Telephone number:	+31 (0)71 527 3831
E-Mail:	derks@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
Faculty / Department:	Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen, Instituut Psychologie, Sociale en Organisatiepsychologie
Office Address:	Pieter de la Court gebouw Wassenaarseweg 52 2333 AK Leiden Room number 2A30
Personal Homepage:	www.socialsciences.leidenuniv.nl/​psychology/​organisation/​so/​derks.jsp

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Belle Derks received her MA degree in Social and Organizational Psychology in 2001 from Leiden University. From 2002 to 2006 she performed her dissertation research at this university in collaboration with Colette van Laar and Naomi Ellemers. In 2007, she successfully defended her dissertation, in which she examined contextual factors that reduce the experience of social identity threat in stigmatized group members, improving their performance motivation and well-being. She now works at Leiden University as an assistant professor. Her current research focuses on psychological (motivation, performance) and physiological (cardiovascular reactivity, EEG, ERP) effects of stigma and group-based devaluation. In 2008 she received a NWO Veni grant.

Research

My research (both experimental and field research) focuses on the effects of social identity threat and stigma on the well-being, motivation and performance of members of socially devalued groups (e.g., women, ethnic minorities). I examine (in collaboration with Colette van Laar and Naomi Ellemers) how members of stigmatized groups cope with social identity threat, and study how these coping strategies in turn affect their motivation and performance on dimensions that define status in society (e.g., academic achievement, leadership aspirations). Moreover, I study which factors determine whether women and ethnic minorities aim to improve their group’s outcomes through collective action rather than strive to improve their individual outcomes with individual mobility strategies (e.g., queen bee behavior). Recently, I've become interested in physiological and neurological reactions to stigma and social identity threat (i.e, cardiovascular reactivity in collaboration with Daan Scheepers, Leiden University; EEG & ERP in collaboration with Michael Inzlicht, University of Toronto and Tiffany Ito, University of Colorado at Boulder).

Teaching

• Thesis Supervision (Master Program S&O)
• Tutoraat Academische Vaardigheden (1st year undergraduate)
• Bachelor Project (3rd year undergraduate)

• Beoordeling en Beïnvloeding (3rd year undergraduate)

Publications

• Zaal, M.P., Van Laar, C., Ståhl, T., Ellemers, N., & Derks, B. (in press). Social change as an important goal or likely outcome: how regulatory focus affects commitment to collective action. British Journal of Social Psychology.
• Zaal, M.P., Van Laar, C., Ståhl, T., Ellemers, N., & Derks, B. (in press). By any means necessary: The effects of regulatory focus and moral conviction on normative and non-normative collective action. British Journal of Social Psychology.
• Derks, B., Van Laar, C., Ellemers, N., & De Groot, K. (2011). Gender bias primes elicit queen bee responses among senior police women. Psychological Science. 22,1243-1249.
• 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.
• Does, S., Derks, B., & Ellemers, N. (2011). Thou shalt not discriminate: How emphasizing moral ideals rather than obligations increases whites' support for social equality. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 562-571.
• 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.
• 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.
• Kang, S.K., Inzlicht, M., & Derks, B. (2010). Social neuroscience and public policy on intergroup relations: A Hegelian analysis. Journal of Social Issues, 66 (3), 585-601.
• Derks, B., Van Laar, C. & Ellemers, N. (2009). Working for the self or working for the group: How personal and social self-affirmation promote collective behavior among members of devalued groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(1), 183-202.
• Derks, B, Inzlicht, M. & Kang, S. (2008). The neuroscience of stigma and stereotype Threat. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 11(2), 163-181.
• Derks, B., Van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2007). The beneficial effects of social identity protection on the performance motivation of members of devalued groups. Social Issues and Policy Review, 1, 217-256.
• Derks, B., Van Laar, C., & Ellemers, N. (2007). Social creativity strikes back: Improving low status group members’ motivation and performance by valuing ingroup dimensions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37(3), 470-493. 
• 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(5), 576-588.
• Van Laar, C., & Derks, B. (2003). Disidentification from the academic domain among members of stigmatized groups. In F. Salili and R. Hoosain, Learning and motivation in a multicultural setting. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.

Curriculum Vitae

• In August of 2008 I received a VENI-grant from the Dutch National Science Foundation (NWO) for a research project entitled 'A Neuroscience Approach to Social Identity Threat: The Role of Preconscious Processes in Motivational Withdrawal among Members of Stigmatized Groups'.
• Ph.D., 2007, Leiden University. Dissertation: Social Identity Threat and Performance Motivation: The Interplay between Ingroup and Outgroup domains.
• For my dissertation, I received the 2007 Social Issues Dissertation Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI).
• In 2007 I received a LUF Pilot Study Grant from the Leiden University Fund to set up research on neurological correlates (EEG, ERP) of stigma and social identity threat.

More Information about the Department of Social & Organizational Psychology

For more information about the Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, please visit the website S&O.