Sander van der Linden

Van der Linden earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Amsterdam and California State University, Chico.{{cite web|title=Sander van der Linden|url=http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/profile/sander-van-der-linden/|publisher=Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment|access-date=12 April 2018}} He received his Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2014 with a thesis titled "The social-psychological determinants of climate change risk perceptions, intentions and behaviours: a national study",{{cite thesis|last=van der Linden|first=Sander|date=2014|title=The social-psychological determinants of climate change risk perceptions, intentions and behaviours: a national study|type=PhD|publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science|url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/896/|access-date=2 November 2021}} and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the department of psychology and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton University.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Van der Linden is Professor of Social Psychology in society in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, England where he has directed the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Laboratory since 2016.{{cite news |url= http://www.psychol.cam.ac.uk/archived-news/2016/the-department-welcomes-dr-sander-van-der-linden|title= Department Welcomes Dr. van der Linden |access-date=27 May 2017}} He is also a fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge, a research affiliate of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication at Yale University and the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge.{{cite web |url= http://www.psychol.cam.ac.uk/people/sander-van-der-linden|title=Sander van der Linden's Cambridge University Department Page |date=6 September 2016 |access-date=27 May 2017}}

He serves on the editorial board of Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, Personality and Individual Differences, Current Research in Social and Ecological Psychology, and the Journal of Risk Research.{{cite book |url=https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/law/?tab=2|title= Psychology, Public Policy, and Law| publisher = APA| access-date=6 February 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.journals.elsevier.com/personality-and-individual-differences/editorial-board|title= Personality and Individual Differences | publisher = Elsevier | access-date=6 February 2019}}{{cite web |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=editorialBoard&journalCode=rjrr20|title= Journal of Risk Research| publisher = Taylor & Francis | access-date=14 December 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.journals.elsevier.com/current-research-in-ecological-and-social-psychology/editorial-board/sander-van-der-linden-phd|title= Current Research in Social and Ecological Psychology| publisher = Elsevier| access-date=13 January 2023}}

He was the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Environmental Psychology from 2018 to 2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-environmental-psychology/|title= Journal of Environmental Psychology| publisher = Elsevier | access-date=6 February 2019}}

Van der Linden is most well-known for his research program that looks at how to protect people from fake news and misinformation.{{cite journal|last=Ortiz|first=Diego|year=2018|title=Could this be the cure for fake news?|journal=BBC Future|url =https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181114-could-this-game-be-a-vaccine-against-fake-news}}{{cite journal|last=Robson|first=David|year=2020|title=Vaccinating against viruses of the mind |journal=British Psychological Association|url =https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-33/summer-2020/vaccinating-against-viruses-mind}} The research draws on inoculation theory where, following the biomedical analogy, forewarning people and exposing them to a severely weakened dose of fake news can generate psychological resistance against it.{{cite book |last= van der Linden |first= Sander | year = 2023 | title=Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity |url= https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/foolproof-why-we-fall-for-misinformation-and-how-to-build-immunity-sander-van-der-linden?variant=39973011980366 |location= London, UK |publisher= 4th Estate/HarperCollins |page= 336 |isbn=9780008466718}}{{cite journal |title=Inoculating the public against misinformation about climate change |journal=Global Challenges |volume=1|pages=1600008: 1–7 |year=2017 |last1=van der Linden |first1=Sander |last2=Leiserowitz |first2=Anthony |last3=Rosenthal |first3=Seth |last4=Maibach |first4=Edward |issue=2 |doi=10.1002/gch2.201600008|pmid=31565263 |pmc=6607159 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal | last1 = Maertens| first1 = R| last2 = Roozenbeek| first2 = J| last3 = Basol | first3 = M| last4 = van der Linden | first4 = S | year = 2020| title = Long-term effectiveness of inoculation against misinformation: Three longitudinal experiments | url = https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?10.1037%2Fxap0000315| journal = Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied | volume = 27| issue = 1| pages = 1–16| doi =10.1037/xap0000315| issn=1076-898X | pmid = 33017160| s2cid = 222148288}}{{cite journal|last1=Roozenbeek|first1=J|last2=van der Linden|first2=S|year=2019|title=Fake news game confers psychological resistance against online misinformation|journal=Palgrave Communications|volume=5|issue=65|doi=10.1057/s41599-019-0279-9|s2cid=195329457|doi-access=free}}

He co-developed the fake news game Bad News,{{cite journal|last=Gold|first=Hadas|year=2020|title=Researchers have created a 'vaccine' for fake news. It's a game |journal=CNN|url =https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/04/media/fake-news-game-vaccine/index.html}}{{cite book |last= van der Linden |first= Sander | year = 2023 | title=Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity |url= https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/foolproof-why-we-fall-for-misinformation-and-how-to-build-immunity-sander-van-der-linden?variant=39973011980366 |location= London, UK |publisher= 4th Estate/HarperCollins |page= 336 |isbn=9780008466718}} which simulates a social media feed and teaches people about the manipulation techniques used in the production of fake news. A more recent version of the game called GoViral!{{cite journal|last=Reader|first=Ruth|year=2020|title=This game can stop people from falling for COVID-19 conspiracies|journal=Fast Company |url =https://www.fastcompany.com/90563255/covid-19-conspiracies-go-viral-game}} aims to inoculate against misinformation about COVID-19 specifically.

