† indicates that the authors have contributed equality to the manuscript
* Indicates graduate student or postdoc at the time the research was completed
** Indicates undergraduate student at the time the research was completed
† indicates that the authors have contributed equality to the manuscript
* Indicates graduate student or postdoc at the time the research was completed
** Indicates undergraduate student at the time the research was completed
New York University Abu Dhabi
Director: Jocelyn J. Bélanger
Violent Extremism & Environmental Psychology Lab

Dr. Jocelyn Bélanger
Principal Investigator
Dr. Jocelyn Bélanger is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at New York University Abu Dhabi. He earned his master's degree and doctorate in Social Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also the author of the book entitled “The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives, and Network.”
Dr. Bélanger is the Director of the NYUAD Violent Extremism and Environmental Psychology Lab and the author of over 100 publications on the psychology of terrorism, (de)radicalization, self-sacrifice, motivated reasoning, and environmental psychology. He is the recipient of several awards including the APA Dissertation Research Award, the Milton Dean Havron Social Sciences Award, and the APS Rising-Star Early-Career Research Award. In March 2015, he was appointed by the City of Montreal to create the first deradicalization center in North America to tackle homegrown terrorism: The Center for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence.
Dr. Bélanger has written about his research for the public in Scientific American (here, here, and here), World Politics Review, and the Sustainabilist. His research has also been featured in international media.
RESEARCH
ASSOCIATE
Claudia Nisa
I was classically trained in social and organizational psychology (Hons BSc Psychology, University of Lisbon). My keen interest in using psychology for the public good led me to direct my graduate studies towards acquiring complementary expertise that could support psychological research applied to critical social problems (MSc Economics and Social Policy, University of Lisbon; MSc Decision Sciences and PhD Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE). My motivation to make psychological science a more substantive foundation for intervention and policy-making has led me to collaborate with several interdisciplinary (international) projects and centers e.g., King’s College-LSE Center for Financial Incentives in Health; EPPI Center for Evidence-based Policy and Practice; Harvard Medical School-Portugal Program on Heart Disease; ETH-Singapore Future Sustainable Cities; PsyCorona Project about COVID-19.
My research focuses on the effectiveness of psychological interventions to promote healthy and sustainable living, mainly drawing from theories about fundamental human needs (e.g., SDT, attachment) or cognitive reframing (e.g., Prospect Theory). I use a variety of methodological tools including (1) Lab studies testing small-scale psychologically-driven interventions; (2) Large field experiments testing how to scale-up behavioral interventions in natural settings; and (3) Evidence-based intervention evaluation, based on meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials.

POST-DOC
Daniel Snook

Daniel W. Snook, Ph.D., is a social and community psychology researcher specializing in the study of terrorism, political violence, intergroup conflict, beliefs, meaning, and religion. He received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Florida in 2013 and a Ph.D. in Community Psychology from Georgia State University in 2021. Daniel studies the social cognitive processes that take place as people form and change their beliefs and attitudes, specifically the processes (and biases therein) that are related to intergroup conflict and involvement in terrorism. He is especially interested in how peoples' search for meaning can lead them to major ideological changes, and how these changes can sometimes push people towards terrorism and other forms of violence. As a community psychologist, Daniel approaches these topics while explicitly accounting for how social contexts, from families to communities to cultures, influence individuals. Daniel also has 4 years of experience teaching university psychology courses and has conducted a wide array of evaluation projects, from programs for the prevention of violent extremism to public health programs at the CDC.
Lab Alumni
Former Postdoctoral Fellows
Birga Schumpe, Assistant Professor, Univ. of Amsterdam
Former Capstone Students
Nathan Quimpo
Ilayda Veziroglu
Alex Wuqi Zhang
Rashid Alzarooni
Arb Mehmeti
Paulin Alcoser
Deniz Gokten
Zsofia Kis
Aya Bouhelal
Karima Raafat
Rida Zafar
Ann Bauer
Shanzey Altaf
Dinara Mukhayarova
2021-2022
2021-2022
2020-2021
2020-2021
2020-2021
2020-2021
2020-2021
2020-2021
2020-2021
2019-2020
2018-2019
2017-2018
2017-2018
2016-2017
Psychology
Psychology
Computer Science
Computer Science
Computer Science
Computer Science
Computer Science
Psychology
Psychology
Psychology
Psychology
Psychology
Psychology
Psychology