Ruthie Pliskin - Research

My central areas of interest are intergroup relations, emotions and their regulation, and political psychology, with a focus on ideology and polarization. I am also interested in the psychology of intergroup hostility and conflict, in social change and collective action, and in psychological approaches to overcoming barriers to intergroup conflict resolution. I test these relationships both in the field and in the lab, employing a wide range of methods such as behavioral experiments, experience sampling, and surveys.

Since 2017, I have been an Assistant Professor (UD1) of Social, Economic and Organisational Psychology at Leiden University, where I also serve as co-chair of the Psychology Research Ethics Committee. Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Associate at New York University’s Department of Psychology, working with John Jost to examine ideological differences in processes of emotion regulation in various domains. My doctoral research examined “The Interrelations of Emotion and Ideology in Intergroup Conflict” at Tel Aviv University and the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, under the guidance of Eran Halperin, Daniel Bar-Tal, and Gal Sheppes. My research has been published in leading journals such as PNAS, Nature Communication, Emotion, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and more. I have presented my research at numerous professional conferences, including the general meetings of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the European Association for Social Psychology, the International Society of Political Psychology, and the International Society for Research on Emotion, and have been invited to give talks in universities across the world.

Download my CV here.

Ruthie Pliskin - Publications

2024 and in press


Long., F., Scheepers, D., Zingora, T., & Pliskin, R. (in press). The network dynamics of anti-prejudice norms: A field experiment testing anti-prejudice interventions in real groups. Accepted as Stage 1 registered report at Political Psychology.

Hebel-Sela, S., Aldar, L., Orian Harel, T., Hameiri, B., Pliskin, R., & Halperin, E. (in press). Gone too far? The paradoxical effects of political elite radicalization. Accepted as Stage 1 registered report at Political Psychology.

Cohen-Chen, S., & Pliskin, R. (2024). Hope: The experience and functions of a seemingly-positive group-based emotion. European Review of Social Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2024.2347815. Download here

Long, F., Pliskin, R., & Scheepers, D. (2024). Norms of equality reduce prejudice towards migrants, but only among conservatives. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 34(4), e2836. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2836. Download here

Hoenig, L. C., Pliskin, R., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2024). Equality and efficiency shape cooperation in multiple-public good provision problems. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 153(3), 1236-1256. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001574. Download here

Hasan-Aslih, S., Pliskin, R., Shuman, E., van Zomeren, M., Saguy, T., & Halperin, E. (2024). Together we will rise? Perceptions of instrumentality and normalization as motivations for joint collective action among the disadvantaged. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 27(3), 521-540. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302231153830. Download here

Morgenroth, T., van der Toorn, J., Pliskin, R., & McMahon, C. E. (2024). Gender nonconformity leads to identity denial for cisgender and transgender individuals. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 15(1), 46-59. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221144148. Download here

2023


Pliskin, R. (2023). The full equation: On the context-dependency of ideological morality. Psychological Inquiry, 34(3), 205–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2023.2274413. Download here

Hoenig, L. C., Pliskin, R., & De Dreu, C. K. W. (2023). Political ideology and moral dilemmas in public good provision. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 2519. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29512-0. Download here

2021


Pliskin, R., & Halperin, E. (2021) The study of affective processes in political contexts: Accomplishments and challenges. Affective Science, 2, 345-352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-021-00096-0. Download here.

De Dreu, C. K. W., Pliskin, R., Rojek-Giffin, M., Méder, Z., & Gross, J. (2021). Political Games of Attack and Defense. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 376(1822), 20200135. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0135. Download here.

2020


Pliskin, R., Ruhrman, A., & Halperin, E. (2020). Proposing a multi-dimensional, context-sensitive approach to the study of ideological (a)symmetry in emotion. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 24, 75-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.01.005. Download here.

Cohen-Chen, S., Pliskin, R., Goldenberg, A. (2020). Feel good or do good? A valence/function framework for understanding emotions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(4), 388–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420924770. Download here.

Goudarzi., S., Pliskin, R., Jost, J. T., & Knowles, E. D. (2020). Economic system justification predicts muted emotional responses to inequality. Nature Communications, 11, 383. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-14193-z. Download here.

Van der Toorn, J., Pliskin, R., & Morgenroth, T. (2020). Not quite over the rainbow: The unrelenting and insidious nature of heteronormative ideology. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 34, 160-185. Download here.

Hasan-Aslih, S., Shuman, E., Pliskin, R., van Zomeren, M., Saguy, T., & Halperin, E. (2020). With or without you: The paradoxical role of identification in predicting joint and ingroup collective action in intergroup conflict. European Journal of Social Psychology, 50(6), 1334-1343. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2677. Download here.

Hasan-Aslih, S., Shuman, E., Goldenberg, A., Pliskin, R., van Zomeren, M., & Halperin, E. (2020). The quest for hope: Disadvantaged group members can fulfill their desire to feel hope, but only when they believe in their power. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11(7), 879-888. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550619898321. Download here.

