Sara Vestergren
PhD, social psychologist at University of Reading, UK, specialising in the Psychology of crowds, collective action, and climate action. Views my own. Born at 338.7ppm
- Reposted by Sara Vestergren1/2 'In social psychology, the current ease of online surveys, vignette experiments and so on only reinforces a point made 20 years ago that studies of "behaviour" are rare compared to studies of self-report....'
- Our study of three of the 2024 anti-asylum-seeker riots now accepted for publication at J of Community & Applied Social Psych. Link to pre-print below. www.qeios.com/read/17ASAP
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenOur study of three of the 2024 anti-asylum-seeker riots now accepted for publication at J of Community & Applied Social Psych. Link to pre-print below. www.qeios.com/read/17ASAP
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenOut now! Handbook of Social Identity Research 🌟 📚 ✍ Edited by Nyla Branscombe and Katherine J. Reynolds 'Indispensable for those interested in the research methods and empirical results' – Naomi Ellemers Read first chapter 🆓: tinyurl.com/mpfkzvjz ℹ️ More information: tinyurl.com/38ctp2f8
- Reposted by Sara Vestergren'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...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenFinland has emerged as a global leader in countering “fake news”. Here's how they've done it
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenThe Crowds & Identities seminar, expertly convened by @freyamills.bsky.social @pjsaaved.bsky.social presents his team's important work on public perceptions of police use of force against protests.
- The last session in the collective action series hosted by @bps-social-psych.bsky.social and organised by @drselintekin.bsky.social and @merveozturkey.bsky.social is this Thursday 4th Dec 1-3pm GMT. The webinar is free to attend but registration needed www.bps.org.uk/event/precar...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenIt's Black Friday. Eight years ago today, a huge false alarm on Oxford Street was pathologized as a 'stampede' caused by 'mass panic'. We analysed why people mistook a harmless sound for a terrorist attack and why others joined their flight. @ukri.org funded onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
- Reposted by Sara Vestergren'Not calling out these politics for what they are can only legitimise them. This is done through euphemism (calling them “populist” for example), by absorbing and mimicking them or accepting them as “legitimate grievances” from “the people”.'
- Focusing on extreme events such as the reports of Farage’s teenage past can exceptionalise the nature of far-right politics and make it harder to call out Some thoughts @theconversation.com on the mainstreaming of far-right politics theconversation.com/nigel-farage...
- Reposted by Sara Vestergren>1600 fossil fuel lobbyists >300 big agriculture lobbyists 551 carbon capture and storage lobbyists Are COPs where governments gather to discuss addressing climate change, or where capitalists gather to stop them?
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenImportant new paper shows that mass casualties from extreme heat are likely at the current level of global warming and will only get worse the more the world warms: “mass mortality events remain plausible at near-future temperatures despite current adaptations to heat” www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenWe replicated one of the oldest experiments in Psychology (Triplett, 1898) as a registered report. Children completed a task faster in pairs than when they were alone. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Arising out of discussions in @csi-research.bsky.social we conducted a Registered Report replicating Triplett’s (1898) experiment with over 400 children, showing children completed the task faster when paired with a coactor, compared to competing the task alone rdcu.be/eQwAE 1/3
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenThe co-action effect is a thing. But what's the mechanism for this fascinating form of social influence?
- We replicated one of the oldest experiments in Psychology (Triplett, 1898) as a registered report. Children completed a task faster in pairs than when they were alone. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenI feel 'obliged' to share this again...
- Join us for the second free session (of 3) in our Collective Action series today 2-4pm GMT, hosted by @bps-social-psych.bsky.social and brilliantly organised by @drselintekin.bsky.social & @merveozturkey.bsky.social See the speakers and register to get the link here: www.bps.org.uk/event/relief...
- Reposted by Sara Vestergren-- Call for Papers -- Special issue on "Intersectionality in Social Psychology: Perspectives, Methods, and Applications" in the British Journal of Social Psychology. Abstract submission deadline: 15 December 2025
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenFREE online webinar from @bps-social-psych.bsky.social that may be of interest: 'From Relief to Resistance – Sustaining Collective Action for Structural Change' 6 November, 2-4pm More details below: www.bps.org.uk/event/relief...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenThanks to @bps-social-psych.bsky.social for bringing my notes together from the event that @merveozturkey.bsky.social & I organized. Reflections came from the responses of: @profjohndrury.bsky.social @lucygobag.bsky.social Dr Rim Saab and Dr Nihan Albayrak-Aydemir www.bps.org.uk/news/rising-...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenThe next session of Psychology of Resistance Virtual Meetings is next Monday, November 10: We do a peer review as conversation with @metesefauysal.bsky.social on confrontational-disruptive protests, @yasemingacar.bsky.social and Carmen Marazzi as discusants To register: tinyurl.com/disruptive-p...
- Reposted by Sara Vestergren'Panic'? It's important to look at what passengers actually did. Not just flight, but also information and assistance: 'Amid a group of six, they were also attempting to stem the flow of blood from the head of the older man who was said to have saved the girl.' www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
- Reposted by Sara Vestergren'How Participation in Collective Action Changes Relationships, Behaviours, and Beliefs: An Interview Study of the Role of Inter- and Intragroup Processes' @swedishprotests.bsky.social Re-reading this one from 2019 as part of my teaching preparation jspp.psychopen.eu/index.php/js...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenA well-attended Crowds & identities, expertly convened by @freyamills.bsky.social, with presentation on his important work on collective action for Uyghur Muslims in China among Muslims in Turkey and the United Kingdom, by @metesefauysal.bsky.social
- Reposted by Sara Vestergren@merveozturkey.bsky.social & I are organizing an event with the @bps-social-psych.bsky.social Rising Together: How Collective Action Emerges in the Face of an Emergency Our wonderful speakers: Dr. Nihan Albayrak-Aydemir Dr. Rim Saab Prof. @lucygobag.bsky.social Prof. @profjohndrury.bsky.social
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenPublic behaviour in response to perceived hostile threats: An evidence base and guide for practitioners and policymakers Funded by @ukri.org doi.org/10.20919/VJV...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenNew book just arrived in the post! Includes chapter by me & @evangelospsych.bsky.social on collective resilience as a process in emergent groups in emergencies.
