Dr Anna Stefaniak
Lecturer
Research areas
I am a social psychologist specialising in intergroup relations. My research examines the psychological processes underlying intergroup attitudes and behaviour, prejudice and its reduction, social identity, and social justice. My work addresses challenges facing increasingly diverse societies, including intergroup conflict, discrimination, collective action, and responses to demographic change. I have also developed research on how social identities and social connectedness shape health outcomes and recovery from addiction.
My research spans three interconnected areas. First, I investigate the sources of intergroup bias and approaches to reducing it, with a particular interest in direct and indirect forms of intergroup contact. Second, I examine how people relate to their group’s history, focusing particularly on collective nostalgia and the ways in which different understandings of the past shape contemporary intergroup and gender-based attitudes and behaviour. Third, I study the psychological underpinnings of negative and positive intergroup behaviour, including reactions to increasing ethnic diversity, collective action, and support for disadvantaged groups.
PhD supervision
- Zuzanna Hordejuk
- Somidha Ray
Selected publications
-
Open access
A dual route to distrust of atheists: perceiving atheists to lack individualizing moral foundations and an external moralizing agent heightens Christians’ distrust
Wormley, A. S., Stefaniak, A., Hollingshead, S. & Wohl, M. J. A., 7 May 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Group Processes and Intergroup Relations. OnlineFirst, p. 1-20 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Strong leaders, not strongmen: how concern for polarization and collective nostalgia shape leader preference
Wohl, M. J. A., Stefaniak, A., Ungson, N. D. & Packer, D., 1 Apr 2026, In: European Journal of Social Psychology. 56, 3, p. 601-621 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
The psychology of offensive and defensive intergroup violence: preregistered insights from 58 countries
Kunst, J. R., Besta, T., Jaśkiewicz, M., Gajda, A. N., Sanden, M., Flatebø, M. M., Adebayo, S. O., Adonis, M., Agyemang, C. B., Boateng, R. A., Akfirat, S. A., Al-Adawi, S., Ambrosio, C., Anjum, G., Aruta, J. J. B. R., Austers, I., Barry, O., Bastian, B., Becker, M. & Bender, M. & 93 others, , 31 Mar 2026, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 123, 13, e2535665123.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Towards a habit-rupture model of intergroup contact in everyday settings
Paolini, S., Dixon, J., Kotzur, P. F., Friehs, M.-T., Bracegirdle, C., Lauterbach, A., Köbrich, J., Graf, S., Kauff, M., Stefaniak, A., Wright, S. C., Barlow, F. K., Luebbering, K. & Harwood, J., 21 Jan 2026, In: Nature Reviews Psychology. 5, p. 136–151 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
-
Open access
When memory meets anxiety: Collective nostalgia (civic- and homogeneity-focused) and collective angst shape strong leader support and voting behaviour
Wohl, M., Tabri, N., Stefaniak, A., Ungson, N. & Packer, D., 24 Apr 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Memory, Mind & Media. 5, e7.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Double standards in the treatment of refugees: why are people more likely to help Ukrainian compared to Syrian refugees?
Stefaniak, A., Echterhoff, G., Tausch, N., Herzog, M., Groß, J., Thölmann, C. & Becker, J., 21 Oct 2025, In: Revista de Psicología Social. 40, 2-3, p. 219-265Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
Non-criminal justice interventions for countering cognitive and behavioural radicalisation amongst children and adolescents: a systematic review of effectiveness and implementation
Lewis, J., Marsden, S., Hewitt, J., Squires, C. & Stefaniak, A., Dec 2025, In: Campbell Systematic Reviews. 21, 4, 80 p., e70079.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
-
Open access
Perceptions of gender role discontinuity and collective nostalgia for traditional gender relations shape men’s support for gender equality
Stefaniak, A., Wohl, M. J. A. & Higgison, K., 8 May 2025, In: Sex Roles. 91, 37.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Pro- and anti-LGBT activism as the case of system-challenging and system-supporting collective action
Górska, P., Malinowska, K., Stefaniak, A. & Lipowska, K., 3 Jul 2025, In: Psychology & Sexuality. 16, 3, p. 808-824 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
-
Open access
PROTOCOL - Non‐criminal justice interventions for countering cognitive and behavioural radicalisation amongst children and adolescents: a systematic review of effectiveness and implementation
Lewis, J., Marsden, S., Stefaniak, A. & Hewitt, J., 1 Mar 2025, In: Campbell Systematic Reviews. 23 p., e70020.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review