Songbirds as vocal learners learn their songs and song preference from social tutors⁠. Tutor choice for both song and preference learning are important to characterize for understanding individual learning performance and cultural transmission of song⁠.

Together with Pepijn Tuinier and Thijs Brocades Zaalberg, Sebastiaan Rietjens researched the role of trust in an international intelligence cooperation.

The aim of this dissertation is to provide insight in interethnic prejudice of children in the Netherlands and attitudes and ideologies that they are exposed to through two socialization agents (parents and children’s books).

Brian Shaev

The aim of this thesis was to study the link between hearing loss, language skills, and social functioning in deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children. Sufficient language skills are an essential prerequisite to develop appropriate communication skills, in order to join in conversations with others.…

This project explores the decline of shifting cultivation in Northeast India. What is the impact on society of people’s deepening engagement with markets and the state?

Sociale veiligheid in promotietrajecten staat nationaal en ook bij de Universiteit Leiden hoog op de agenda. Toch blijkt het in de praktijk lastig om structureel ruimte te maken voor dit thema, juist vanwege de complexe en hiërarchische verhoudingen binnen de academische wereld. Tijd om daar wat aan…

To argue that people can control the relative contributions of goal-driven and stimulus-driven processes to decision-making and action selection.

LiTechAe: Percussive stone tools related to stone masonry techniques seen through experimentation and use-wear analysis.

This paper written by Vydra and Kantorowicz answers the research question ‘What policy-relevant information does Twitter contain?’ as well as the research question ‘How does this information change between a period of normalcy and a period of crisis?’

This project explored the role of material culture, in casu painted plaster and its technologies, in expressing dynamic social identities and in forging complex interwoven human relationships in the context of the Middle to Late Bronze Age of the Aegean and East Mediterranean.

An archaeological case-study of the Pointe des Châteaux, La Désirade and Les Îles de la Petite Terre micro-region, Guadeloupe, F.W.I.

This open access book brings together an eclectic cast of scholars in related disciplines to examine ageing in the Soviet Union, covering the practice of geriatrics, the science of gerontology, and the experience of growing old. Chapters in the book focus on concepts and themes that analyse Soviet ageing…

This article introduces the concept of Repertoires of Comparison (RoCs) to explain how certain comparisons become deeply embedded in social and political life.

On Friday 7 March 2025 Adam Knight successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

This COIn Grant 2025 awarded project allows Leiden University researchers and students to do research on the world’s largest corpus of digitized Ottoman language periodicals and books.

How do processes of coalition-formation influence patterns of decision-making in the European Union?

This is a Special Issue of the peer-reviewed journal 'Social Sciences and Missions', which provides a forum for exploration of the social and political influence of Christian missions worldwide.

Andrei Poama, Assistant Professor at Leiden University, published a piece in the journal of Political Philosophy about social injustice, disadvantaged offenders and the state's authority to punish.

How can theatricality act as a mediating process between public space and public as ‘audience’? Does the presence of an observer change the nature of the observed and if so, how?

As part of Nexus 1492 Subproject 4: A Future for Diverse Caribbean Heritages, which seeks to shed light on how local communities interpret and engage with heritage in the present day, this doctoral study aims to gain insight into how indigenous heritage is represented in the school curriculum for social…

Jifeng Liu defended his thesis on 2 February 2017

The main question I want to answer is about the mutual influence between the cultural and settlements changes that occurred between the Bronze and the Early Iron Age in Margiana and the management of water resources.

With the emergence of online social networks (OSNs), the way people create and share information has changed, which becomes faster and broader than traditional social media.

Wenxin Wang defended her thesis on 26 October 2016

Minister of Justice Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius recently warned against

“The first thing to know is…we don’t post anything without approvals,” the lead social media manager at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) explained after I asked about the MFA’s social media processes. [1]

This article, by Sara Perlstein, explores how perceived social acceptability shapes whether people talk about risks, showing that risk perceptions and conversations are socially negotiated rather than purely individual.

In this article, Annemiek de Looze and Eefje Cuppen, investigated empericallly if and how social conflict leads to institutional change.

International education in the Netherlands is under pressure. There is pressure on the student housing market, and there is a greater desire among right-wing parties to keep our education and students within the borders and to make studies Dutch-language. In these social matters we look at what international…

This thesis focuses on the social dimensions of crane and wetland conservation in rural landscapes in Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Students, first-time buyers, parents with stay-at-home children, migrants in need of a house; the problems in the housing market affect many layers within the society. The lack of housing is a growing problem. How does this affect our behaviour and the way we think about 'living' ? What are the consequences…

This dissertation aims to provide insight in ethnic prejudice in Chinese-Dutch children and the ethnic socialization context they are exposed to through three social-contextual factors, i.e., parents, children’s books, and the COVID pandemic.

This project combines an extensive new open database on linguistic distributions, spatial modelling and areal linguistics in order to disentangle the roles of social and environmental factors on the emergence of linguistic diversity patterns of South America.

Sonic Modernities situates Southeast Asian popular music in specific socio-historical settings, hoping that a focus on popular culture and history may shed light on how some people in a particular part of the world have been witnessing the emergence of all things modern.

On Wednesday 11 June 2025 Steffie van Gompel successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On Wednesday 3 July 2024 Renata Schiavo successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

How were (post) colonial migrants included in post-war welfare systems?

How does the criminal justice system in Indonesia safeguard the rights of and access to justice for witnesses and victims?

Lecture

...What does seem clear, though, is that there is a great deal of room for improvement in the process of out-of-home placement. The FSW's social and behavioural scientists give their views.

Have you ever experienced the feeling of awkwardness when attending a party where you didn’t know anybody? Ever felt shy at a party within the first few minutes? While this feeling is labelled loosely as feeling socially anxious, social anxiety disorder goes to a much further extent.

On 20 September 2019, the opening drinks for the Open Science Community Leiden will be held at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Open science is the approach to science aimed at making scientific research accessible, reproducible, and freely available to people within and outside the academic…

From 23-25 April 2014, a conference will be held on the topic of Buddhism and Social Justice. This conference confronts the common perception of Buddhism as intrinsically a tradition of peace and justice, and explores the various ways in which historically Buddhist societies of Asia have shaped, transmitted,…

In our digital society, the internet seems to offer endless possibilities for expressing yourself, gathering information, and making contact with others. The anonymity of the internet seems to give us the freedom to come and go as we please. But what about our online privacy? Should it be dealt with…

Climate change is a hot topic and constantly in the news. Thousands of Dutch high school students protested at the Malieveld in The Hague. News website Nu.nl has barred climate change deniers from their comments section to prevent ‘fake news’. How does climate change impact the research community, and…

“We are proud and happy to receive this grant. It will enable us to do truly innovative fundamental research with a direct link to practical applications.” Michiel Westenberg is looking forward to investigate the effects of age and social anxiety on eye-contact. Together with Esther van den Bos he has…

From 1 January 2017, Professor of neurocognitive developmental psychology Eveline Crone has been appointed member of the Social Sciences Council of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).