Day 2 of the #crowds conference - talking about contentious crowds

Some very productive conversations at the Early Career Committee's "The Dissertation is Done, Now What?" Roundtable💬 Many thanks to panelists @lauraktaylorphd.bsky.social, @metesefauysal.bsky.social & @leede-wit.bsky.social for their insights and advice!

Something deeply troubling & shocking is happening at Exeter University*, where a mass cull of staff is planned, even though it's in surplus. No good justifications given. @jamesgdyke.info provides the details: www.technosphere.earth/the-bonfire-... *Disclosure: I have a Visiting Fellowship here. +🧵

The bonfire of the humanities

150 academic posts at the University of Exeter are to be cut, most in the humanities but also in social sciences, engineering and environmental sciences

technosphere.earth

Exeter Green Party stands in solidarity with the Exeter University and College Union in condemning the University of Exeter’s announcement of sweeping job cuts. These plans will recklessly imperil the University’s vital contributions to the social, cultural, and economic life of the city. 1/4

A statement from Exeter UCU branch @ucu.org.uk - please share far and wide.

Yesterday, we had a great webinar with @metesefauysal.bsky.social where we shared our long-term research on different aspects of Kurdishness and peace. We are thankful to @direnenserdar.bsky.social and the Peace Psychology Society for organizing this. You can access the recording 👇🏼

Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu@direnenserdar.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Peace Psychology Webinar (2 june 2026) Rethinking Peace Research in Turkey: Kurdish Identity, Researcher Positionalities, and Collective Future Imagination The recording is available to watch here: youtu.be/fv1Aefb2XRw

'White victimhood' is a powerful mobilizer - again. @behaviourresuk.bsky.social @ukri.org onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

📢 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 📢 We are conducting a systematic review of qualitative social psychology studies on collective action and resistance, and we need your help!

So much for the argument that the far right are protecting women and girls. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

One in five people arrested over 2024 riots have since been reported for domestic abuse

Exclusive: Police data shows 21% of the 949 people detained in England and Northern Ireland were later accused of violence against intimate partner

theguardian.com

Beating a 300-year old record by 2°C. That’s bonkers (i.e., statistically near impossible if not for climate change). Strap in…

Met Office - weather and climate@metoffice.gov.uk · 4mo ago

Today has been the hottest day in May on record with Kew Gardens provisionally reaching 34.8°C - exceeding the previous highest May temperature in the UK by a full 2 degrees Celsius🌡️ This heat would be exceptional in the UK even in mid summer, let alone in May📈

Congratulations again (I think this is the second time Wiley have sent me this) to lead author @metesefauysal.bsky.social and to @pjsaaved.bsky.social bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

We are looking for participants for our study. The survey takes around 20 minutes and is fully anonymous. If interested, click the link in our profile to begin!

Submissions & registration are open for BPS Social Psychology Section Annual Conference (Social Psychology for the Public) 8-9 Sept 2026, London. We welcome submissions from academics, practitioners, policy makers, and community partners. Submission deadline: 3 May www.bps.org.uk/event/social...

Why do conspiracy beliefs vary across groups? Our new study shows they’re strongly tied to outgroup mistrust + reactance (resisting authority), with clear cross-country differences (Turkey > US > UK). www.nature.com/articles/s41... with @metesefauysal.bsky.social

‘None of us are free until all of us are free’: Introducing collective liberation as a praxis-oriented framework and concept into social psychology New from @schreiber-julia.bsky.social @yarazebian.bsky.social & @metesefauysal.bsky.social bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

<em>British Journal of Social Psychology</em> | Wiley Online Library

Recent years have seen a resurgence of protest and resistance movements worldwide, reminding deep interconnections between struggles for liberation beyond borders, histories and identities. While act....

bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

New paper #openaccess A Socio-Ecological and Multilevel Approach to the Role of Honour Cultures on Violence Justification doi.org/10.1177/0022...

