Dr Karolina Urbanska

Karolina Urbanska is a social and political psychologist. Her research broadly concerns the interplay between the macro-system (e.g., political structures) and social identity.

During her doctoral studies, she investigated how group members react to authority decisions (such as those made by the police or government). In this context, perceptions of authority fairness are shaped dynamically not only by the ways authorities make decisions but also by group norms, intergroup dynamics, values and culture.

This research has important implications for policing divided societies in informing best practices for maintaining the legitimacy of institutions. More recently, Karolina has been interested in the way that social structures impact the nature of intergroup relations and how people position themselves in relation to political structures.

Other research interests include the dynamics of interdisciplinary research and political biases. Currently she is working on the ESRC-funded project investigating the impact of political humour.

She is currently a member of International Society of Political Psychology Early Career Committee (2018-2020). She previously acted as an Editor for Journal of European Psychology Students (2016-17) and in 2016, she was recognised by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast for her contributions to the university community.

She is an enthusiast of advancing open science approaches to research.