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  • Psychology
  • Research Theme The Social Brain
    Research Focus

    Keywords

  • Social Cognition
  • Clinical Conditions

  • Personality disorders
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    Professor Sander van der Linden FPsyS FAcSS

    (he/him/his)
    University Position
    Professor
    Professor Sander van der Linden is pleased to consider applications from prospective PhD students.

    Interests

    Sander van der Linden, Ph.D., is Professor of Social Psychology in Society and Director of the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge. He has won numerous awards for his research on human judgment, communication, and decision-making, including the Rising Star Award from the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the Sage Early Career Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), the Frank Prize in Public Interest Research from the University of Florida, and the Sir James Cameron Medal for the Public Understanding of Risk from the Royal College of Physicians. He co-developed the award-winning fake news game, Bad News, which has been played by millions of people around the world and he regularly advises governments and social media companies on how to combat the spread of misinformation. He is among the top 1% of highly cited social scientists worldwide and has published over 200 research papers. Prof van der Linden was the recipient of the 2024 Cambridge Vice-Chancellor's Award for Research Impact. He currently serves on the UK Cabinet Office National Security Risk Assessment, the Office of National Statistics Citizen Data Advisory Group and the World Health Organization’s Infodemic Alliance. His work is regularly featured in outlets such as the New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR, and the BBC and he has been described by WIRED magazine as one of “15 top thinkers” and by Fast Company Design as one “four heroes who are defending digital democracy online”. He is the author of the award-winning book; FOOLPROOF: Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity (HarperCollins/WW Norton), which was named one of Nature's Top Science Books, a Financial Times Book of the Year and recipient of the Best Book Prize from the American Psychological Association, the British Psychological Society, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and the Harvard Shorenstein Goldsmith Book Prize. His latest book, the Psychology of Misinformation (2024) was a Cambridge Press Book of the Year 2024. Before joining Cambridge, he held academic positions at Princeton, Yale, and the LSE. His research uses a variety of techniques, including virtual reality, lab studies, computational science, big data, social neuroscience, and large-scale interventions.

    Key Publications

    Psychological booster shots targeting memory increase long-term resistance against misinformation

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-57205-x
    Journal: Nat Commun
    E-pub date: 11 Mar 2025
    Authors: R Maertens, J Roozenbeek, JS Simons, S Lewandowsky, V Maturo, B Goldberg, R Xu, S van der Linden

    Social identity correlates of social media engagement before and after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52179-8
    Journal: Nat Commun
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2024
    Authors: Y Kyrychenko, T Brik, S van der Linden, J Roozenbeek

    The Misinformation Susceptibility Test (MIST): A psychometrically validated measure of news veracity discernment.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-023-02124-2
    Journal: Behav Res Methods
    E-pub date: 1 Mar 2024
    Authors: R Maertens, FM Götz, HF Golino, J Roozenbeek, CR Schneider, Y Kyrychenko, JR Kerr, S Stieger, WP McClanahan, K Drabot, J He, S van der Linden

    Transparent communication of evidence does not undermine public trust in evidence.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac280
    Journal: PNAS Nexus
    E-pub date: 1 Nov 2022
    Authors: JR Kerr, CR Schneider, ALJ Freeman, T Marteau, S van der Linden

    Out-group animosity drives engagement on social media.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2024292118
    Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
    E-pub date: 29 Jun 2021
    Authors: S Rathje, JJ Van Bavel, S van der Linden

    The Neuroscience of Misinformation: A Research Agenda

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.05.010
    Journal: Neuron
    Year: 2025
    Authors: van der Linden, S., & Cohen, M.

    Publications

    An Emotional Road to Sustainability: How Affective Science Can Support pro-Climate Action

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/17540739231193742
    Journal: Emotion Review
    E-pub date: 1 Oct 2023
    Authors: CR Schneider, S van der Linden

    Psychological inoculation improves resilience against misinformation on social media.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abo6254
    Journal: Sci Adv
    E-pub date: 26 Aug 2022
    Authors: J Roozenbeek, S van der Linden, B Goldberg, S Rathje, S Lewandowsky

    Long-term effectiveness of inoculation against misinformation: Three longitudinal experiments.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000315
    Journal: J Exp Psychol Appl
    E-pub date: 1 Mar 2021
    Authors: R Maertens, J Roozenbeek, M Basol, S van der Linden

    Green but not altruistic warm-glow predicts conservation behavior

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.211
    Journal: CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
    E-pub date: 1 Aug 2020
    Authors: S van der Linden, L Jia

    The Narcissistic Grandiosity Scale: A Measure to Distinguish Narcissistic Grandiosity From High Self-Esteem.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1073191119858410
    Journal: Assessment
    E-pub date: 1 Apr 2020
    Authors: SA Rosenthal, JM Hooley, RM Montoya, SL van der Linden, Y Steshenko

    Good News about Bad News: Gamified Inoculation Boosts Confidence and Cognitive Immunity Against Fake News.

    DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/joc.91
    Journal: J Cogn
    E-pub date: 10 Jan 2020
    Authors: M Basol, J Roozenbeek, S van der Linden