iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Michael Bang Petersen

EPSS @epssnet.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

📢 The Call for Papers for EPSS 2027 is open! After a fantastic first conference in Belfast, we’re heading to Copenhagen 🇩🇰, 24–26 June 2027. ⏰ Deadline: 13 Nov 2026 👉 Call for papers: epssnet.org/2027-copenha... 1/2

epssnet.org

Call for Papers | EPSS Belfast 2026 Conference

Submit your abstract or full paper for EPSS Belfast 2026. Share cutting‑edge political science research, network with peers & contribute to academic impact.

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Reposted by Michael Bang Petersen

Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

This is a fascinating study by @tboeggild.bsky.social and @m-b-petersen.bsky.social - it suggests political discontent is a wicked problem, but also fundamentally about inequality.

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Dan Silverman @dmsilverman.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

This seems like a pretty notable intervention from @m-b-petersen.bsky.social and his collaborators in the debates about what is driving broad political discontent In a sense, they find evidence that inequality -- and a political system that is seen as sustaining and serving it -- is to blame

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

People think we should be giving far less help to the rich and far more help to the mentally ill, poor, elderly, sick, young, retired, and socially disadvantaged in society. Our failure to do so is driving social discontent and conflict in society: osf.io/preprints/ps...

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

...But political communicaiton is also key: The crisis needs to be framed as a collective project from elites.

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

We refer to relevant cross-national research on trust and national identity in the paper. My expectation is that collective action motivation would most strongly emerge in countries where both social trust, political trust and likely also national identity is high...

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Yes, the elderly was the most important group for getting the vaccine.

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Our findings (in the Nature paper) suggest you may be right: Countries with higher social trust discriminate more against the unvaccinated.

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

…vaccines lower the pressure on the collective capacity of the hospital system given their effect on serious disease. Trust is one component of the motivation but it is broader as described in the paper.

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Hi Andrew. I agree with alot you write and studies on the unhelpful communication and backlash re: vaccines: www.nature.com/articles/s41... & www.cambridge.org/core/journal.... That said, even with weakened effects on transmission, however, there still is a collective action component as…

nature.com

Discriminatory attitudes against unvaccinated people during the pandemic - Nature

Vaccinated people express discriminatory attitudes towards unvaccinated individuals across cultures.

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Paul Rosenberg @paulrosenberg.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

🎯🧵"We focus on the role of 'collective action motivation', i.e., the perception of the pandemic response as a valuable collective enterprise.... Stronger collective action motivations (CAM) more strongly predict completing vaccination & recieving a booster"

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

The results show - in line with some other studies - that we need to understand vaccination decisions during a crisis as social decisions and not just personal health decisions. Creating a collective motivation is difficult & requires a continous focus on trust, transparency and community. 7/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Finally, when CAM is high, both the sense of threat and the sense of personal coping ability no longer predicts vaccinations. Whether you are personally afraid or not of covid, you get vaccinated if you are collectively motivated. 6/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

CAM is also the strongest predict of how quickly the person gets vaccinated. Higher CAM means that the respondent more quickly receives their shot. 5/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Stronger collective action motivations (CAM) more strongly predict completing vaccination & recieving a booster, also when introducing further control variables. Respondents' with higher CAM are also more likely to get their children vaccinated. 4/7

Figure showing associations between Collective Action Motivation, Threat Appraisal and Coping Appraisal with different vaccination outcomes.

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

We focus on the role of 'collective action motivation', i.e., the perception of the pandemic response as a valuable collective enterprise. We compare this to traditional measures from health psychology: Appraisals of threat and appraisals of personal coping ability. 3/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

During covid, we collected survey responses from almost 8 % of the Danish adult population (N=380,516) and have subsequently been able to connect these to administrative registry data on socioeconomics & all vaccinations performed in Denmark (6.1 million). 2/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Vaccination is collective action: Vaccination helps others by hindering disease-spread But there is an incentive free-ride: if enough others vaccinate, you don't need to pay those costs In a new paper, we provide new evidence with data from 6+ mil covid-vaccinations: osf.io/preprints/ps... 🧵1/7

Abstract
Classical theories in health psychology explain individuals’ decisions about whether or not to
engage in protective behavior such as vaccination during a health emergency as guided by
trade-offs about personal risks and benefits. Yet, vaccinations involve a clear collective action
component, where individuals can protect others by getting vaccinated, beyond the personal
benefits. Following recent research, we develop the argument that individual differences in the
motivation to engage in collective action should influence vaccination decisions during the most
significant health emergency in the 21st century, the COVID-19 pandemic, above and beyond the
predictors proposed by classical theories. We test this argument by combining survey observations
from 380,516 unique Danish adults with population-wide registry data on COVID-19 vaccination
status for 6.1 million individuals in Denmark, of whom 4.9 million received at least one vaccine
dose. Using this unique data infrastructure, we compare classical psychological correlates of
protective behavior with psychological measures of individual-differences in collective action motivation.
The results demonstrate collective action motivation was more strongly associated with
vaccination behavior than threat appraisal or coping appraisal across the vaccination sequence,
spanning completion of the recommended primary vaccination course, booster receipt, time to
full vaccination, and vaccination uptake among the children of survey respondents. Furthermore,
high levels of collective action motivation strongly weakened the role of personal considerations
that would otherwise deter vaccination uptake, both in terms of whether or not the individual
gets vaccinated and how quickly the individual gets vaccinated. These findings provide important
information on the prerequisites of successful vaccination campaigns during major health crises
and how governments and authorities can facilitate them.