Great work by @metesefauysal.bsky.social leading this well-cited paper. bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Last two weeks!

Mete Sefa Uysal@metesefauysal.bsky.social · 8mo ago

UK Culture and Psychology Meeting 2026: Indigenous Knowledges from the Majority World The meeting will be held on 18-19 June 2026 at the University of Exeter. There is no participation fee. Submission deadline is March 15. More information in the submission link! exe.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

The Psychology of Resistance Virtual Meeting Series meets again Mon, Feb 9: social psychologists (incl @tijana-et-al.bsky.social, @yasemingacar.bsky.social, @thia-sagh.bsky.social) & activists will discuss prefigurative movements in Lebanon, Serbia, & Turkey. Registration: tinyurl.com/prefigurative

Here's the second-hand Susan Sontag quote, courtesy of Kurt Vonnegut

Just re-read the last paragraph of my and Megan Birney's chapter on Milgram in this great volume. Written a year and a half ago; might as well have been yesterday.

Hema Preya Selvanathan@hemapreya.bsky.social · 9mo ago

Introducing our edited book, Political Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies! @jolanda-jetten.bsky.social Each chapter considers an influential early study in the field with a fresh perspective. Published by SAGE: au.sagepub.com/en-gb/anz/po...

UK Culture and Psychology Meeting 2026: Indigenous Knowledges from the Majority World The meeting will be held on 18-19 June 2026 at the University of Exeter. There is no participation fee. Submission deadline is March 15. More information in the submission link! exe.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Repeated exposure to discrimination increased the likelihood of aggressive confrontation.

Why some people speak up against prejudice, while others do not

Repeated exposure to discrimination increased the likelihood of aggressive confrontation.

tcnv.link

I wrote about our recent paper for @uk.theconversation.com "...it does mean that judging these responses without understanding their cultural roots risks blaming individuals for navigating systems that were never designed to protect them." theconversation.com/why-some-peo...

Why some people speak up against prejudice, while others do not

Repeated exposure to discrimination increased the likelihood of aggressive confrontation.

theconversation.com

I am looking to recruit a postdoc to join my lab next fall, & work on projects focused on online mobilization with social media datasets - see more details here: bit.ly/4r49x9b . If anyone knows of someone with relevant skills who is looking for a postdoc- please pass this on!

Research Associate in Psychology

Dr. Eric Shuman at the University of Virginia invites applications for a post-doctoral research associate with expertise in the social psychology of social protest, social change, and/or in big data, ...

bit.ly

'The Psychology of Crowd Behavior', Annual Review of Psychology Final, peer-reviewed version now available open access. Please share. www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

The Psychology of Crowd Behavior

This review describes the social identity approach to crowd behavior. Research based on the social identity approach to crowds has grown significantly in the last 20 years, both quantitatively and qua...

annualreviews.org

'Beyond the politics of demand: Prefigurative politics and the future of collective action research' New pre-print from @swedishprotests.bsky.social @metesefauysal.bsky.social and others with important argument about how social psych approaches collective action osf.io/preprints/ps...

Not always true that 'non-violence is key', though. Plenty of riots have led to social changes... And many effective movements have include both violence and non-violence. @metesefauysal.bsky.social @pjsaaved.bsky.social

SOUTH JERSEY DEMOCRATIC WOMEN'S FORUM@sjdwf2025.bsky.social · 9mo ago

In case you need a positive reminder: How effective is protesting? According to historians and political scientists: very www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

📣 Last paper of the year is out in the British Journal of Social Psychology! #OpenAccess Honour across borders: How cultural norms shape prejudice confrontation in migration contexts doi.org/10.1111/bjso...

Call for contributions for the small meeting on the social psychology of prefigurative politics is open! 🤩 This is a slightly different conference, check out the info sheet to learn more - even if you haven't worked on prefiguration yet 😉 So excited about this! drive.google.com/file/d/1nsof...