A neurobiological perspective on individual differences in social competence

A study on the development of prosocial behaviour.

Mapping the neural mechanisms underlying social motivations of adolescents and adults

A neuro-ecological perspective on adolescent prosocial development

Exclusion elicits the same response in children as in adolescents and adults. That is what psychologist Mara van der Meulen found when she studied brain activity in primary schoolchildren. ‘What is new for us is that it is the same in childhood as later in life.’ Doctoral defence on 10 December.

What happens in young people's brains when they win money for someone else? Psychologist Elisabeth Schreuders has shown that the brain responds differently according to the type of friendship and that the response is strongest with stable relationships later in adolescence. PhD defence on 6 March.

It’s not a regular occurrence at Leiden University: two professors giving their inaugural lecture on the same day. Berna Güroğlu and Ellen de Bruijn specialise in related disciplines: they both research the influence of social context on processes in the brain – Güroğlu in adolescents and De Bruijn…

Young people influence one another to take greater risks, although it's not quite that cut and dried. This is what development psychologist Jorien van Hoorn discovered. Peers also have a positive influence on one another, an aspect that has so far been under-researched. PhD defence 12 January.

The master's specialisation Economic and Consumer Psychology consists of three main parts: the mandatory and elective courses, a thesis and an internship.

Developmental psychologist Anne Miers of Leiden University is involved in a large-scale research project investigating the efficacy of interventions regarding social skills, resilience and insecurity. The project is funded by a grant from The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research - Health…

Sarah Giest, Assistant Professor at Leiden University, and Ishani Mukherjee researched the topic of 'Behavioural Insights Teams (BITs) and Policy Change: An Exploration of Impact, Location, and Temporality of Policy Advice'.

To what extent is sound a stressor to fish? And are behavioural and physiological phenotypes equally sensitive to disturbance by noise pollution?

The major aim is to unravel the central mechanisms of how peoples’ expectancies affect physical symptoms, immune and endocrine responses, and related health outcomes, through the use of pioneering multidisciplinary methods in experimental studies in healthy and clinical populations.

Promotor: Carel J. ten Cate, Co-Promotor: Hans W. Slabbekoorn

Parents often see that when their sweet, socially-minded children become adolescents they change into selfish 'hotel guests' who think only of themselves. But adolescents become increasingly better at weighing up one another's interests. This discovery has been made by development psychologist Rosa…

A common notion is that autistic people feel no need for social contact, that they are socially clumsy and show little prosocial behavior. But is that image correct? According to developmental psychologist Carolien Rieffe, an important goal of Autism Awareness Week (March 28 - April 5) is to remove…

The main aim of my Ph.D. thesis is to further explore the value of using early developing zebrafish larvae (up to 5 dpf) as a model to study anxiety-like behaviour and their pharmacological modulation with drugs.

There are five institutes at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences:

We are very happy to welcome you to spend a semester or year studying with us at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. This website will provide you per programme with information on your course schedules and much more.

Our childhood years largely determine how we will fare later in life. In the first two decades of our life, our brain is still developing, which is clearly reflected in our behaviour. By studying how the young brain develops and how children behave, researchers can learn important information about…

Some MPs are very active, while others are not. The number of proposals and questions that MPs in the Netherlands put forward is determined in part by the level of activity of their fellow committee members rather than by electoral incentive, which is the case in other countries.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences brings together high-quality research and outstanding teaching in the disciplines of cultural anthropology, education and child studies, political science, psychology, science and technology studies, as well as in multidisciplinary approaches.

Political scientist Femke Bakker (Leiden University) is going to investigate whether meditation affects political behaviour. Bakker has been awarded a PEACE Grant by the Mind & Life Institute, which enables her to conduct innovative, experimental research. The aim is an answer to the question whether…

Promotores: Prof.dr. M.K. Richardson, Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink

All research performed in the Leiden University Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is ethically reviewed by 1 of 3 ethical review committees.

The more opportunities a child has to learn and develop, the stronger his or her future position in society. Leiden University investigates how the brain picks up information, and how learning processes can be influenced positively.

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel

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The Leiden Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences offers advanced degrees spanning the social and behavioural sciences. The School's themes are anthropology, education and child studies, political science and psychology.

Leiden University social scientists have shown that customised intervention pays off. A new fundamental research-based approach in children who are in danger of going off the rails has delivered spectacular results.

Psychological processes have a major effect on the course of a disease and the effects of medical treatment. Researchers in the field of Psychoneurobiology examine the interactions between body and mind. They investigate the effects of stress as well as the effect of placebos and nocebos, which can…

As of 14 May, people from all over the world can follow a little part of our university’s education through a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Health & Health Behaviour. This MOOC provides an introduction to the field of Health Psychology.

By training with virtual opponents known as computer generated forces (CGFs), trainee fighter pilots can build the experience necessary for air combat operations, at a fraction of the cost of training with real aircraft.

Research in Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science focuses on the dynamics and the interaction of political institutions, individual decision-making, and collective behaviour.

Leiden University has received a gift of over 2m euros from the Utopa Foundation for its Department of Social, Economic and Organisational Psychology. The gift will be used to set up a Psychology and Economic Psychology research and teaching fund. There will also be a new knowledge centre, which will…

Learning and Behaviour Problems researches how learning disabilities are developed and what the possible interventions are. The programme group studies common learning problems such as dyslexia, hyperlexia and dyscalculia, as well as learning disabilities caused by AHDH, ADD or speech and language d…

Researchers at Leiden study group behaviour. One of their findings is that when people make sacrifices for another member of their group, it is probably instinctive. Insights of this kind enable us to better understand and influence the social processes in a neighbourhood or company.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences brings together high-quality research and outstanding mono- and multidisciplinary teaching.