Melissa de Roos

Melissa de Roos is an Assistant Professor in Forensic Psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam, affiliated with the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences and the Department of Clinical Psychology. She is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the RESOLVE lab, where she leads research on sexual violence, online incel communities, and the psychological mechanisms of harmful sexual behaviors.

• PhD in Psychology – University of Texas at El Paso (2018)
• MA in Experimental Psychology – University of Texas at El Paso (2017)
• MSc in Forensic Psychology – University of Portsmouth (2011)
• BSc in Psychology – Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (2010)

Her research focuses on child sexual abuse material (CSAM) offending, prevention of non-preferential offenders, and the impact of violent pornography on risk recognition and sexual consent. She investigates the role of mental health in predicting engagement with online incel communities, analyzing the function of violent rhetoric and how their discourse frames sexual violence. Her work also examines dark personality traits (e.g., Dark Tetrad) and impulsivity in relation to paraphilic behaviors using neuropsychological methods such as EEG.

Her recent publications (2024–2025) demonstrate a strong trend in interdisciplinary research combining forensic psychology, digital sociology, and cognitive neuroscience. These works explore extremist language in online communities, paraphilic behaviors, and the neural correlates of impulsivity and personality disorders. Her research contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in promoting justice and mental well-being.

• Principal Investigator, RESOLVE Lab