Our mission is to bring together research and practice focused on the improvement of mental health and the enhancement of treatment / psychotherapy success. To reach this goal we focus on the following paths:

How interdisciplinary teaching supports the development of students’ competencies

On Wednesday 25 June 2025 Dechun Zhang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Why do sexual violence policies still fail to systematically address men and masculinities, when the need for cultural change among men has been central in public debates since #MeToo?

How do humans construct their self?

What are the social and neural mechanisms that contribute to fluctuations in self-esteem in healthy adolescents and adolescents with depression?

This subproject of 'From Homo Economicus to Political Animal' analyzes Greek economic thinking of the Hellenistic period.

This study is a critical discourse analysis of the misogynistic narratives shared by three incel violent extremists.

Welcome to the Graduate School of the Faculty of Humanities.

On 23 April, Sheila Haji defended the thesis 'The shadow side of positive organizational change: practitioners’ experience navigating dialectical tensions in appreciative inquiry'. The doctoral research was supervised by Jan Adriaanse, Mark Dechesne and Renee Heath.

Eduard Fosch-Villaronga, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Researcher at eLaw- Center for Law and Digital Technologies, just published a book on Robots, Healthcare, and the Law. Regulating Automation in Personal Care.

Having open conversations about diversity and inclusion is an important first step towards change. Yet, such conversation can be emotional and vulnerable, and at times uncomfortable to initiate and sustain. The 'What’s Your Story?' Card Game aims to enable participants to exchange and respond to stories…

Resilient future generations that will shape a healthy society.

Lecture

Promotor: H.S. Overkleeft, J. Neefjes, Co-promotor: M. van der Stelt

The Institute of Psychology is committed to play a prominent role in teaching and research at the national and international level.

The Dutch Department of Justice will give imprisoned terrorists the opportunity to earn money. This should have an positive effect on the resocialisation of detainees.

Betty de Jonge is a household name in our faculty. As the person behind AskBetty, she knew how to answer every question about Office. Starting this month, she has officially retired.

The New Scientist magazine has selected two young Leiden scientists for its Top 25 Young Talents in the Netherlands and Flanders: historian Karwan Fatah-Black and neuropsychologist Mariska Kret. Who will be the winner? You can vote for one of them!

How effective is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy in targeting epilepsy-related anxiety?

If a society is to be secure, sustainable and resilient, conflicting interests must be reconciled. Researchers at Leiden University study the behaviour of individuals, groups and states in relation to this issue, and use their knowledge to promote equality within and between communities.

It has been found that the better a prisoner is treated, the more effective the sentence. Leiden criminologists therefore research how detention can be improved in such areas as prison life and contact between prisoners and their children.

Human AI is where artificial intelligence and machine learning meet philosophy, cognitive science, and the creative arts. Examples of research questions in this domain are: 'Can an algorithm be creative by human standards?', 'Can creative processes, such as composing music or writing poetry, be modelled?',…

Discussing or giving a lecture about a war situation is no easy task. Nonetheless – or maybe for this very reason – students or lecturers do feel the need to have such a discussion during classes. We share here a number of tips and sources to steer the conversation or lecture in the right direction.

One of the ways of understanding another culture better is to examine what people experience when they read a text, or look at an image. Leiden experts have a lot of knowledge in this field, for example on culture in ancient Japan.

Energy transition will entail the construction of large numbers of new energy installations. Such construction projects may meet with opposition from people living close by. Assistant Professor Bríd Walsh investigated how the local community can best take part in such projects.

The master's specialisation School Psychology consists of three main parts: the mandatory courses, the thesis and the internship/extra electives.

The Psychology Research Seminars are organised by and for institute staff. They offer an opportunity to share knowledge, gain new insights, and meet colleagues from various disciplines.

Dissociation is a common symptom in borderline personality disorder and is associated with an increased risk of suicidality and self-harm. Dialectical behaviour therapist Anne Krause-Utz has written a book for clinicians, researchers and students who want to better understand and recognise the pheno…

In this article, Barrie Sander, Assistant Professor of International Law, elaborates some of the risks that arise from relying on AI technologies to address climate change and explores the extent to which human rights law may be harnessed to address such risks through three registers of human rights…

What is the relation between brain development and social and cognitive development across childhood, adolescence and adulthood?

In this Yearbook you will find some fascinating examples of what was done in 2021, not only by ourselves, but also by our international colleagues.

The aim of this project is to investigate the (cost)effectiveness of two innovative forms of trauma-focused therapy for patients with childhood abuse related PTSD. The ultimate goal is to improve quality of care and contribute to treatment innovation for this severely ill target population.

What is the relation between brain development and social and cognitive development across childhood, adolescence and adulthood?

Social anxiety disorder is one of the most common disorders in children and young people. Social anxiety is characterized by excessive fear and avoidance of social situations. The primary fear in children with social anxiety is that they will be negatively judged by others. To date, the most frequently…

When does radicalization not lead to terrorist attacks?

The VVI seeks to advance knowledge of the formation and functioning of legal systems in their social contexts, the impact of these systems on society and vice versa, their effectiveness in governance, and their contribution to development.

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How can we connect quantum technology and society for an open debate on its future implications and applications?

Research into the development of privacy-friendly care games for children.

How can we improve quality of life and study success in young, high-functioning adults with autism?

One of the most crucial aspects of our behaviour is our motivation to explore novel environments and interact with new people. This became painfully clear during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when many people suffered from lack of new experiences and real-life social interactions. The relevance of novelty…

The prehistory of communication metaphors

The Cognitive Psychology Unit has two main research lines, which focus on basic cognitive (neuro)science and applied cognitive psychology.

This dissertation aims to provide a critical view of Vietnamese secondary school stakeholders’ awareness of democratic education regarding the core educational democratic values and democratic acts within either the ‘physical’ or digital learning environment.

A warm welcome to the Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Leiden University.

This project investigates which aspects of social media content adolescents attend to and how these relate to their credibility judgments, aiming to systematically understand their susceptibility to misinformation and inform effective educational programs that foster youth’s resilience to misinforma…

Speeches and speech acts have been crucial in settling the question at the centre of every political debate: who gets what, when and where?