30 Jun 2026
9am - 5:30pm
105.99
The psychology of reaction: Exploring reactionary social movements through social psychological frameworks
Reactionary social movements have gained momentum globally in recent years, emerging in opposition to progressive social change and seeking to restore traditional values, identities, and power structures. These include far-right, anti-immigration and anti-gender movements that centre nationalism, traditionalism and white supremacy, and resistance to feminist progress, and LGBTIQ+ rights (to name a few). This preconference will bring together researchers interested in understanding the emergence, appeal, and persistence of reactionary movements, as well as strategies to counter their influence.
What to expect
The preconference will feature:
- A keynote address by Professor Julia Becker (University of Osnabrűck)
- A series of talks and blitz presentations from attendees
- A roundtable discussion focused on key challenges and opportunities in this area (including further collaboration opportunities within our community)
Call for abstracts
The call for abstracts has now closed and all authors should have received a decision email. If you haven’t heard from us, please contact Gosia Mikolajczak (Gosia.Mikolajczak@anu.edu.au) or Morgana Lizzio-Wilson (m.lizzio-wilson@exeter.ac.uk).
Detailed program
2026 EASP Psychology of Reaction Preconference
Date: June 30 2026, 9am - 5:30pm
Venue: Faculty of Psychology (Moscovici Room)
University of Strasbourg, 12 Rue Goethe, Strasbourg
| 9am – 9:20am | Introduction |
| 9:20am – 10:30am | Keynote Reactionary Collective Action. When Mobilisation Defends Hierarchy Julia C. Becker (University of Osnabrűck) |
| 10:30am – 11am | Coffee break |
| 11am – 12.30pm | Standard talks Frustrated by Deprivation or Privilege? Revealing Divergent Profiles of Perceived (Dis)advantage within Majority Groups Tamino Konur (University of Kent) Politicians' Use of National Identity Rhetoric on Social Media Predicts Online Engagement and Electoral Success Aleksandra Cichocka (University of Kent) Disrupting the Gender Binary: How Gender-Related Beliefs Influence Perceived Threats and Androcentric Bias Yuchao Wang (KU Leuven) Mobilising Victimhood: A Mixed-Methods Study of Trans-Exclusionary Feminist Discourses on Social Media Christina Maxwell (Université de Poitiers) Drifting Apart: Gendered Effects of #Tradwife Social Media Content on Political and Relational Attitudes Melissa Vink & Gonneke M. Ton (Utrecht University) Understanding Reactionary Responses to Gender Equality: Ideological Profiles Among Men Marylisa Sara Alemi (Royal Holloway, University of London) |
| 12.30pm – 2pm | Lunch break |
| 2pm – 2:45pm | Blitz session 1 Exploring Right-Wing Populism and Developing a New Attitudinal Scale through Automated Analysis of Online Text Datasets Fran Cavanagh (Durham University) COVID-19 and Conspiracy Beliefs: Online Interest in QAnon Following the U.S. National Emergency Declaration Stephanie Rizio (University of Groningen) Capturing the Classroom: Disinformation as Discursive Reconstruction of Education in Orban's Hungary Zea Szebeni (University of Helsinki) When Positivity Backfires: Emotional Misalignment, Perceived Manipulation, and Psychological Reactance in Context-Aware Digital Messaging Bahram Mahmoodi Kahriz (University of Reading) Thwarted Identity: A New Theoretical Framework for Explaining the Rise in Reactionary Social Movements using a Social Identity Approach Christienne Javier (Australian National University) |
| Break | 2:45pm-2:50pm |
| 2:50pm – 3:30pm | Blitz session 2 (men) Are Men The New Victims? Identity Threat and Ideology in Men's Reactions Against Gender Equality Leire Gartzia (University of Deusto) Men’s Social Identity Threat and Anti-Gender Movement Alignment: An Empirical Examination Costanza Campi (University of Trento) Emergent Victimhood: Men's Victimhood Mentality and Online Hostility Towards Women Leaders Ruri Takizawa (ETH Zurich) Enhancing Interventions Against Misogyny by Accounting for Social Identity and Technology Factors William John Bingley (The University of Melbourne) |
| 3.30pm – 4pm | Tea break |
| 4pm – 4:40pm | Blitz session 3 (anti-trans attitudes) Posting Hate Online To Prove You're A Real Man? Male Turkish Students Posting around Transgender Issues on Social Media Tony Holman (University of Leuven/Research Foundation Flanders) The Effect of Masculinity Threat on Anti-Trans and Anti-Abortion Attitudes Lea L. Lorenz (University Kaiserslautern-Landau) Trans (Exclusionary) Radical Feminist: Usage and Effects of the "TERF" Label in Feminist Social Media Debates Annette Malapally (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg) Examining Conditional Support for LGBTQ+ People and Social Policy in New Zealand Kieren J. Lilly (University of Queensland) |
| 4:40pm – 5:30pm | Roundtable/group discussion |
Organisers
- Gosia Mikołajczak (Australian National University)
- Morgana Lizzio-Wilson (University of Exeter)
- Emma Thomas (Flinders University)
- Charlie Pittaway (Flinders University)
- Bridget Ramsey (Flinders University)
- Kieren Lilly (University of Queensland)
For queries, please contact the organising team: Gosia Mikolajczak (Gosia.Mikolajczak@anu.edu.au) and Morgana Lizzio-Wilson (m.lizzio-wilson@exeter.ac.uk).