to Republican Rome. Up till now, historians have explored these biographies as sources on the periods they describe, whereas Plutarch scholars have focused on their function as a programme for moral self-improvement. This ...
Annual Report Characterization In Varieties of English Ghent University
Amidst financial crises, an increasingly threatened environment, and countless worker rights conflicts more visible than ever due to growing globalisation, it can come as no surprise that U+2018sustainabilityU+2019 has grown from an attractive buzzword to a core component of almost all areas of public life. Governments and business are making changes U+2013 at times even reinventing their identities U+2013 to maximise not just what they have ...
A Cross-Country Comparison of Political (Mis-)information Provided by Social Media Influencers on YouTube and Youth’s Political Involvement KU Leuven
Social media influencers (SMI), defined as ordinary people who gain popularity on social media, are increasingly weaving political issues into their communication, which may be engaging for young followers, but also puts them at risk for misinformation. This thesis has provided important insights into political SMIs, their content, and consequences of exposure to their messages among youth: I delivered detailed and partly comparative (i.e., ...
Does diverse news lead to a diverse audience? The influence of news content diversity on people's opinions, issue perceptions, and news item evaluation. University of Antwerp
Welfare deservingness and welfare policy. New perspectives on popular deservingness opinions and their interaction with welfare state policies KU Leuven
In present times of ‘permanent’ austerity, in which various structural challenges -such as globalization, population ageing and mass migration- continue to threaten the financial sustainability and social legitimacy of modern welfare states, the issue of welfare deservingness is again high on the political agenda. Despite the considerable progress made in recent years by a growing body of research trying to improve our understanding of the ...