Van der Linden is known for the Gateway belief model (GBM),{{cite journal|last1=van der Linden|first1=Sander|last2=Leiserowitz|first2=Anthony|last3=Feinberg|first3=Geoffrey|last4=Maibach|first4=Edward|year=2015|title=The Scientific Consensus on Human-Caused Climate Change as a Gateway Belief: Experimental Evidence|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=10|issue=2|pages=e0118489|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0118489|pmid=25714347|pmc=4340922|doi-access=free}} a dual-process theory of reasoning. The model postulates a two-step process of attitude change. In the first step, perceptions of agreement among a group of influential referents (e.g. experts) influence key private attitudes that people may hold about an issue (e.g., that global warming is human-caused). In turn, these central cognitive and affective beliefs are hypothesized to shape public attitudes and support for science. In other words, the model suggests that what underpins people's attitudes toward (often contested) science is their perception of a scientific consensus. Correcting people's (mis)perception of scientific agreement on an issue is therefore regarded as a "gateway" cognition{{cite news|last=Mooney|first=Chris|year=2015|title=Researchers think they've found a "gateway belief" that leads to greater science acceptance|newspaper=The Washington Post|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/02/26/can-this-gateway-belief-get-people-to-accept-climate-change/}} to eliciting subsequent changes in related beliefs that people hold about contested social and scientific issues.

With the consensus heuristic as the primary mechanism for initiating the attitude change, the model finds its theoretical roots in other prominent social psychological theories such as the heuristic-systematic model and the Elaboration Likelihood Model.{{cite journal|last1=van der Linden|first1=Sander|last2=Maibach|first2=Edward|last3=Leiserowitz|first3=Anthony|year=2020|title=The gateway belief model: A large-scale replication|journal=Journal of Environmental Psychology|volume=62|pages=49–58|doi=10.1016/j.jenvp.2019.01.009|s2cid=151033547 |url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/289506}} The model has been applied in a variety of contexts, including climate change,{{cite journal|last1=van der Linden|first1=S|last2=Leiserowitz|first2=A|last3=Maibach|first3=E|year=2017|title=Scientific agreement can neutralize politicization of facts|journal=Nature Human Behaviour |volume=2|issue=1|pages=2–3|doi=10.1038/s41562-017-0259-2|pmid=30980051|s2cid=3287707|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/278828}}{{cite journal|last1=Kerr|first2 = John|last2=Wilson|first = Marc| year=2018|title=Changes in perceived scientific consensus shift beliefs about climate change and GM food safety|journal = PLOS ONE|volume = 13|issue = 7|pages = e0200295|doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0200295|pmid = 29979762|pmc = 6034897|bibcode = 2018PLoSO..1300295K| url= |doi-access = free}} vaccination,{{cite journal|last=Hotchkiss|first = Michael|year=2015|title=Emphasizing consensus about safety boosts support for vaccines|journal = Princeton University News| url=https://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S45/02/77M41/index.xml?section=topstories}} the Brexit debate,{{cite journal|last1=Harris |first1=Adam|last2=Sildmäe|first2=Oliver|last3=Speekenbrink|first3=Maarten|last4= Hahn| first4 = Ulrike| year=2020|title= The potential power of experience in communications of expert consensus levels|journal=Journal of Risk Research|volume=22|issue=5|pages=593–609|doi=10.1080/13669877.2018.1440416|s2cid=148609227|url=https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/28813/1/28813.pdf}} and GMOs.{{cite journal|last=Dixon|first = Graham| year=2018|title=Applying the Gateway Belief Model to Genetically Modified Food Perceptions: New Insights and Additional Questions|journal = Journal of Communication|volume = 66|issue = 6|pages = 888–908| doi=10.1111/jcom.12260}} One analysis from Skeptical Science of 37 published papers notes that about 86% of them support the broad tenets of the GBM.{{cite journal|last=Cook|first = John| year=2020|title=The Consensus on Consensus Messaging|journal = Skeptical Science|url= https://skepticalscience.com/consensus-consensus-messaging.html}}

Van der Linden and others have surveyed more than 5,000 Americans online about their political preferences, asking them to respond to questions developed to measure conspiratorial thinking and paranoia. They found that those at the extremes of the political spectrum were more conspiratorial than those in the middle. Researchers also found that conservatives were more prone to conspiracy thinking than liberals. Van der Linden speculates that this may reflect strong identification with conservative groups and values, and attempts to manage uncertainty.{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Greg |title=The enduring allure of conspiracies |journal=Knowable Magazine |date=14 January 2021|doi-access=free |doi=10.1146/knowable-011421-2 |url=https://knowablemagazine.org/article/mind/2021/the-enduring-allure-conspiracies |access-date=9 December 2021}}

• FOOLPROOF: Why We Fall for Misinformation and How to Build Immunity (HarperCollins), 2023. {{ISBN|9780008466718}}
• Risk and Uncertainty in a Post-Truth Society (Earthscan Risk in Society), 2019. {{ISBN|978-0367235437}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.sdmlab.psychol.cam.ac.uk Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab]

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Category:Dutch social psychologists

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