Dr. Jolien van Breen
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Washington Singer 121
Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, Perry Road, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK
Office hours: Mondays 13:00-14:00 @ room 121 Washington Singer Thursdays 09:00-10:00 @ room 121 Washington Singer
Overview
I studied at the Universities of Edinburgh and Amsterdam before obtaining my PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Groningen (the Netherlands). After completing my PhD, I stayed on at the University of Groningen as a Research Associate. Since September 2017, I have been a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Exeter, in the group of Prof. Manuela Barreto.
My research focuses on social identity and social disadvantage, and specifically on resilience amongst those who experience social disadvantage. For more information please visit my research page (through the tabs at the top).
Broad research specialisms
Social devaluation; stereotyping; social identity; gender; implicit cognition; multilevel analysis; eye tracking.
Links
Research group links
Research
Research interests
Broadly, my interests focus on topics such as social disadvantage, gender issues, motivation, and social behaviour. My recent research has focused on how people who experience social devaluation (such as stereotyping, prejudice or discrimination) cope with those experiences. This work demonstrates that those who are the target of social devaluation are not passive victims, but have a number of strategies at their disposal to actively cope with the devaluation they face. This research consists of a number of specific projects, which are described below.
Research projects
Subliminal cues of devaluation.
Current norms in our society mean that many explicit forms of discrimination and prejudice are no longer considered acceptable. Nevertheless, at a more subtle level, biases and prejudices that contribute to the devaluation of many social groups continue to exist and shape our social interactions. In this line of research we study how members of disadvantaged groups cope with such subtle forms of social devaluation. For instance, we show that exposure to gender stereotypes can lead some women to increase their efforts in domains that society considers ‘typically masculine’, as a way of counteracting gender stereotypes. Amongst these women, then, exposure to gender-based devaluation triggers resistance. For an impression of this project, you can visit: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218771895 or for popular science coverage you can visit: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2171748-being-a-feminist-may-subconsciously-protect-you-from-stereotypes/
Assessing social motivation.
This project aims to assess the motivational underpinnings of resistance to social devaluation through the use of EEG-methodology. We aim to show that patterns of alpha acitivity that are indicative of motivational processes precede resistance responses.
Gender Identity.
In this line of research, we examine how women’s perceptions of, and responses to, gender-based devaluation depend on their gender identity. We develop a 2-dimensional framework in which attitudes towards gender issues depend on a woman’s identification with women as a group, as well as her identification with feminists. For an impression of this project, you can visit https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01019
Grants/Funding
Heymans Institute Collaborative Research Grant:
Awarded to the project “Alpha activity in parietal cortices as an indicator of social motivation”.
Spanish Ministry of Economy and Development:
Awarded to the research consortium led by Soledad de Lemus Martin (University of Granada, Spain)
Links
- View our most recent publication studying subliminal cues of devaluation
- New Scientist coverage of our most recent publication
Publications
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Publications by category
Journal articles
Chapters
Publications by year
2018
2017
2016
Jolien_van-Breen Details from cache as at 2019-11-12 09:33:10