Colette van Laar
Colette van Laar obtained her M.A. in social psychology at the University of Amsterdam. In 1992 she obtained a Fulbright scholarship and went to the University of California in Los Angeles. There she obtained her Ph.D. in 1998 with a dissertation concerning the influence of low status and stigma on the self and motivation. She joined the faculty in social and organizational psychology in Leiden in 1999, taking a sabbatical as a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation in New York from 2001-2002. In 2006 she received a prestigious VIDI grant from the Dutch National Science Foundation. In 2014 she became full professor in the social and cultural psychology group at the University of Leuven in Belgium, also obtaining a prestigious Odysseus subsidy from the Flemish National Science Foundation.
Her research focuses on the social psychology of low social status and stigma, and the consequences of stigma for cognition, emotion, motivation and performance. In addition to these topics, she conducts research on social identity, contact and intergroup relations, making use of both laboratory research with experimental groups and field research with existing low status or disadvantaged groups such as ethnic minorities and women in traditionally male-dominated fields.
Primary Interests:
- Culture and Ethnicity
- Gender Psychology
- Group Processes
- Intergroup Relations
- Motivation, Goal Setting
- Prejudice and Stereotyping
- Self and Identity
Research Group or Laboratory:
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Books:
- Levin, S., & Van Laar, C. (Eds.). (2006). Stigma and group inequality: Social psychological approaches. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
- Sidanius, J., Levin, S., Van Laar, C., & Sears, D. O. (2008). The diversity challenge: Social identity and intergroup relations on the college campus. New York: Russell Sage.
Journal Articles:
- Derks, B., Ellemers, N., Van Laar, C., & De Groot, K. (2011). Do sexist organizational cultures create the Queen Bee? British Journal of Social Psychology, 50, 519-535.
- Derks, B., Scheepers, D., Van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2011). The threat vs. challenge of car parking for women: How self- and group affirmation affect cardiovascular responses. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 178-183.
- Derks, B., Van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2009). Working for the self or working for the group: How self- versus group affirmation affects collective behavior in low-status groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(1), 183-202.
- Derks, B., Van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2006). Striving for success in outgroup settings: Effects of contextually emphasizing ingroup dimensions on stigmatized group members’ social identity and performance styles. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 576-588.
- Derks, B., Van Laar, C., Ellemers, N., & De Groot, K. (2011). Gender-bias primes elicit queen-bee responses among senior policewomen. Psychological Science, 22, 1243-1249.
- Levin, S., Van Laar, C., & Sidanius, J. (2003). The effects of ingroup and outgroup friendships on ethnic attitudes in college: A longitudinal study. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 6, 76-92.
- Sidanius, J., Van Laar, C., Levin, S., & Sinclair, S. (2004). Ethnic enclaves and the dynamics of social identity on the college campus: The good, the bad, and the ugly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 96-110.
- Stahl, T., Van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2012). The role of prevention focus under stereotype threat: Initial cognitive mobilization is followed by depletion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(6), 1239-1251.
- Stahl, T., Van Laar, C., Ellemers, N., & Derks, B. (2012). Searching for acceptance: Prejudice expectations direct attention towards social acceptance cues when under a promotion focus. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 15(4), 523-538.
- Van Laar, C., Bleeker, D., Ellemers, N., & Meijer, E. (2014). Ingroup and outgroup support for upward mobility: Divergent responses to ingroup identification in low status groups. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 563-577.
- Van Laar, C., Derks, B., & Ellemers, N. (2013). Motivation for education and work in young Muslim women: The importance of value for ingroup domains. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 35(1), 64-74.
- Van Laar, C., Derks, B., Ellemers, N., & Bleeker, D. (2010). Valuing social identity: Consequences for motivation and performance in low-status groups. Journal of Social Issues, 66(3), 602-617.
- Van Laar, C., Levin, S., & Sinclair, S. (2008). Social identity and personal identity concerns in stereotype threat: The case of affirmative action. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 30(4), 295-310.
- Van Laar, C., Levin, S., Sinclair, S., & Sidanius, J. (2005). The effect of college roommate contact on ethnic attitudes and behaviors. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41(7), 329-345.
- Zaal, M. P., Van Laar, C., Ståhl, T., Ellemers, N., & Derks, B. (2012). Social change as an important goal or likely outcome: How regulatory focus affects commitment to collective action. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51(1), 93-110.
- Zaal, M., Van Laar, C., Stahl, T., Ellemers, N., & Derks, B. (2015). Self-promotion: How regulatory focus affects the pursuit of self-interest at the expense of the group. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(5), 587-598.
- Zaal, M., Van Laar, C., Stahl, T., Ellemers, N., & Derks, B. (2011). By any means necessary: The effects of regulatory focus and moral conviction on hostile and benevolent forms of collective action. British Journal of Social Psychology, 50(4), 670-689.
Other Publications:
- Ellemers, N., & Van Laar, C. (2010). Individual mobility. In J. Dovidio, M. Hewstone, P. Glick, & V. Esses (Eds.), Handbook of prejudice and discrimination (pp. 561-576). London, UK: Sage.
Courses Taught:
- Culture and Diversity at Work
- Intergroup relations
- People in Organizations: Attention to Diversity
Colette van Laar
Social and Cultural Psychology
University of Leuven
Tiensestraat 102- Box 3727
3000 Leuven
Belgium
- Phone: +32-16-373273