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenGreat series of events planned by @bps-social-psych.bsky.social on collective action and emergencies. It's free to attend and online! www.bps.org.uk/event/rising...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenRising together: how collective action emerges in the face of an emergency Thursday (2nd Oct) 12-2pm Attendance is free, but you need to register. www.bps.org.uk/event/rising... This is the first (of 3) session in our free online series designed as an open space to come together and share ideas
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenA @bpsofficial.bsky.social @bps-social-psych.bsky.social free online event, organized by @drselintekin.bsky.social : 'Rising Together: How Collective Action Emerges in the Face of an Emergency' www.bps.org.uk/event/rising...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenGodmorgon alla som är intresserade av klimatpsykologi, vad som skapar storskalig beteendeförändring, vad som påverkar att känna hopp & vad man bäst kan göra för klimatet - tycker ni ska anmäla er till den här endagskonferensen 22 november som Psykologer för Hållbar Utveckling ordnar. Öppen för alla!
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenRemaining in or leaving climate activism – insights from current and former activists on sustained engagement New from @swedishprotests.bsky.social & colleagues www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenRe-reading this chapter by Carina Hoerst, @alexhaslam.bsky.social @evangelospsych.bsky.social @swedishprotests.bsky.social @fergusneville.bsky.social et al. for lecture preparation for the coming term. www.researchgate.net/publication/...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenThe session that stood out for me, “What Can Social Psychology Do”—chaired by @swedishprotests.bsky.social—brought us together to explore how we can respond to urgent crises, for example by challenging journals, associations, and institutions complicit in, or failing to act on, the genocide in Gaza.
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenAlso great to catch up with @metesefauysal.bsky.social auysal.bsky.social @swedishprotests.bsky.social hprotests.bsky.social and hear about their work on Greta Thunberg’s climate leadership with @yasemingacar.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenLast week I was at the BPS Social Psych Conference @bps-social-psych.bsky.social in Oxford @ox.ac.uk The theme was Beyond Tribalism—bringing different traditions together organised by @shelleymckeown.bsky.social @swedishprotests.bsky.social @nascherme.bsky.social Some reflections in a thread 👇
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenJust arrived in the post! The new book on crowds & leadership, from @metesefauysal.bsky.social @swedishprotests.bsky.social & Yasemin Acar
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenNew Book Monday! With a few weeks to spare before this year’s Social Psychology of Crowds lecture. @metesefauysal.bsky.social @swedishprotests.bsky.social @yasemingacar.bsky.social
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenDoes civil disobdedience work? Fascinating report on the effectiveness of the Swedish Restore Wetlands campaign, which "successfully transformed a relatively unknown environmental issue into a national talking point through strategic civil disobedience" www.socialchangelab.org/restore-wetl...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenOn the anniversary, what do the events of #9-11 tell us? drury-sussex-the-crowd.blogspot.com/2011/09/what...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenAt @bps-social-psych.bsky.social, @samreenchhabra.bsky.social presents her important PhD research on the psychological effects of youth climate activism in India
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenNow @samreenchhabra.bsky.social presenting her research on the psychological impacts of climate activism in Indian youths
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenIn the climate activist session @metesefauysal.bsky.social turns to leadership in the climate movement by discussing the making of a movement and how climate activists perceive Greta Thunberg’s leadership
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenLast sessions for this years conference have started. In the Talbot room @samuelfinnerty.bsky.social starts off the Climate Activism session outlining identity and ethical tensions among environmentally engaged scientists in climate advocacy
- Reposted by Sara Vestergren@profjohndrury.bsky.social opening the symposium exploring how social psychology can enhance our understanding of the 2024 anti-immigrant riots 🧵1/6
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenAt @bps-social-psych.bsky.social the @behaviourresuk.bsky.social funded symposium on our 2024 riots project @swedishprotests.bsky.social @drannetempleton.bsky.social
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenNext up is our section chair @swedishprotests.bsky.social discussing the 2024 anti-immigrant riots in England in terms of group and identity dynamics 🧵3/6
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenExcellent panel session about publishing with two past and one current editor for British Journal of Social Psychology (BJSP) bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2044..., with tips on what to (not) do and how the system works.
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenAt @bps-social-psych.bsky.social, section chair @swedishprotests.bsky.social congratulates Prof Stephen Gibson on the mid-career award @bpsofficial.bsky.social
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenThis is infuriating. What is the point of a Marine Protected Area if trawlers are allowed to keep ploughing it? Yet again, the government has succumbed to commercial lobbying. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenOrganised by @drannetempleton.bsky.social, a Crowds & Identities and friends meal out at 100% Pasta, Oxford, for the @bps-social-psych.bsky.social annual conference
- Amazing to meet with some Early Career academics during the mentoring session at @bps-social-psych.bsky.social . Inspiring and motivating to hear about their passion in research
- Reposted by Sara VestergrenAt the @bps-social-psych.bsky.social annual conference, in his keynote Brian Parkinson completely demolishes primitive emotional contagion as an explanation for sharing emotion