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Reposted by Michael Bang Petersen

Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

What drives populists to accept expert advice? Cross-country study by A Peresman, @thoruplars.bsky.social, @honoratam.bsky.social & @m-b-petersen.bsky.social compares how populists & non-populists evaluate expertise: buff.ly/PaX1OOK #PSHighlyViewed 3/10 @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social #polsky #polsci

"Abstract
Across diverse policy domains, there is broad concern about whether trust in science and expertise has eroded during the past decade. Using quota-based surveys with over 7,500 respondents across five countries and preregistered vignette experiments, we investigate what persuades populists and non-populists to accept expert advice. We find first that populism is associated with less willingness to accept expert advice, yet with variation between countries and topics. Second, we find both populists and non-populists are similarly impacted by stronger arguments. Finally, we show that populists are more likely to judge advice as poorly reasoned and perceive it as politically biased. A mediation analysis showed that the relationship between populism and advice acceptance was nearly completely mediated by these judgments. Our study indicates that populists not only listen to expertise but also respond to the same qualities of expert advice as others, even if their skepticism is higher."

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Reposted by Michael Bang Petersen

Kristian Frederiksen @kristianvsf.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

New public pre-print with @aarslew.bsky.social and Martin Bisgaard 🧵 We introduce a perspective on democratic erosion that focuses on quiet anticipation among political elites: what do they think happens to those who cross a strongman that challenges democracy? www.researchgate.net/publication/...

researchgate.net

(PDF) The Imagined Strongman: How Elites Anticipate the Cost of Opposing Trump

PDF | What happens to politicians who speak up against a strongman that challenges democracy? Political scientists typically answer this question using... | Find, read and cite all the research you ne...

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Søren Torbjørn Svendsen @sorentsvendsen.eurosky.social · 13/06/2026

Går ud fra @anjabechmann.bsky.social her - til dels - henviser til hendes og @m-b-petersen.bsky.social nye bog i @magtudredningen2.bsky.social bogserien: Når sociale platforme udfordrer demokratiet. Kan købes og hentes som pdf (gratis) her: unipress.dk/udgivelser/n... #dkforsk #dkvid

Michael Bang Petersen og Anja Bechmann

Når sociale platforme udfordrer demokratiet

Magtudredningen 2.0

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Stinus Lindgreen @stinuslindgreen.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Så er der kun et par dage til Folkemødet. Jeg har endnu engang et stramt program med +20 debatter. Den vigtigste ligger som sædvanlig fredag aften kl 19, hvor Ingeniørforeningen lægger scene B2 til heavy metal DJ-battle 🤘For tredje gang udfordrer @m-b-petersen.bsky.social og jeg hinanden 🖤

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Reposted by Michael Bang Petersen

Søren Torbjørn Svendsen @sorentsvendsen.eurosky.social · 08/06/2026

Apropos 👆 - fin kronik af @m-b-petersen.bsky.social og @anjabechmann.bsky.social "Danske beslutningstagere kan derudover mere generelt fokusere på at sikre robusthed i det danske informationslandskab og samfund, så udfordringerne fra de sociale platforme kan modstås." politiken.dk/del/EG7081AH...

politiken.dk

Magtudredningen: De sociale medier udfordrer demokratiet – o

De mørke dynamikker på sociale platforme er en demokratisk udfordring, og den stiger væsentligt, jo større spændinger der er i det omkringliggende samfund. Hvis vi ønsker os et mindre splittet Danmark

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Reposted by Michael Bang Petersen

Per Engzell @pengzell.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

What can we learn from automating an entire quantitative social science paper, from prompt to finished product? Thread about ongoing work with @natewilmers.bsky.social 1/12 Paper: osf.io/preprints/so...

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koenfucius @koenfucius.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

People who strongly moralize rationality are more likely to share hostile news targeting the political outgroup (even fabricated claims), but intellectual humility tempers this tendency, writes @a-marie-sci.bsky.social (summarizing a new paper with @m-b-petersen.bsky.social): buff.ly/66RIibx

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Svend-Erik Skaaning @skaaning.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Three 2-year full-time postdoctoral positions in autocratic politics at the Department of Political Science at Aarhus University (in connection to projects headed by Jakob Tolstrup and Alexander Baturo). Flexible start date. Application deadline: June 1, 2026. international.au.dk/about/profil...

international.au.dk

Three 2-year Postdoctoral positions at Aarhus University: Projects on personality cults and strategic communication in autocracies - Vacancy at Aarhus University

Vacancy at Department of Political Science, Aarhus University

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Antoine Marie PhD @a-marie-sci.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

New post on my Substack summarizing our ambitious cross-national study of online hostility, published in @nature.com Nature Human Behavior - with @boralexander.bsky.social @m-b-petersen.bsky.social @leapradella.bsky.social

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Stinus Lindgreen @stinuslindgreen.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Vi gør klar til anden runde debat om Magtudredningen på Nørrebro Teater. Vi har lige afholdt første halvleg af “Magtens mange former” for nogle hundrede gymnasieelever, og nu tager vi endnu en runde for nogle hundrede nye tilhørere. #dkpol

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Jill Walker Rettberg @jilltxt.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Fra den danske maktutredningen (og kollegaer): mer ulikhet og mindre demokrati gir mer aggressive sosiale medier Det er altså ikke bare tek-oligarkene og algoritmene som er problemet. Det gir håp!!

