Revisions of paper this week! Findings: ⭕Youth's life satisfaction declined during #COVID school closures ⭕Conflict with parents➡️steeper decline ⭕Warmth from #parents was protective, especially for youth with migration background & (pre)vocationally educated parents #psy #science #devpsy #socpsy

🌈The Tweede Kamer voted for a ban on #ConversionTherapy ✔️There is no #science support and it causes major #psych damage, particularly among youth ⚠️However: People can still undergo it 'voluntarily' and the ban still allows to push for 'caution' or 'reflection' ➡️ it can secretly continue #lgbt

🤹Meet my personalities during one week of conference in Vilnius Council member: ⏩Two meetings working on #diversity and inclusion in #devpsy ⏩Two presentations Communication officer: ⏩Manage social media of #EADP Scientist: ⏩Two symposium talks on #nonbinary youth Friend: ⏩The one I failed😢❤️

While academic associations are supposed to represent us, they fail to do so and keep showing hypocrisy. Here is a petition to ISPP demanding recognition of the genocide and ending scholasticide and complicity in Palestine. Hold them accountable. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Hoe kan een partij die zelf de grootste regeringspartner was, verantwoordelijkheid droeg voor het gevoerde beleid én de val, en zelfs de minister van Asiel en Migratie leverde, zich nu weer presenteren als de redder in nood? @lcjacobs89.bsky.social zoekt het uit 👇 www.sampol.be/2025/09/de-e...

In Potsdam, Germany this week for the #CDME2025 conference, presenting our newest research! Key findings🔽 #Nonbinary youth: 1️⃣ not “woke” or elitist 2️⃣ face more exclusion from teachers & peers, undermining mental health. Next stop: #ECDP2025 in Vilnius! #psych #devpsy #enby

Wilders' image is harmful as it dehumanizes Muslims. Dehumanization strips away individuality and #empathy, so that harm & violence feel justified - a tactic used in #propaganda throughout history. What to do? 💡Build empathy 💡Inclusive 'us' instead of 'them' 💡Reject hateful imagery #psy #science

What a day! From introducing kids who normally have little contact with the university to #science and breaking some #stereotypes of who can be a researcher with them 🧒 to my first TV interview on academic freedom & pressure on #diversity research 🎥 Watch on the news of Omroep Brabant tonight!

📢Evidence vs. Ego (30/30) ❌ “This cabinet is not racist.” #Science: #Racism = systemic harm based on ethnicity, such as #exclusion, unequal chances, and hate. 📌 Much like their policy…. A PM ruling for a man convicted of racism? Not convincing. #psych #equality #HumanRights

📢Evidence vs. Ego (29/30) ❌“Why does #diversity have to be in my face all the time?” #science: Well, it’s not. #Black and #LGBTQIA+ characters in movies get less screen time, and even then they’re often stereotypes. 📊 Real #representation is still rare Visibility ≠ #equality #LGBT #BLM #psych

📢Evidence vs. Ego (28/30) ❌“Transwomen shouldn't play women’s sports” #science 📊No advantage after 1-2 years of gender-affirming hormone therapy 📉Trans athletes are underrepresented ⚠️It's about controlling women’s bodies - #trans and cis - and part of a broader anti-trans lobby #TransRights #LGBT

📢Evidence vs. Ego (27/30) ❌“ #Muslims are anti- #LGBTQIA+” #science: 📌 Religiosity matters more than religion 📌 #Inclusion promotes progressive attitudes So spreading hate fuels the very conservatism they claim to oppose Hypocrisy, especially when also aligning with anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric #lgbt

📢Evidence vs. Ego (26/30) ❌“The #immigration policies of minister Faber already work” Immigration #science: - Push factor: why people leave - Pull factor: why people come 📉Push factors play a role in 74% of cases 📌Fewer asylum applications? The dictatorial regime in #syria fell (=push) #psych

Recently did the annual walk through of our totally normal publishing system for my undergraduate research methods students. Never fails to boggle their minds.

📢Evidence vs. Ego (25/30) ❌“It is democratic because we were elected.” 🕊️ #LiberationDay special: Being elected ≠ act democratically. #Democracy isn’t just majority vote, but freedom, #equality & protecting minority rights Criticizing exclusion isn’t anti-democracy. It’s defending it. #HumanRights

📢Evidence vs. Ego (24/30) ❌ “ #Education should be politically neutral.” 📚 Often code for ignoring #diversity. But these approaches backfire. 📉 They worsen #inequality by ignoring structural barriers. 🔁 What works? Inclusive and equal education that values diversity. #psych #science

