معرفی
Professor Michael Wenzel is a distinguished academic in the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work at Flinders University, where he has served as Professor of Psychology since 2005. He completed his PhD at the University of Münster, Germany in 1996, following earlier academic positions at the University of Jena (1997-99) and the Australian National University (2000-04). He co-directs the Psychology of Justice, Emotions and Motivations lab (PsychJEM) and is a Full Member of the Flinders University Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing.
Wenzel's research primarily focuses on social psychology, particularly justice and morality, with specific emphasis on moral repair and reconciliation following wrongdoing in interpersonal and intergroup contexts. His work addresses the implications of transgressions for victims and offenders, threats to social-moral needs and identities, and processes of repair, justice restoration, and reconciliation. He investigates forgiveness, self-forgiveness, restorative justice, and the role of social identity in collective action. Additionally, he explores prospection about the future, including utopian thinking, hope, and their motivational force for social change.
His recent publications (2024-2025) demonstrate continued scholarly productivity across multiple journals, with particular focus on moral repair following transgressions, political psychology, climate action, and the psychological mechanisms underlying forgiveness and reconciliation. His work spans both theoretical contributions and applied research with implications for restorative justice practices and social policy.
- Fellow of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (2018)
- Innovative Learning, Teaching, and Assessment Resource Prize of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (2011)
- Heinz Heckhausen Award, German Psychological Society (1998)
- President of the International Society for Justice Research (2012-2014)
- Member of the Australian Research Council's College of Experts
Wenzel has supervised numerous successful PhD students, many of whom have received prestigious awards including Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Doctoral Thesis Excellence. He has secured significant research funding through multiple ARC Discovery Projects investigating forgiveness, utopian thinking, and collective apologies. His laboratory, PsychJEM, serves as a hub for research on justice, emotions, and motivations in social contexts.