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Mikko Meriläinen @merilainen.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

The whole thread about the recent study is well worth reading, but this is what it boils down to. We have to reject the temptation of simple technological determinism and the notion that everything is just "because of the algorithm". In short: unsurprisingly, the world matters.

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Online hostility is predicted by economic & political inequality Inequality breeds online hostility because people crave status in unequal societies and status-seekers constitute the main perpetrators of hostility in political settings, whether online or offline. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Overall, we find that efforts to reduce hostility online must consider the broader socio-economic and political contexts. Addressing societal inequalities may be essential to disrupting a mutually reinforcing cycle between societal discontent and aggression on social media. 7/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Societal forms of inequality interact with this psychology of status seeking. Most consistently, we found that societal inequality creates more status-seekers in society and, hence, creates more perpetrators of hostility. 6/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

We hypothesized that this reflects that both forms of hostility is generated by the same underlying psychological trait: An orientation towards status. The results strongly support this hypothesis. 5/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

We hypothesized that societal conditions related to inequality breed hostility because they in general breed polarization & hostile interactions. Indeed, we find that people who are hostile in online settings are also hostile in offline settings across all 30 countries. 4/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

This cross-country variation is far from random. As preregistered, we find that political equality (i.e., liberal democracy) & economic inequality strongly predicts victimhood. 1 SD increase in democracy reduce victimhood with 71 % of a SD. 3/7

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

We surveyed 500 individuals in 30 countries from all inhabitated continents, sampled to be representative on key dimensions. Experiences of online victimhood differs substantially across countries. Denmark had the lowest levels, while Turkish respondents reported the highest levels. 2/7

Map of world with levels of online victimhood.

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Antoine Marie PhD @a-marie-sci.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Our paper just hit 50 citations 🎯: "Political conspiracy theories as tools for mobilization and signaling", Current Opinion in Psychology, 2022, with @m-b-petersen.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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V-Dem Institute @vdeminstitute.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

📢 Out Now! V-Dem Dataset v16 & the V-Dem Institute Democracy Report 2026 💾 The V-Dem Dataset: v-dem.net/data/the-v-d... 📰 The Report "Unraveling The Democratic Era?”: v-dem.net/publications... 📈 Explore the new data with the V-Dem Graphing tools: v-dem.net/graphing/gra... #PoliSky #PoliSciSky 1/3

Two map graphs show the state of liberal democracy according to the V-Dem Liberal Democracy index for 2025 and 2024. The higher the score (or darker blue), the more democratic the country. Lower scores (or dark red) mean less democratic. While North and South America, Western Europe and Oceania are mostly in the blue, most parts of Asia and Africa are in the red in 2025.
In comparison to the map for 2024, the map graph for 2025 shows democratic backsliding in some traditionally stable democracies in Western Europe and North America, in particular the USA, United Kingdom and Italy.

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

@anjabechmann.bsky.social og jeg kommer med en bog til juni i magtudredningen omkring, hvad vi ved om disse ting - også baseret på danske data. Vores konklusioner flugter med det, som du beskriver.

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

IN NEW ISSUE: What drives populists to accept expert advice? Cross-country study by A Peresman, @thoruplars.bsky.social, @honoratam.bsky.social & @m-b-petersen.bsky.social compares how populists & non-populists evaluate expertise: buff.ly/MY1U8CH @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social

buff.ly

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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Reposted by Michael Bang Petersen

Drew Engelhardt @amengel.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

New w/@scottclifford.bsky.social. Lots of work uses agree-disagree scales, and a lit review shows these are 1) frequently just measured in one direction (agree = higher trait) and 2) correlated with each other. This has potentially big issues for conclusions. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.com

Acquiescence Bias and Criterion Validity: Problems and Potential Solutions for Agree-Disagree Scales - Political Behavior

Political Behavior - Scholars frequently measure dispositions like populism, conspiracism, racism, and sexism by asking survey respondents whether they agree or disagree with statements...

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Michael Bang Petersen @m-b-petersen.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Thank you for doing this - these findings are important and should influence subsequent work! My only additional thought (which is not relevant to your core message) is that I am not surprised that populism & NFC do not correlate, given our own prior work: www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...

taylorfrancis.com

Beyond Populism | 5 | The Psychology of Status-Seeking and Extreme Pol

Democracies are experiencing destabilizing events, including the emergence of demagogues, street riots, circulation of misinformation, and extremely hostile

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Political Studies @polstudies.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

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