Seminar The Asocial Human
Are humans inherently asocial? Or is there a logical explanation why people act the way they do? Hear more about it in this seminar about “the asocial human”. (English / SG-Certificate*)
Time: 13:00-16:30 hrs.
Tickets €4 after registration
Bias, stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice are all around you. You probably even engage in these patterns without being aware of it. It doesn’t matter which job you end up doing, you will always come across asocial behavior in some kind of form. But do we always recognize it?
Join the lectures and workshops of this full-day seminar in the afternoon. After the seminar you will be able to recognize these unconscious behaviors and hopefully be aware of your own.
Program and Speakers
13:00 -14:00 parallel sessions
- Vukašin Gligoric - Social Evaluations and Their Targets (lecture)
In this talk, Vukašin Gligoric will illustrate how each group is unique and how it also brings specific social evaluations. Secondly, and less obviously, he will show why it is important to acknowledge the complexity of each group, and how zooming in on their subgroups (e.g., different types of scientists) can improve our understanding of social evaluations, their causes, and consequences.
Vukašin Gligoric is a Ph.D. candidate in Social Psychology at the University of Amsterdam. His research revolves around one of the most central questions in social psychology: how do people view others? Do social evaluations of different groups follow the same principles? What are the causes and consequences of these social evaluations? To answer these questions, he investigates social evaluations of various groups: from highly respected professionals (scientists), over ethnic minorities, to self-stereotypes of a national group.
- Roy van Nieuwenhuyzen from Vizier Oost - Subconscious Stereotypes (workshop)
“I don't think in boxes. I judge people objectively and as individuals". Perhaps you have thought this. But can we actually do that? How much of what we think, do we think consciously? Or are there invisible strings that determine what we think? This workshop takes you into the world between your ears. We let you experience that thinking in boxes is incredibly convenient, useful and necessary. We also show you that our pigeonholing has a downside. And what can we do about the negative effects? In this workshop we show you.
Roy van Nieuwenhuyzen is Advisor companies and organizations at Vizier. Through his work as a discrimination lawyer and diversity trainer he can draw on a range of practical examples where stereotypical thinking and prejudice caused problems in society.
14:10 – 15:10 parallel sessions
- Magdalena Bobowik - From Social exclusion to Social Acceptance (lecture)
This lecture will address psychological mechanisms leading people to engage in or support hostile or solidary action towards socially disadvantaged outgroups. Why do people support hostile political measures towards outgroups, such as closing borders to immigrants or a military intervention in a third world country? And, what tools does social psychology offer to promote social acceptance and solidarity with groups in need of assistance? First, we will delve into phenomena such as media consumption, perceptions of threat, or negative emotions like hatred and fear as antecedents of support for hostile and even aggressive intergroup behavior. Second, we will identify strategies that might enhance prosocial behavior towards outgroups.
Dr. Magdalena Bobowick is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research Fellow at the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science of Universiteit Utrecht and a member of the European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations. Her research primarily concerns intergroup relations between majority and minority groups in multicultural societies, as well as victims and perpetrators in post-conflict societies.
- Dick Boonman - Asocial Behavior: What is the problem and what can we do about it? (lecture)
How is it possible that someone shows asocial behaviour, and what can we as caregivers, or as a society in a broader sense, do to prevent that? and do we even want that?
Dick Boonman is professional by experience and graduated as an ethicist of care. He has come into contact with a lot of asocial behavior in the past years, as well as treatment methods. Boonman was employed at Woenselse Poort from 2012 up until 2022. This is a clinic for people who have a forensic measure imposed and receive treatment. At the moment he is employed by ‘Ervaring Die staat’ in Eindhoven, where he offers guidance to the toughest category of homeless people.
15:30 – 16:30 plenary lecture
- Kees van den Bos – Radicalisation (lecture)
To explain radicalization, we must take radicalizing individuals seriously and carefully examine how they see the world. In this way, we may be able to predict and perhaps even prevent someone from becoming radicalized. In this lecture, Kees van den Bos shows that radicalization of Muslims, right-wing extremist groups, left-wing extremist individuals and other forms of radicalization is fueled by perceived injustice. Van den Bos also outlines the essence of pointing out the democratic responsibilities of radicalizing individuals towards them.
Kees van den Bos is a professor of social psychology and empirical legal science at Utrecht University. He conducts fundamental research on perceived injustice and applies these insights on socially important issues such as radicalization.
More information
This lecture is organized by Complex, study association psychology Tilburg, in cooperation with Studium Generale.
Contact: Annelieke Koster (Studium Generale).
* For students, this lecture may count towards the SG-Certificate. Check the SG-Certificate website for all the terms and conditions.