Pliskin, R., Yudkin, D., Jost, J. T., & Trope, Y. (2020). Myopia of the masses: Comparative scope, relative deprivation, and system justification. In J. Suls, R. Collins, & L. Wheeler (Eds.), Social comparison, judgment, and behavior (pp. 598-622). New York: Oxford University Press.

Pliskin, R., & Halperin, E. (2020). The promise of adopting an emotional approach to understanding and reducing political intolerance. In E. Borgida, C. Federico, & J. Miller (Eds.), At the forefront of political psychology: Essays in honor of John L. Sullivan (pp. 79-98). New York: Routledge.

2019


Hasan-Aslih, S., Pliskin, R., van Zomeren, M., Halperin, E., & Saguy, T. (2019). A darker side of hope: Harmony-based hope ironically decreases collective action intentions among the disadvantaged. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(2), 209-223. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0146167218783190. Download here.

Zipris, I., Pliskin, R., Canetti, D., & Halperin, E. (2019). Exposure to the 2014 Gaza War and support for militancy: The role of emotion dysregulation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(6), 965–977. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218805988. Download here

Alkoby, A., Pliskin, R., Halperin, E., & Levit-Binnun, N. (2019). An eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) workshop increases regulatory choice flexibility. Emotion, 19(4), 593-604. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000461. Download here.

Cohen, R., Pliskin, R., & Halperin, E. (2019). How I learned to stop fearing: Ideological differences in choice of reappraisal content. European Journal of Social Psychology, 49(3), 482-502. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2527. Download here

2018


Pliskin, R., Halperin, E., Bar-Tal, D., & Sheppes, G. (2018). When ideology meets conflict-related content: Influences on emotion generation and regulation. Emotion, 18(2), 159-170. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000317. Download here.

Thomson, R., Yuki, M., Talhelm, T., Kito, M., Schug, J., … Pliskin, R., … Visserman, M. (2018, June 29). Relational mobility predicts social behaviors in 39 countries and is tied to historical farming and threat. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 115(29), 7521-7526. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1713191115. Download here.

2017


Pliskin, R., Goldenberg, A., Ambar, E., & Bar-Tal, D. (2017). Speaking out and breaking the silence. In. D. Bar-Tal (Ed.), Self-censorship in context: Theory and research on a barrier to peace (pp. 243-268). New York: Springer. Download here.

2016


Pliskin, R., & Halperin, E. (2016). Emotions and emotion regulation in intractable conflict and their relation to the ethos of conflict in Israeli society. In K. Sharvit & E. Halperin (Eds.), The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: A social psychology perspective – Celebrating the legacy of Daniel Bar-Tal (Vol. II) (pp. 167-184). New York: Springer. Download here.

2015


Pliskin, R., Sheppes, G., & Halperin, E. (2015). Running for your life, in context: Are rightists always less likely to consider fleeing their country when fearing future events? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 59, 90-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2015.04.001. Download here.

Halperin, E., & Pliskin, R. (2015). Emotions and emotion regulation in intractable conflict: Studying emotional processes within a unique context. Political Psychology, 36(S1), 119-150. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12236. Download here.

Nets-Zehngut, R., Pliskin, R., & Bar-Tal, D. (2015). Self-censorship in conflicts: Israel and the 1948 Palestinian exodus. Peace and Conflict, 21(3), 479-499. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000094. Download here.

Pliskin, R., Halperin, E., & Bar-Tal, D. (2015). Overcoming socio-psychological barriers: The influence of beliefs about losses. In G. Sher and A. Kurz (Eds.), Negotiations in times of conflict (pp. 193-204). Tel Aviv-Jaffa: INSS. Download here.

2014


Pliskin, R., Bar-Tal, D., Sheppes, G., & Haperin, E. (2014). Are leftists more emotion-driven than rightists? The interactive influence of ideology and emotions on support for policies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(12), 1681-1697. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214554589. Download here.

Halperin, E.*, Pliskin, R.*, Saguy, T., Liberman, V., & Gross, J. J. (2014). Emotion regulation and the cultivation of political tolerance: Searching for a new track for intervention. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 58(6), 1110-1138. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002713492636. Download here.
*Both authors contributed equally

Nasie, M., Bar-Tal, D., Pliskin, R., Nahhas, E., & Halperin, E. (2014). Overcoming the barrier of narrative adherence in conflicts through awareness of the psychological bias of naïve realism. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40(11), 1543-1556. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167214551153. Download here.

Bar-Tal, D., Halperin, E., & Pliskin, R. (2014). Why it is so difficult to resolve intractable conflicts peacefully? A socio-psychological explanation. In M. Galluccio (Ed.), Handbook of international negotiation: Interpersonal, intercultural and diplomatic perspective (pp. 73-92). New York: Springer. Download here.

Contact Ruthie:

Email: r.pliskin@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

Phone Number: +31-71-5276762

Address:
Institute of Psychology, Room 2.A28
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Pieter de la Court Building
Wassenaarseweg 52
2333 AK Leiden
The Netherlands