📢Evidence vs. Ego (23/30) ❌ “Nonbinary identities are a phase.” #science: 📊 They aren’t. Once #nonbinary youth learn it’s an option, they recognize themselves and don’t “go back” to binary option anymore. Being #trans or #nonbinary is not a phase. #enby #TransRights #psych #LGBT #LGBTQIA+

📢Evidence vs. Ego (22/30) ❌ “You can’t say anything anymore.” Well, you can. But freedom of speech isn’t a free pass to say harmful things without consequence. It protects your right to speak, but also others’ right to call it out. #FreedomOfSpeech #Inequality #Democracy #discrimination #psych

📢Evidence vs. Ego (21/30) ❌ “Inclusive sex education is bad for kids.” 📚 Inclusive sex ed causes panic on the far-right. “Let kids be kids!”, Wilders claims. #science: 1️ You can’t “make kids #queer” 2️ It improves mental health for #LGBTQIA+ youth 3️ It fosters #inclusion by peers #psych #LGBT

Please help to protect Dutch academia! The universities threaten to cut international psychology programs which would be devastating not only in the Netherlands but worldwide! #supportdutchpsychology openletter.earth/against-lang...

📢Evidence vs. Ego (20/30) ❌“Nonbinary identities are woke and elitist” 🌈Nope, exactly the opposite 📊Our study across 3 datasets, 2 countries (!) found #nonbinary youth were more likely to come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds & have a migration background #science #enby #LGBTQIA+ #TransRights

📢Evidence vs. Ego (19/30) ❌“The people want this” 🔍A classic far-right line, but who are “the people"?And who aren't? 📌 #Populism paints one group with one opinion ⚠️Often used to pit “the people” against “the elite” to silence other opinions and target #Muslims or #LGBTQIA+ folks #psych #science

📢Evidence vs. Ego (18/30) ❌ “Muslims undermine #womensrights” 🔍 #science: 🧠 Views on gender roles are similar to other Dutch people, except around sexual norms (linked to religiosity, not religion) ⚠️ While far-right politicians blame #Muslims, they push more conservative norms #immigration #psych

📢Evidence vs. Ego (17/30) ❌ “Students should speak only Dutch in school.” Nationalist policies in Dutch #education to ‘boost performance’: 📌 Headscarf bans 📌 Dutch-only #Science: 📚 #Multilingualism helps learning. 🚫 These policies undermine learning. 🧩 Want success? Embrace #diversity. #psych

📢Evidence vs. Ego (16/30) ❌ “ #LGBTQIA+ people can be cured” #Science: 🧠 #Queer identities are formed in the womb 📉 No science supports “curing.” 💔 Stigma causes harm. ⚠️ Yet, 3 of 4 Dutch ruling parties voted against a ban on #ConversionTherapy to ‘cure’ LGBTQIA+ people #TransRights #psych #LGBT

📢Evidence vs. Ego (15/30) ❌“Nonbinary identities are a modern invention.” 🌈 Nope! #Nonbinary people have existed throughout history: e.g. Hijra in India, Muxes in Mexico, Two-Spirit in Native cultures, even in pre-Christian Scandinavia. 📣 The real invention? Only two genders. #enby #TransRights

📢Evidence vs. Ego (14/30) ❌“Speaking their mother tongue hinders education” 📚The mother tongue of kids with a migration background often get blamed for lower school results #science: 📖Reading matters in any language. Bilingual readers actually do even better. ⚠️The real issue? #Inequality #psych

📢Evidence vs. Ego (13/30) ❌ “Left people are woke.” Originally Black Americans used #woke to stay alert to injustice Since 2020, the far-right uses it as an insult to dismiss anyone fighting #inequality Even centrists are ‘woke’: when you’re on the extreme-right edge, everything else is ‘left’

📢Evidence vs. Ego (12/30) ❌“Men and women have a different natural energy.” 🌀“Masculine” and “feminine energy” are often framed as natural —especially in far-right circles 👶But #psych research shows: #gender traits are socialized, not innate 📊There’s more variation within groups than between them

📢Evidence vs. Ego (11/30) ❌ “Gender is disconnected from biological reality.” 🧬 Gender actually has a biological basis: genitalia form in trimester 1, gender identity in trimester 2 of pregnancy. Therefore: genitalia =/ gender 📣 Trans people are thus also “biological male or female” #TransRights

📢Evidence vs. Ego (10/30) ❌ “Your sex is determined at conception.” Trump (and now the UK) claims you're biologically male or female from conception. 🧬 But early embryos are just cell clusters with no sex traits, everyone starts the same. 👶 Sex traits develop weeks later. #TransRights #psych

📢Evidence vs. Ego (9/30) ❌ “The majority voted for this.” When there’s critique on Wilders or the PVV, you hear: “Just accept it, the majority has chosen.” 📊 But a majority is 50% = 75+ seats. PVV won 37. Other parties? 113 seats = 75.3%. 🔍 So the majority did not vote for Wilders or the PVV.

