Jan-Willem van Prooijen

Prof. dr. Jan-Willem van Prooijen is a leading behavioral scientist with appointments at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Associate Professor, Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology since 2007) and Maastricht University (Endowed Professor of Radicalization, Extremism, and Conspiracy Thinking since 2025). He serves as Senior Researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR) since 2011 and is Head of the Social Psychology Section at VU Amsterdam from 2025. His research focuses on the psychology of conspiracy theories, radical ideologies, and unethical behavior, with applications in criminology, public health, and political polarization.

• Education: PhD in Social Psychology (Leiden University, 2002) – thesis on procedural justice and group dynamics
• Key Roles: Associate Editor for Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, former president of the International Society for Justice Research (2016-2018)

Van Prooijen examines how conspiracy theories drive societal polarization, influence vaccination hesitancy, and link to radicalization. His work integrates insights from social psychology, criminology, and quantitative methods. Recent studies explore AI-related conspiracy beliefs, anti-vaccination communities on Telegram, and the relationship between economic inequality and conspiracy theories. He has published over 100 articles and authored books including HOAX (2024).

Scientific awards include the Early Career Contribution Award (ISJR, 2006) and the Senior University Teaching Qualification (2024). He supervises PhD students Yuxuan Li (AI-Driven Populist Emotions, 2025) and Zhaoquan Yu (Psychology of Ridicule, 2024).