📢Evidence vs. Ego (8/30) ❌“Antisemitism is a problem of Muslims” #science: 1 Most perpetrators are non-migrant men 2 Muslim youth criticize Israel but don’t deny the Holocaust more 3 88% have a positive view of Jews — way higher than Christians’ of Moroccan-Dutch (55%) or Muslims (66%) #psych

📢Evidence vs. Ego (7/30) ❌“Youth are too young to decide for gender-affirming care” “But what if they regret it?” Regret after gender-affirming care: <1% Tattoos: 16% Kids: up to 14% So: we should sooner ban tattoos and sterilize people instead of denying trans youth autonomy #psych #TransRights

📢Evidence vs. Ego (6/30) ❌“Youth with a migration background are criminals” Many people say “We all know where it comes from” after incidents. But simple crime stats do not show that poverty, city life, and ethnic profiling are key drivers Let’s stop blaming and solve inequality #psych #integration

Great thread to remind us why we have to stay active against these budget cuts

🚨 What do budget cuts on #education and #science have to do with democracy, Trump, and #diversity research? A lot! My piece in Univers magazine explains how these cuts threaten #AcademicFreedom and #democracy 🔗 universonline.nl/nieuws/2025/... #Doehetniet

📢Evidence vs. Ego (5/30) ❌'Inclusive trans laws are risking women’s safety’ #Science: 🚫Most gender-based violence happens in public ⚠️Gender stereotypes increase violence 🛑Trans people face most violence Want safety?Reduce gender stereotypes and protect all women incl trans women #TransRights #psych

📢Evidence vs. Ego (4/30) ❌“We have an integration problem” – part 2 🚫 Youth with a migration background are integrated 📊 Studies show they feel both Dutch & connected to their roots ❗ But: exclusion makes them feel less Dutch The real issue? Scapegoating instead of including #psych #integration

📢Evidence vs. Ego (3/30) ❌ “There's an integration problem,” says Schoof 📚 He makes two mistakes according to #science. 1: Politicians confuse integration (be Dutch and maintain your roots) with assimilation (be Dutch and shed your roots). Tmrw 2: why there is no ‘problem’ either. #psych

📢Evidence vs. Ego (2/30) Gender is social & psychological. Only you define it. Our #science: 1–3% of youth (12-29yrs) chose a nonbinary option. Even kids (5-9yrs) know this and are happy and confident about their gender. The problem? Not them. The adults who won’t listen. #psych #LGBTQIA #enby

📢Evidence vs. Ego (1/30) ❌“There are only two genders” Sex ≠ gender ➡️Sex: physical ➡️Gender: psychological and social (tmrw📅) Sex: Combination of chromosomes, gonads, phenotype ➡️1/200 people have intersex variations where these don’t align ➡️There are 40+ biological variations that do not fit M/F

🎓 Today we strike in Tilburg against the insane cuts to education & #science 📉 This isn’t just about money. It’s about silencing dissent. And I refuse. ✊ Starting tomorrow: A month of resistance. Daily debunk of disinfo about #diversity with science. #ScienceAgainstLies #WeerwoordMetWetenschap

Today the first chamber voted in favor of the insane budget cuts on education and science. ✊ So: we keep the resistance going! 🙏 Tilburg takes over from Rotterdam in the relay strike. 📅 I will be there again, will I see you 12.30h at Willemsplein on Thursday?

New paper alert: We extended rejection identification model with multiple identities to test which identity is most helpful for lesbians facing discrimination. We found only lesbian identity helpful for wellbeing & feminist identity for collective action spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

I couldn't recommend this more! I thank the researchers for their important contribution.

In times of democratic backsliding, documenting what’s happening can itself be an act of resistance. That’s why I’m sharing this important Call for Papers for the Special Issue! Please re-post!

🔦Early Career Article Spotlight🔦 This paper emerged from the @eadp.bsky.social #openscience writing week in 2023 and explores how nonbinary children actively shape their identities within a cisnormative society. Read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1... 🎉 #EADP #ERU #psychology #research

Heb jij een uurtje over om ons te helpen? 👇 💖 Onze vragenlijst om de psychologische uitkomsten van social media gebruik te onderzoeken is live vanaf vandaag! Zoals altijd in onderzoek: hoe meer, hoe beter! 🙏 16+ en Engels of Nederlandstalig. Delen = lief! tilburgss.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Do you have a free hour to help us out? 👇 💖 Our new survey to examine the psychological outcomes of social media use launched today! And as always in research: the more, the merrier 🙏 16+ and either English or Dutch. Sharing = caring! tilburgss.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...